Replica of the Ark of the Covenant in George Washington Masonic National Memorial
The Ark of the Covenant is an artifact which is believed to hold the Ten Commandments. The Ark of Covenant was held in Jerusalem until 586 BC but it was taken out and hidden following the Siege of Jerusalem and was never recovered.[1][2]
Menorah from the Temple in Jerusalem depicted on a frieze on the Arch of Titus in Rome
The Menorah from the Second Temple in Jerusalem was looted by the Romans in 70 AD and put on view in the Temple of Peace in Rome. The temple burned down in 191 after which the fate of the Menorah is uncertain. If it survived the fire, it could have been brought to Carthage by the Vandals after their Sack of Rome in 455, as mentioned by Procopius in the 6th century.
After sacking Rome in 410, the Visigoths fled to southern Italy, in Calabria. There their king, Alaric suddenly died from illness and was buried with his treasure in an unknown river, often reported to be the Busento.
The coronet of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the last sovereign Prince of Wales, was seized along with other holy artifacts at the end of the Conquest of Wales by Edward I, in 1284 taken to London, and kept with the crown jewels in Westminster Abbey until they were stolen in 1303. It was not present in the inventory taken during the destruction of the crown jewels by Oliver Cromwell in 1649, and remains unaccounted for.
"Golden Library" thought to contain rare Greek, Latin, and Egyptian works from the libraries of Constantinople and Alexandria, as well as 2nd-century CE Chinese texts and manuscripts from Ivan IV's own era.
Cast in 1484 by order of King Dhammazedi of Hanthawaddy Pegu in modern day Myanmar, it is believed to be the largest bell ever cast. It hung in the Shwedagon Pagoda until 1608, when it was removed by Portuguese mercenary, and governor of Syriam (now Thanlyin) Philipe de Brito to be melted into cannons. It was rolled downhill to the Pazundaung Creek, loaded onto a raft, and hauled by elephants to the confluence of the Bago River and the Yangon River, where it was fastened to de Brito's flagship. It sank on its way across the river to Syriam, dragging de Brito's ship with it. Shifting river currents, several shipwrecks, and poor visibility in the muddy river has made locating the bell difficult, and it remains lost, despite several searches in modern times.[6][7]
A piece of jewellery created in 1389, made of three red spinels in a distinctive triangular arrangement around a central diamond.[8] Owned by key historical figures such as Duke John the Fearless of Burgundy, the German banker Jakob Fugger, and English monarchs Elizabeth I, James VI and I, and Charles I. Part of the English Crown Jewels from 1551 to 1644, when it was possibly sold by the wife of Charles I. It vanished from records after 1645.[9]
Portrait of Amaro Pargo located on the canvas of the "Christ of Humility and Patience" of the Hermitage of Our Lady of El Rosario in Machado (Tenerife).
The treasure would be composed of "carved silver, gold jewellery, pearls and stones of value, Chinese porcelain, rich fabrics, paintings and perhaps 500,000 pesos".[10] The stories about this treasure are varied, some place it in the environment of the Roques de Anaga, while others place it in the zone of Punta del Hidalgo and the cave of San Mateo, northeast of Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
The treasure of Loch Arkaig, sometimes known as the Jacobite gold, was a large amount of specie provided by Spain to finance the Jacobite rising in Scotland in 1745, and rumoured still to be hidden at Loch Arkaig in Lochaber.
Originally part of the French Regalia, sometimes considered its oldest part, dating from the 7th century, it was stored in the treasure of the Basilica of Saint-Denis (also known as Basilique royale de Saint-Denis) until 1795, when it disappeared, probably stolen.
1.5 million gold pesos and an equal value in silver precolumbian art looted from the Viceroyalty of Peru, shipped on the Esperanza, taken and buried by pirates shipwrecked on Palmyra Atoll.[14]
Gold, silver and jewellery stolen from the Spanish in 1820. The treasure is thought to be buried on Cocos Island in Costa Rica and it is estimated to be worth £160 million.[15]
Millions of gold pounds presumed to have been produced by the Boer forces in the South African veld under order of President Paul Kruger. The money was believed to fund the purchase of weapons for the Boer Commandos. The funds went missing. Believed to have been buried or hidden somewhere in South Africa or taken by Kruger to Switzerland.
$3 million in newly minted American double eagle coins sent to the Russian Baltic Fleet, an $800,000 US Government shipment in mixed coin to the American Atlantic Fleet, and the confirmed loss of $500,000 in passenger effects (all 1909 values) were lost when the RMS Republic foundered off the coast of New England as a result of a collision.
The Republic sinking by the stern after the collision in 1909
The RMS Republic was a British ship built in 1903, the Republic was carrying $3,250,000 worth of gold and double eagles for the US Navy's Great White Fleet. However, the ship collided with the SS Florida and sunk. In 1919 an attempt was made to recover the lost money, but it was ultimately unsuccessful.[16][17]
The gold reserves (approx. 120 tonnes) of the Romanian government and other valuables sent to Russia for safekeeping during World War I. These were mislaid after the October Revolution and only some of the objects, and none of the gold reserves, have been returned as of 2012[update].
Fearing imminent incarceration, notorious Depression-era gangster Dutch Schultz was said to have buried $7 million in cash and bonds somewhere in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York. He was gunned down shortly thereafter together with his associates, and as they did not disclose the location of the stash to anyone, the burial spot remains unknown. Treasure hunters still dig around for the loot to this day, although its existence has never been confirmed outside of gang lore.[27][28]
Gold, platinum, and diamonds worth more than $5 billion. Lost when the Japanese ship Awa Maru was torpedoed by the USS Queenfish and sank in April 1945.[34]
The Honjō Masamune, a legendary samurai sword, created by the master swordmaker Gorō Masamune between 1288 and 1328 AD. The sword was passed down over the centuries from Shōgun to Shōgun, and is considered a priceless Japanese cultural artifact. Lost during the U.S. occupation of Japan.
Made by the House of Cartier in 1928 for Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, then Maharaja of Patiala. A necklace containing 2,930 diamonds including the world's seventh largest diamond, the 428 carat "De Beers", the Patiala Necklace vanished from the Royal Treasury of Patiala around 1948. Some diamonds were later recovered.
Emerald-studded gold cross, discovered in a shipwreck in 1955 and stolen from a museum in Bermuda sometime prior to 1975, when it was discovered to have been replaced with a fake.[35]
Cash and jewels from a robbery at Lufthansa's cargo terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport in December 1978. With a value of about $5 million, it was the largest cash robbery in the United States at the time.[36]
Thirteen works of art valued at $500 million were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum by two men posing as police officers. The art was mostly stolen from the museum's Dutch Room and included pieces by Rembrandt and Vermeer.[37]
A laptop hard drive containing the private keys for 7,500–8,000 Bitcoin. James Howells has repeatedly requested that the council allow him to search for his device, buried in Docksway landfill, Newport, Wales, and has been refused by Newport City Council. As of November 2024, the missing Bitcoins were worth $750 million, and Howells sued the council for £495 million.[43][44][45]
Diamond jewellery sets, a sword with a diamond-encrusted handle, several shoe buckles and buttons made of diamonds, and parts of a diamond necklace belonging to Queen Amalie Auguste from 1824. Valued at €113 million. In December 2022 it was announced that a large portion of the stolen items had been recovered. Thirty-one of the items were returned to the museum after being seized by Berlin authorities.[46][47]
^Sánchez, Almudena. "La ruta del pirata Amaro". Canarias7. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Archived from the original on 15 January 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
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