The Cuerdale Hoard was the Viking silver hoard discovered near Cuerdale in Lancashire in 1840.
Workers found the hoard beside the River Ribble, near Preston, in May 1840. It contained more than 8,600 objects, making it one of the largest Viking silver hoards ever discovered. The material included coins, ingots, hacksilver, jewelry and other metalwork.
The coins came from a wide area, including England, Scandinavia, the Islamic world and continental Europe. This mixture reflects the extensive trading networks that connected Viking communities with distant regions during the late ninth and early tenth centuries.
The hoard is usually dated to around AD 905, although its purpose remains uncertain. It may have been buried for safekeeping during political unrest, but no single explanation is proven. Cuerdale is not the same as the Vale of York Hoard, found in 2007 and buried around AD 927.