Lost Treasures
Do you ever dream about finding a chest full of gold and jewels? Here are some famous treasures that are out there some where waiting to be found.
Flor de la Mar was a Portuguese galleon that sank in 1512 near the Strait of Malacca carried a cargo of 60 tons of Gold, 200 chests containing diamonds, rubies and emeralds. Many consider her the most valuable lost ship in history. Her cargo value is estimated to be about US $ 20-25 billion. When found, there will be a long series of lawsuits by various governments trying to claim the treasure as their own.
Treasures does’nt have to be gold or diamonds, The autograph of William Shakespeare is worth millions of dollars. In one of those ironic twist of fate, almost no actual handwriting by the world’s greatest writing has survived. There are said to be just six surviving signatures of Shakespeare- three on legal documents and three on his will. The authenticity of these has been questioned. If you could find an authentic signature, it it will fetch at least US $ 15 million at auction. A letter or poem would bring much more or if you stumble across a lost play, such as ‘Cardenio’ or Love’s Labor’s Won’, written in his, the sky’s the limit!
Between 1885-191, gold smith Peter Carl Faberge created 50 jewelled eggs for Russia’s Imperial army. Seven of the eggs are missing. Finding one of Faberge’s eggs would certainly be a treasure. They may been destroyed or melted down after the Russian Revolution. One was discovered as early as 2014. Known as the Third Imperial Easter Egg, it was made in 188. It was purchased at a flea market by a scrap metal dealer who intended to melt it down for its gold value. Fortunately he realised that might have some thing more valuable than gold. The find was authenticated by experts and was rumoured to have been sold to a private collector for whooping US $ 33 million.
The Irish Crown Jewels, the insignia of the illustrious Order of St Patrick, mysteriously disappeared from Dublin Castle in 1907. The Order of St Patrick was established by King George III in 1783. Its regalia, consisting of a badge and a star entrusted with diamonds. Many suspects have been named over the year, including the Irish Republican Brotherhood, who may have stolen the jewels to raise money to finance their campaign for Irish Independence. So what happened to the Crown Jewels? No one knows. They are estimated to be worth $ 50 million.
On October 25th, 1895 an old German Prospector named Jacob Waltz died in a boarding house in Phoenix. Under his bed was a sack of incredibility rich gold ore that he claimed came from Arizona’s Superstition Mountains. Before he died, he allegedly revealed the location of this mine to his land lady, who had taken care of him during his final days. For over 100 years people have been searching for this treasure which is known as ‘ The Lost Dutchman’s Mine’. Waltz’s land lady supposedly sold treasure maps for year, and thousands of people have gone looking for these mines. Hundreds have died in the attempt, many of their skeletal remains found with bullet holes in their skulls.
IN 1873, the 12 year old stamp collector named Louis Vernon found one stamp that looked unusual and was not listed in any stamp catalogues at that time. He sold it to a stamp collector for 6 shillings. In 2014 the same stamp was sold for an astronomical amount of US 9.48 million. The British Guyana 1c magenta stamp, is the world’s rarest and most expensive postage stamps. When British Guyana ran out of stamps in 185, the local post master had some printed by the local news to use until the shipment of stamps arrived from Great Britain.
On March 18th 1990 two men dressed as police officers entered the Isabella Gardner Museum in Boston. After subduing the two security guards on duty and locking them up in the basement, the thieves stole 13 irreplaceable works of arts including painting by Rembrandt and Monet. The most valuable item taken in the heist was a painting by Vermeer called The Concert. The small painting measures about 27x 24 inches It is one of only 34 Vermeer paintings known to exists. It was valued at US $ 130 million and it is cited as the world’s most valuable missing painting. The crime has never been solved. There is a US $ 5 million reward for the return of the stolen art work.