Vikings melted down Islamic coins to make their own pennies, new research has revealed. Some of the earliest Viking cash on record was crafted using silver from Middle Eastern coins known as dirhams. The findings, published in the journal Archaeometry, confirm a long-suspected connection between early Scandinavian coinage and Islamic silver. Scientists examined coins from the Damhus hoard, a collection of 226 Viking Age pennies unearthed near the Danish town of Ribe on the Jutland Peninsula in 2