In 1957, an amateur archaeologist working at a Native American site in Maine discovered a perplexing treasure: a 900-year-old silver Norse coin that dated to the late Viking Age (A.D. 793 to 1066).
The artifact, sometimes called the “Maine Penny,” is now in the Maine State Museum. Its discovery has raised a number of questions — mainly, how did it get there, and does its presence in Maine mean the Viking reached the Pine Tree State?
The Vikings were expert seafarers with outposts from Ukraine to Canada, so it’s conceivable that they could have reached Maine. The Vikings and their descendants had colonies in Greenland that existed from the late 10th century to the 15th century. They also had an outpost at L’Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland, Canada, that was in use during the 11th century.
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