◈GLOBAL FINDSMetal Detecting Discoveries From Around The World
Discoveries by category

Hoards

Buried groups of coins and precious metal, hidden for safekeeping and never reclaimed.

Latest Hoards

11 finds · page 2 of 2
United States · Hoards · Modern ·

Saddle Ridge Hoard: 1,427 gold coins found on a California property

A California couple walking their dog in 2013 discovered a rusted can on their own property, leading to the excavation of eight containers holding 1,427 gold coins minted between 1847 and 1894—almost all in near‑uncirculated condition and ultimately valued at around $10 million. The find, known as the Saddle Ridge Hoard, sparked debate over whether it was linked to a historic 1901 theft from the San Francisco Mint, but coin experts and federal officials dismissed the theory due to mismatched dates, denominations, and mint records. The couple, identified only as John and Mary, were legally entitled to keep the treasure but faced a substantial tax burden, with nearly half the value treated as ordinary income. Most of the coins were later sold through an exclusive arrangement with Amazon, including several exceptionally rare pieces worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

HoardsRead the find
Ref 4
Finland · Hoards · Early Medieval ·

Finland's largest known late Iron Age coin hoard found at Sysmä

A metal‑detectorist in Sysmä, Finland uncovered what Lahti Museums describes as the country’s largest known late‑Iron‑Age coin hoard: roughly 4.5 kilograms of silver coins packed into two birch‑bark containers and buried about 45 cm deep among stones. The coins—still uncleaned, uncounted, and stuck together—appear to date largely from 1000–1050 CE and include pieces from Sweden, Britain, Germany, and distant Islamic dirhams from the regions of modern Turkey and Iran, highlighting Sysmä’s role as a significant trading node. The discovery, made after revisiting two deep detector signals, also included hack silver and small silver objects, and its exceptional size surpasses Finland’s previous record hoard from Nousiainen. The museum will now study the hoard’s precise composition, dating, and origins to better understand the region’s trade networks and cultural connections in the late Iron Age.

HoardsRead the find
Ref 3
Denmark · Hoards · Early Medieval ·

18.5-kilogram Viking silver hoard found in Denmark is the largest ever discovered

The discovery of an 18.5‑kilogram Viking Age silver hoard in Rebild, Denmark—the largest ever found in the country and nearly three times heavier than the famous Terslev Hoard. Unearthed accidentally during garden work, the 10th‑century deposit contained around 700 silver objects, including bars, bracelets, cut silver pieces, 47 coins, Arabic dirhams, Anglo‑Saxon pennies, a Thor’s hammer, and a runic‑inscribed bar. About 6.4 kg of the silver remained inside its original clay pot, while the rest was scattered around it. The hoard's composition suggests it was a carefully measured store of wealth, reflecting the Viking practice of valuing silver by weight rather than by coinage. Its mix of Islamic and Anglo‑Saxon coins highlights Denmark’s wide trade networks during the period. The find adds to Rebild’s history of major precious‑metal discoveries, including earlier silver and gold hoards, indicating the region’s significance in the Viking Age. The silver is now undergoing danefæ assessment, with hopes it will be displayed at Viking Museum Fyrkat.

HoardsRead the find
Ref 2