The reading basically holds the opinion that silver coins found at Maine is a historical fake. However, the professor takes issue with this idea for three reasons.

First, in the passage the author argues that the great distance between the Maine site and the Norse settlements indicates that the coin is unrelated to the settlements. Yet, the professor says that there're many other objects found at the same site which are from distant regions. As native Ameicans enjoyed travelling around and obtained precious during their voyage, chances are they found these silver coins in the journey and brought them back to the settlements.

Second, the reading asserts that there are no other coins found at the Norse settlements, which can prove the Norse had never brought any silver coins with them. However, the professor challenges the view by stating the theory that maybe Norse brought these silver coins back to Europe as they didn't settle permanently in North America, which could be a possible explanation.

Third, the author believes that silver coins are not considered as money by native North Amercians, thus they're useless to Norse. Nevertheless, as long as the North Americans realize the beauty of the silver coins, which might be used on jewelry, Norse can trade with them. In such cases, silver coins became a means of money.