The Sandur Hoard of the Faroe Islands was discovered in Sandur in 1863 and consists of 98 medieval silver coins, likely buried between 1070 and 1080. This hoard stands out as the oldest and sole coin hoard found in the archipelago.
The significance of the coin hoard from Sandur lies not only in the coins' age but also in their origin, revealing the countries the Faroese traded with in the 11th century. It's believed that the Viking Age came to an end in the Faroe Islands in 1035. Subsequently, the Faroe Islands increasingly fell under the influence of Norway, leading to the establishment of an actual monetary system in the region.
Today, these coins are housed in the National Museum of the Faroe Islands (Faroese: Føroya Fornminnissavn) in Thorshavn and serve as one of the city's main attractions.
The discovery of these coins in 1863 was entirely accidental. Gravediggers were excavating a grave in the Sandur cemetery, which needed to be exceptionally deep to accommodate the bodies of two plague victims.
As it turned out, this find coincided with the location where the altar of Sandur's first church (the second church on the Faroe Islands) once stood. Present-day historians speculate that this church may have served as the private chapel of a wealthy farmer, given the excavation of a Viking cemetery nearby. This treasure likely belonged to a prosperous farmer rather than the church.
If indeed the coins belonged to a wealthy farmer, the substantial number of German coins suggests the export of Faroese wool to Germany or the involvement of middlemen who facilitated trade using these coins.