AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS—Live Science reports that a hoard of gold and silver objects thought to have been buried in a swamp some 800 years ago has been discovered in the West Friesland region of the Netherlands by a metal detectorist. Archaeologists at the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities who examined the objects said the hoard contains 39 silver coins, four golden ear pendants, and two strips of gold leaf. The gold objects are thought to have been crafted locally. “Unfortunately, we have no idea how much they were worth because we have nothing to compare them with—we don’t know if they had any sentimental value either,” said museum curator Annemarieke Willemsen. Gold was often melted down and recycled, she explained. Some of the coins were minted in the Holy Roman Empire, but the most recent coin has been dated to the 1240s, when the region was at war. To read about finds from a Roman sanctuary in the Netherlands, go to "Romans Go Dutch."
