The
hoard is made up of silver – 186 coins (some fragmentary), 15
ingots and 7 pieces of jewellery, including arm-rings – and a scrap of gold. It was buried after
Alfred the Great defeated the
Great Heathen Army led by
Guthrum in 878, forcing the Danes to retreat north. The hoard was rediscovered by James Mather, an amateur metal-detectorist, in 2015 and subsequently excavated. The period in which the hoard was buried saw extensive warfare between the Danish and Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, and is of considerable interest to historians. The coins, which were minted by Alfred the Great and
Ceolwulf II, have "the potential to provide important new information on relations between Mercia and Wessex" in the 9th century, according to Gareth Williams, a curator at the British Museum. ==References==