Curmsun Disc

• 1. Introduction

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  The Curmsun Disc is a small gold object, convex on one side and concave on the other. Across its face runs an engraved inscription: ARALD CVRMSVN REX AD TANER SCON JVMN CIV ALDIN. Historians and archaeologists only began studying it in 2014, once it resurfaced after decades out of view. Who is the king named Curmsun in that inscription? Where had this disc come from, and why did it take so long to resurface? And is the gold and lettering exactly what they appear to be, or something else entirely?

• 2. Discovery in a Cellar Crypt

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  In 1841, a Viking Age hoard was found inside a cellar crypt beneath the ruined church of Groß Weckow. The village stood in Pomerania, then part of Prussia, and is known today as Wiejkowo, part of Gmina Wolin in Poland. It sits just east of the river Dziwna, near the site once held by Jomsborg. That semi-legendary Viking stronghold is said to have stood there between the 950s and 1043. According to Swedish archaeologist Sven Rosborn, the crypt's entrance was found by accident. A 12-year-old named Heinrich Boldt was playing with younger children at a nearby construction site when he found it.

  The hoard held five objects in total. Among them was a silver coin minted during the reign of Otto I, and a bronze bracelet decorated with dashes across its surface. There was also a fragment of a second bronze bracelet, a small stamped piece of gold, and the Curmsun Disc itself.

  The hoard sat undisturbed in the crypt until 1945. That year, Polish Land Forces officer Major Stefan Sielski and his brother Michał entered the crypt and took what remained. Because the disc did not look like gold, it was tossed into a box with old buttons. It stayed there until 2014, when Michał Sielski's 11-year-old great-granddaughter showed it to her history teacher. The find was reported in the press on the 5th of December that year. Stamped across its face was a lettered inscription that would take scholars years to decode.

• 3. Reading the Inscription

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  The name CVRMSVN carved into the disc's face is a transliteration of the Old Norse name Gormsson. That name passed from spoken language through runes of the Younger Futhark before being rendered in the Medieval Latin alphabet. A similar pattern appears on tenth-century coins from York, where the Old Norse word for king, konungr, was transliterated as CVNVNC. That style of writing Old Norse sounds in coin inscriptions ended after the tenth century.

  Once decoded, the full inscription reads: Harald Gormson, king of Danes, Scania, Jomsborg, and the town or bishopric of Aldinburg, corresponding to Oldenburg in Holstein.

  On the reverse, an octagonal ridge circles the disc's edge, framing a Latin cross at its center. Four dots surround that cross, a pattern also seen on coins dating back to the late 900s. Because each evangelist carried strong ties to the symbolism of the cross in medieval thought, the four dots may represent the four evangelists. Decoding the words was only the first step; historians still needed to work out when, and under what circumstances, the disc was actually made.

• 4. Three Theories of Origin

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  Danish anthropologist Karen Schousboe placed the disc's possible origin in the 960s, the decade of Harald Bluetooth's second marriage. In 2014, she suggested it could be a talisman or medallion, likely created after 963. At the time, she said it was unclear whether the disc was genuine or a fake. In 2021, though, she declared it authentic, citing the research of Sven Rosborn.

  Swedish archaeologist Sven Rosborn has argued that the Latin inscription may have been created by a Frankish monk around 986, the year Harald Bluetooth died. He points to Adam of Bremen, the only historical source describing Harald's death. Adam wrote that Harald died in Jumne, another name for Jomsborg, from his wounds. Since Jumne likely lacked a Christian church at the time, Rosborn reasons that Harald's body may have been buried nearby instead. He proposes the nearest church, located at Wiejkowo, and suggests the disc may have been placed near that burial. Polish researcher Marek Kryda has challenged this account. Using Polish satellite imagery, Kryda argues that Harald is more likely buried beneath a mound he identifies as a Viking pagan burial site. He believes the 19th-century Wiejkowo church was later built directly over that mound.

  Danish archivist Steffen Harpsøe put forward a still later date, suggesting the disc might have been made by local priests around Jomsborg and Wiejkowo. He places that window between 1050 and 1125. That timing would only make sense if missionaries had canonized Harald Bluetooth by then. Harpsøe, like Schousboe before her 2021 statement, has said it remains unclear whether the disc is genuine. None of these scholars, however, could say for certain whether the disc was even old enough to matter. Other researchers would soon take up that question directly.

• 5. A Disputed Object

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  Historian Wojtek Jezierski has stated plainly that it is not possible to estimate the age of the Curmsun Disc. He notes that it resembles no other known artefact from the Viking Age. Jezierski argues that dating gold objects precisely is inherently difficult. Even an accurate alloy reading could come from an older artefact that was melted down and reworked later. By that logic, the disc could in theory have been created at almost any point in time.

  Several other Danish professors, including Jens Ulriksen, share that same doubt about the Curmsun Disc, and about a related text known as the Gesta Wuleniensis. Both groups of researchers have been highly critical of Rosborn's arguments and his use of historical sources.

  Numismatist Mateusz Bogucki goes further, calling the disc a counterfeit, likely produced by antiquity enthusiasts in the 18th or 19th century. Archaeologist Wojciech Filipowiak has said that, as of 2022, no publication had proven the Curmsun Disc to be genuine.

  The disc has also reached a wider audience, appearing on the reality television series Expedition Unknown. One Danish archaeologist featured on the program mentioned the disc, but would only say that it might be related to Harald Bluetooth. Whatever the show's audience made of that claim, the sharpest test of the disc's age still lay in its metal, not in its history.

• 6. What the Metal Reveals

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  At Lund University in Sweden, electron microscopic analysis of the Curmsun Disc found a non-homogeneous alloy. Its gold content ranged between 83.3 and 92.8 percent. Researchers noted that both the surface and the alloy showed characteristics typical of artefacts made during the latest part of the Early Middle Ages. They found no trace of any modern processes or chemicals.

  Gemologist Jonny Westling, appointed by the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Stockholm together with Lloyd's/Brookfield Underwriting, separately examined the disc's surface. His analysis found natural inclusions and patination. That same appraiser, Westling, would later be called on again, this time to put a price on the disc rather than a date.

• 7. Behind a Bank Vault

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  The Curmsun Disc is now owned by an undisclosed company and kept inside a bank vault in Sweden. Its insured value stands at US$3.5 million, a figure set by Jonny Westling in his role as the appointed appraiser. Its shape and stampwork still echo Byzantine coins and seals of the era. That resemblance continues to fuel the argument over whether the Curmsun Disc is a genuine Viking Age original, or a much later imitation.