Strange Coins Found Under Church by Kid in the 1960s Were Kept Hidden Until Recently, Found to Be Medieval

Imagine wandering around with your friends at a church and stumbling upon a set of 800-year-old coins.

That is exactly the situation Jan Gunnar Fugelsnes found himself in when, in 1964, he and his friends found a set of coins in the floorboards on the Edøy Church in Norway, Fox News reported.

It was only in 2023 that Fugelsnes realized what he had in his possession. He not only found 14 coins, but also 3 fittings, 9 needles, and a pearl. County archaeologist for Møre og Romsdal, Carl-Fredrik Wahr-Hansen Vemmestad, said some of these artifacts date as far back as the 13th century.

Vemmestad noted only a handful of such coins still exist today.

“The discovery site and the composition of coins and objects suggest that they may originate from a burial mound that was placed under the church floor in the Middle Ages, between approximately 1200-1300,” Vemmestad said, adding that the needles may have been in the clothing of a corpse and that the pearl may have been part of a prayer wreath.

Trending:

Literal Godsend? Trump Gets $3 Billion Gift Days Before Huge Bond Due

Despite discovering the artifacts when just a child, Fugelsnes had stored them in a box and only pulled them out last year.

“We were just children on a treasure hunt under the church. We didn’t realize how rare the coins were,” he recalled.

Do you still have something from a childhood treasure hunt?

However, once he realized the importance of his “treasure,” in accordance with Norwegian law, Fugelsnes turned the coins over to the government to preserve. As Fox reported, “In Norway, any coins that were produced before 1650 are considered government property — unless they were privately owned before 1905.”

The coins will hopefully serve as a welcome addition to any other collection Norway currently has from its history. With that in mind, Norwegians and anyone with reverence for the past should hope to see the coins taken care of.

While many would consider the 13th century to be the very distant past, which we share nothing with today, these coins are a reminder that the past is not so distant after all. Additionally, they may serve as a link to give us a better appreciation for it.

Such stories should provoke envy in the United States. Presuming that these artifacts will be on display and handled with great care, Fugelsnes’ discovery seems to be a far cry from how we handle our own history.

Consider the case of Boston removing a statue of Abraham Lincoln in 2020.

Related:

Museum Claims Overhaul of Gallery Is Not Woke, But New Signage Near the Classics Hints There’s Been a Big Shift

The statue in question was of Lincoln and a black man on his knees, with Lincoln clutching a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation. Some saw the depiction not of the man rising up, but of a man being subjugated to Lincoln, being seen as someone lesser.

While not an artifact, our 16th president is enshrined in history as the head of state during the Civil War and the man responsible for the abolition of slavery.

The past is filled with many detestable moments, but there is much worth remembering and celebrating. For the left, however, the past seems to be one-dimensionally terrible and irredeemable.

If Lincoln can be thrown out with yesterday’s garbage, then who exactly can we place on a pedestal?

Fugelsnes’ story is a feel-good tale from a man’s childhood. A neat discovery turned into an incredible find for Norway’s history.

Yet, it can also serve as an example should Norway handle the coins correctly.

The past is not always to be thrown away and forgotten. Sometimes, great figures and great finds can be celebrated.


A Note from Our Deputy Managing Editor:

 

I heard a chilling comment the other day: “We don’t even know if an election will be held in 2024.” 

 

That wasn’t said by a conspiracy theorist or a doomsday prophet. No, former U.S. national security advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn said that to the founder of The Western Journal, Floyd Brown.

 

Gen. Flynn’s warning means that the 2024 election is the most important election for every single living American. If we lose this one to the wealthy elites who hate us, hate God, and hate what America stands for, we can only assume that 248 years of American history and the values we hold dear to our hearts may soon vanish.

 

The end game is here, and as Benjamin Franklin said, “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

 

All of this means that without you, it’s over. We have the platform, the journalists, and the experience to fight back hard, but Big Tech is strangling us through advertising blacklists, shadow bans, and algorithms. Did you know that we’ve been blacklisted by 90% of advertisers? Without direct support from you, our readers, we can’t continue the fight.

 

Can we count on your support? It may not seem like much, but a Western Journal Membership can make all the difference in the world because when you support us directly, you cut Big Tech out of the picture. They lose control. 

 

A monthly Western Journal Membership costs less than one coffee and breakfast sandwich each month, and it gets you access to ALL of our content — news, commentary, and premium articles. You’ll experience a radically reduced number of ads, and most importantly you will be vitally supporting the fight for America’s soul in 2024.

 

We are literally counting on you because without our members, The Western Journal would cease to exist. Will you join us in the fight? 

 

Sincerely,

Josh Manning

Deputy Managing Editor

The Western Journal



Source link