It sounds like an episode of one of those auction shows on TV, where someone always finds an amazing bargain. But this is real life.
In most trinket auctions, the only thing you find are… trinkets. Mari Ingelin Heskestad was lucky enough to find a solid gold Viking ring, more than a millennium old.
It cannot be said that it was a coincidence. Mari was taking a look at some lots of inexpensive jewelry that she was selling at an online auction store, and an almost hidden ring caught his attention. You can see the lot of trinkets in the opening photo of the news.
The auction shop had bought the remains of an estate and I was selling things “by weight” in boxes of bananasas explained the Norwegian newspaper BAvia Science Norway.
Mari Ingelin Heskestad noticed one of the boxes, which contained an unusual ring. It shone brighter than the rest and its design indicated that it was ancient.
We are left wanting to know how much did you pay for the lot, because the Norwegian media does not say so. The fact is that when he received the box of bananas, he was clear that the ring was not a trinket: it was quite heavy and looked like pure gold. He showed it to his mother-in-law, with historical knowledge, and confirmed that it looked a viking ring
This is when the dilemma arises: do you keep it for yourself as a souvenir, or to try to sell it to an antique dealer, or do you hand it over to the authorities, in case it is a historical treasure?
Mari Ingelin Heskestad did what she had to, and what the law says: took the ring to the Vestland town hall in Norway. There an archaeologist who is dedicated to examining the findings that the citizens bring her, confirmed that it is a solid gold Viking ring, more than 1,000 years old:
Unfortunately, since it came from an internet auction, it’s impossible to know where it was found, or who it belongs to.
Experts believe that, due to the diameter of the ring, belonged to a man. He also used it a lot, because it’s worn out. And since gold was scarce in the Viking Age, it had to be a Viking chief of some importance.
In Viking culture jewelry was worn by both men and women, and it was a symbol of social status. There are some rings with this same design, but in silver. This gold version indicates superior status among the Vikings.
The finding is important because Few pure gold Viking rings exist. It will now become part of the Bergen University Museum, where it will be exhibited.
Mari Ingelin Heskestad won’t make any money, but it wasn’t what she was looking for when she discovered that unusual ring at auction. For her, it is more satisfying to have brought to light a treasure from a thousand years ago, and that everyone enjoys it.
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