A metal detector has found a silver ingot from the Viking Age on the Isle of Man. According to the statement made by Mensu National Heritage, John Smart discovered the 1000-year-old finger-sized piece of metal while exploring the island located between Northern Ireland and England in the Irish Sea. Smart, who has been working as a metal detector for more than 40 years, said he never gets tired of the excitement of finding hidden treasures on the island.

“It’s an interesting idea of ​​finding something… you find it above ground with nothing, it’s silent and then suddenly there’s a little beep,” Smart told Manx Radio in the Isle of Man.

Under the Island Treasures Act 2017, Smart handed over the artefact to Mensa National Heritage, which handed it over to the island’s investigations unit.

The investigating officer declared the piece of metal, weighing approximately 0.4 ounces (11 grams), a “treasure.” This detection was based on silver analysis using X-ray fluorescence, which reveals chemical signatures, and scanning electron microscopy, which also provides information about chemical composition. The analysis was carried out by the University of Liverpool and Manx National Heritage.

According to the statement, the results showed that the bar was 88% silver. (Any artifact whose owner is known to contain at least 10% precious metal is considered treasure by law.) Bullion was the common currency of the Vikings and was used to replace silver coins in payment for goods and services.

“Such ingots were used for trade in the Viking world,” Allison Fox, curator of archeology at the Isle of Man National Heritage, said in a statement. “Ingots were weighed and tested to determine their silver content and used, in whole or in part, to purchase whatever the Viking needed. It was a cross-border currency.”

This is not the first time silver from the Viking Age (AD 793 – 1066) has been discovered in the Isle of Man. In 2021, a treasure hunter found a “treasure trove” of artifacts, including 87 coins and “silver” or 13 pieces of silver rings that can be split into different sizes, serving as currency.

“This ingot may only be a small artifact, but in context it helps show how the Isle of Man was part of an international Viking trading network 1,000 years ago, including how the Viking economy operated and where trade took place on the island,” Fox said. he said in an interview on Manx Radio. “Basically, I often compare it to a credit card. Since its value is in its silver content… they can spend it anywhere in the Viking world.”

According to the statement, the ingot is currently on display in the Viking and Medieval Gallery at the Manx Museum.