Ruth's Blog

At first glance this tiny object, about 14 mm long, looks rather like a little piece of gravel that you might find in the sole of your shoe.  But it’s much more exciting than that.  It is a silver ingot that was found locally by metal detectorist Richard Seth, and we are grateful to him and to the landowner for donating it to Louth Museum.

Thanks to Lisa Brundle of the Portable Antiquities Scheme, we know that the ingot is early medieval, probably 9th to 11th century AD.  Ingots of this period were commonly crude in shape as the Vikings had a bullion economy where the purity and weight of the metal were more important than the form.  The weight is consistent with one-sixth of a Viking ounce, with thirds and sixths being common sub-divisions of the ounce.

The historical context of the Vikings in Lincolnshire is given in Richard Gurnham’s book, “Early Louth”.  The first recorded attack of the Vikings in Lincolnshire was in 841 AD.  Then they invaded and wintered at Torksey in 872–873 AD, and after this most of Lincolnshire was shared out among the invading troops.

Come and see the silver ingot on display in Louth Museum, new for the 2025 season!