7th Century

Consisting of 42 pieces, 2 Ingots, 3 Blanks, and 37 coins (from 3 different die styles).
Found in the Mound 1 Ship Burial, the purse contained thirty-seven gold shillings or tremisses, each originating from a different Frankish mint. They were deliberately collected. There were also three blank coins and two small ingots. This has prompted various explanations: possibly like the Roman obolus they may have been left to pay the forty ghostly oarsmen in the afterworld or were a funeral tribute, or an expression of allegiance. They provide the primary evidence for the date of the burial, which was debatably in the third decade of the 7th century.