A Dutch historian has found a unique 1,000-year-old medieval treasure consisting of four gold earrings, two gold leaves and 39 silver coins, the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities (Rijksmuseum van Oudheden) announced Thursday. , reports Reuters.

Lorenzo Ruiter, 27, who told Reuters he had been searching for treasure since he was 10 years old, discovered the treasure in 2021 in the small northern town of Hoogwood using a metal detector.

“It was very special to discover something so precious that I cannot describe it. I never expected to discover something like this,” Ruiter said, adding that it was difficult to keep the secret for two years.

But experts from the National Museum of Antiquities have taken the time to clean, examine and date the items in the hoard and have now found that the youngest coin can be dated to around 1250, leading them to believe the hoard was buried then.

At that time, the precious stones were already two centuries old, the museum said, adding that they must have already been “an expensive and valuable possession.”

“Gold jewelry from the Middle Ages is extremely rare in the Netherlands,” the museum said. Although the exact reason why the treasure was buried will remain a mystery, the museum noted that in the mid-13th century there was a war between the Dutch regions of West Friesland and Holland, with Hoogwood being the epicenter.

Lorenzo stated that it was possible that someone powerful at the time had buried the valuables to protect them, hoping to dig them up when it was safe again.

Given its archaeological importance, the treasure has been loaned to a museum, which will display it, but will remain the official property of the discoverer, Lorenzo Ruyter.