This twisted, omega (open-ended) brooch is of a type found east of Sweden at the time of the Vikings. The design is a hybrid Scandinavian/Finnish form. The decoration is simple in design but beautiful. It weighs 44.93 grams and is 59.69 mm in size. The green patina is also a characteristic of objects found in this area. The restrained use of artificial fertilizers has ensured that many objects found in these regions have often been well preserved.

Unfortunately, the location is unknown, although the type can be assigned to the area described above.

The second omega brooch from the Baltic area is depicted beneath.

This – either very beautifully preserved, or very beautifully copied!, I’ll just say this right away – omega brooch with animal head(like) ends was found in Latvia. The seller’s photo shows ‘emigallia’, which stands for Semagallian. The Semigallians were the Baltic tribe that lived in the south-central part of modern-day Latvia and northern Lithuania.

It measures 58 mm in width including the pin, 37 mm in hight and weighs 38,56 grams.

Reference:

Zoomorphic penannular brooches of the Viking Period are well-documented (e.g. Kilbride-Jones, H. Zoomorphic Penannular Brooches, Society of Antiquaries, London, 1980)