16th Century Treasure Trove Found on Danish island

Denmark's National Museum has announced on Thursday a major treasure trove of 16th century coins on the small island of Moen in the southeast of the country.

"This is a find of exciting proportions," National Museum Numismatist Michael Maercher said in a video interview posted on the museum website from the Moen site.

Maercher said that some 400 coins had been recovered but many more are expected to be unearthed from the field where an unnamed man found them using a metal detector.

The find has been dated back to the time of the so-called Count's Feud which took place between 1534 and 1536. The Feud was named after Count Christopher of Oldenburg, who sparked a civil war over who should be king of Denmark.

The museum says it expects the Moen trove will be larger and more important than the last major find, of 1,545 coins in 1927.

It is not yet clear where all the coins come from. During the civil unrest in Denmark from 1520 to 1536 coins were minted by several factions and in various regions.