Mint-Condition Coin Found Beneath York Minster

YORK, ENGLAND—A test pit dug beneath the cathedral known as York Minster has yielded human bones from the age of the Vikings, Norman foundations, and a silver Anglo-Saxon coin dating to the early ninth century. The coin is in excellent condition, suggesting that it was never in circulation and may have been minted at a nearby location. “The presence of a mint confirms York’s position of power and authority in the Anglian Kingdom of Northumbria and indeed, the country, during what has been thought of as a period of decline,” said Ian Milsted of the York Archaeological Trust. The presence of human bones also indicates that the land had been used as a burial ground by generations of different ethnic groups.