We all love Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean whose mysterious conquest for treasures amaze us all. But did you ever wonder is there any real-life hidden treasure? Yes, there is. Because treasure is not only a pirate’s quest.
Real-Life Hidden Treasures
These tales of undiscovered real-life hidden treasures will surely inspire you for your own treasure hunt.
The 2000-Year Old Menorah
Buried treasures often carry much historical importance. About 1,950 years ago, in the year 70 AD, the Romans looted the Temple of Jerusalem and fled with the temple’s valued Menorah. “We know they brought it to Rome,” Colgate University Professor Robert Garland revealed because it’s “depicted on the frieze on the Arch of Titus in the Forum.” Some claim the menorah was housed at Rome’s Temple of Peace, which burned down in the year 191 after which what happened to the Menorah is unknown.
The Imperial Seal of China
The Imperial Seal, also known as the Heirloom Seal of the Realm, is a pyroxene seal that was created in 221 BC for the then-newly elevated Emperor of China. It passed from dynasty to dynasty until the 10th century AD; after that, there is no report of its presence. Various hypotheses exist as to its fate, and most recently, many seals have been claimed to be the real one. None of those claims have been approved so far.
The Crown Jewels of England
Back in the year 1216, King John of England was so hated that he’s known as King John the Bad. After signing the destructive Magna Carta, he was escaping from enemies taking with him some of the Crown Jewels of England. King John fell ill with dysentery, and in the hurry by his followers to get medical aid, they lost the record of the baggage carrying the jewels. Maybe they dropped in the muddy waters of Wash (although there is a discussion about whether the king actually had the jewels with him). Also check out unsolved mysteries of the art world.
The Florentine Diamond
The magnificent yellow diamond of the Medici family originally came from India and was supposed to be 137.27 carats. When the last of the Medicis died in the late 17th century, the Florentine Diamond passed to the Imperial Family of Austria. At the time, the diamond was estimated at $750,000. After the decline of the Austrian Empire, during World War I, the family carried it with them into emigrants in Switzerland. Any information about the diamond after that is unclear. Some believe it was stolen by someone close to the family. Some think that the diamond was split down into smaller pieces and will therefore never be seen again. Learn about the accidental discoveries that changed the world.
The Treasure of San Miguel
The San Miguel was a Spanish ship that was carrying a huge amount of precious metals and gems that the Spanish king wished to sell to finance his continuous War of Succession. In 1715, it dropped in a storm off of Cuba and has never been found. Some theorize it is one of the most valuable treasure ships ever to have been lost. Check out Titanic mysteries that may never be solved.
The Scepter of Dagobert
The Scepter of Dagobert was part of France’s crown jewels. Recording back to the 7th century (it was designed for King Dagobert for his crowning) and made of dense gold, it was saved in the Basilica of St Denis until 1795, when it lost, never to be seen again. It’s supposed to have been stolen, and its whereabouts remain a riddle to this day.
The Lost Gold Mine
Dating in the 1840s, prospectors set a gold mine in the Superstition Mountains of central Arizona. The mine worked productively until a group of Apaches massacred those working it. The mine’s location was lost with its labors until the 1870s when a German settler named Jacob “The Dutchman” Waltz was said to have found it again. On his deathbed, the Dutchman is supposed to have told the mine’s location to Julia Thomas, a Phoenix-area neighbor who took care of him, but she couldn’t locate it. Also checkout the places to visit in different states of the USA.
Leon Trabuco’s Gold
In the early 1930s, Mexican tycoon Leon Trabuco arranged many secret flights to the desert of New Mexico. It was believed that Trabuco and some other business associates were dumping gold and waiting for prices to rise before selling it. But when the US imposed the Gold Act of 1934, making the private purchase of gold banned, Trabuco and his companions were out of luck. Within a few months, all of them turned up dead under strange events, and the location of the gold also died with them.
Thomas Beale’s Code
In 1816, Thomas Beale and some friends came into a huge sum of gold and silver while digging somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. Expecting to keep it preserved for their families, the men buried the treasure, and Beale painstakingly wrote a letter in the code explaining exactly where it could be found. He then put the letter in a box and gave the box to a Virginia landlord for protection. Beale never came back for it. The landlord opened the box years later, but no one was ever able to decode the letter. Also learn what happened to a 50-year-old letter of Russian soldier found in a bottle.
