A HOARD of Anglo-Saxon and Viking coins discovered in North Yorkshire has sold at auction to private collectors for more than £110,000.

It included a total of 65 coins and four ingots which were discovered in two separate batches in the Ryedale area by metal detectorists John Jackson and Mike Rickatson in May 2012.

They were each sold separately at Spinks in London with a total sale value of £113,315 – well above their original valuation of £80,000.

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 AD 927.”

The single item that sold for the most was a coin bearing the name of Aethelstan which went for £13,000 –well above the original estimate of £5,000 to £7,000.

Some of the coins, minted under Aethelstan in York, depicted an Anglo-Saxon Church, and some believe they are the earliest representation of York Minster.

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