Runde Miljøsenter is open daily in summer season, and by appointment all year around. If you want a guided tour you can book this up front.
What is Rundeskatten (The Runde treasure)
The Runde treasure is one of the biggest coin treasure finds in Europe. It consists of about 57 000 silver and gold coins, and about 400 different currency units.
The Norwegian government's part of the treasure was split between the coin cabinet in Oslo and Bergen Maritime Museum. It was kept her for about 40 years before being sent back to Runde in 2011. Today the exhibition consists of both coins and other items of interest, that was discovered by divers outside of Runde in 1972.
The story
January 19th 1725 the ship Akerendam went on their maiden voyage from Texel in Netherland, along with a sister ship. The ship was loaded with 19 chests consisting silver and gold coins and the destination was Batavia in Indonesia, where they the ship was trading spices and other sought wares for the European market.
To get the best winds for sailing in the Atlantic ocean, and to get away from pirates in the English channel, the convoy went north of England. Under a storm in the Nordic Sea Akerendam lost course and sank, just north of Runde. All 200 crew members lost their lives.
In the morning of March 8th 1725 the inhabitants of the farm Goksøyr at Runde noticed that the storm had washed ashore part of the wreckage. After the county comissioner had examined the salvage a public auction was held.
The rescue continues through the summer and autumn in 1725, but when winter came it was hard to keep up the work. People at Runde continued to look for coins in rock cracks at the shore, but over the years the shipwreck was forgotten, until the exploration in 1972.
