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Viking-age silver treasure found on Swedish island
Oct 30, 2006, 16:55 GMT
Stockholm - A new find of a treasure dating back to Viking times has been discovered on the Baltic Sea island of Gotland, local media reported Monday.
Two brothers made the find of the valuable silver coins and silver bracelets estimated to weigh some three kilos.
Edvin Svanborg, 20, a history student planning to become an archeologist, said he recognized one of the coins as an Arab silver coin, and along with his brother started to look for other coins.
They found dozens of coins and contacted museum officials who said the cache was sizeable and likely was 1,100 years old.
Gotland museum official Majvor Osterberg said the cache was likely one of the 25 largest on the island, located some 90 kilometres east of mainland Sweden.
Edvin and his brother Arvid would likely cash in an as yet undisclosed reward.
Archeologists have found some 700 treasures from Viking times on Gotland, the largest weighed 75 kilos and was discovered by a farmer almost a decade ago in a field.
The coins and other finds suggest that the island's Viking population had trade links ranging from Russia to the Orient.
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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