A REMARKABLE hoard of Anglo-Saxon and Viking pennies discovered in North Yorkshire has sold at auction for more than £100,000.

The Eboracum (Ryedale) Hoard included a total of 65 coins and four ingots which were discovered in two separate batches by metal detectorists John Jackson and Mike Rickatson in May 2012.

It includes a coin showing a depiction of a church, which some believe may be the earliest ever representation of York Minster.

The coins each sold separately at Spink & Son in London on Thursday with a total sale value of £113,315. They had originally been valued at £80,000.

In accordance with the law, the hoard was transferred to the York Museums Trust soon after the discovery and subsequently on to the British Museum for recording with the Portable Antiques Scheme (PAS).

The two batches differed in the date of burial and origin, the first being more Anglo-Saxon in type and the second more Viking.

The reigns in which the coins were struck ranged from the Viking rulers of the North of England, then known as the Danelaw, in c.899 to Aethelstan, King of the Anglo-Saxons (924-939) who re-conquered Yorkshire from the Scandinavian Vikings.

The hoard was described by the auctioneers as giving "a fascinating insight into the power struggles of the northern Danelaw and Aethelstan’s subsequent recapturing of York from the Vikings in a.d. 927".

They show a mix of the different cultures and religion prevalent in 10th century England.

A single coin described by Spink as ‘extremely fine’, bearing the name of Aethelstan, sold for £13,000 which was the highest in the lot. Its value was originally estimated at £5,000 to £7,000.

Some of the coins, minted under Aethelstan in York, depicted an Anglo-Saxon Church, yet some believe this is the earliest representation of York Minster.

Another coin depicts both the Christian cross and Thor’s hammer, important physical evidence for the fusing of pagan Viking and Christian Anglo-Saxon cultures in the region.

Both the York Museums Trust and the British Museum which handled the Ryedale hoard already possess similar specimens from the £1.1m Vale of York hoard, which they jointly acquired in 2008, so declined the collection, meaning private collectors were given a rare chance to buy coins normally snapped up by museums.

Spink specialist Jon Mann said: "We see on the coins a fascinating mix of the different cultures and religions prevalent in 10th century England. Dispersal of such an important historic article as the Eboracum hoard should not be taken lightly and Spink are proud to undertake this task."