Rare Viking gold found in Northern Ireland

In 2013 a very rare piece of Viking gold was discovered by an amateur treasure hunter in Northern Ireland. The 86 per cent gold ingot was found at Brickland in Co Down, a short distance from Loughbrickland. Records say the Vikings plundered Loughbrickland in 833 AD.

The gold may be a result of contact between locals and Vikings. The ingots were used as currency. Gold is extremely rare in the Viking period, while there are vast quantities of silver. There are very, very few parallels to the clearly very valuable ingot.

This gold ring was lost by a Viking in Essex