Amateur archaeologist discovers Viking treasure buried in the sand

Danish amateur archaeologist Richard Hemming Poulsen got a big bonus on a work trip to the island of Omø when he uncovered buried treasure. Poulsen had brought along his metal detector to hunt for treasure after he got off from his job laying fiber optic cables. But he didn't expect he'd uncover silver treasure dating back to the time of the Vikings.

"A treasure like this is found once every 10 to 15 years," museum curator Hugo Hvid Sørensen told Online Post. "It contains many items and is extremely well kept because it has been buried in sandy earth."

After Poulsen made his initial discovery in September, Museum Vestsjælland took over the project. The excavation was completed Tuesday. "It's very rare to have found so many Harald Blåtand [Harald Bluetooth] coins — one of the earliest coins of that era," Sørensen said, adding that the discovery will likely prove helpful to experts studying the Viking era.

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The treasure is now on display at Museum Vestsjælland in Denmark.