28 Of The World’s Most Valuable Treasures Are Still Missing

By Kirsty 1 year ago

1. The Amber Room

Image Source / Live ScienceThis spectacular room, constructed in Catherine Palace near St. Petersburg, originally had mosaics, carvings and mirrors made with gold, and wall panels made from amber. When the location was taken over by Germany during World War II, the entire thing was deconstructed and the parts taken to Germany. They haven't been seen since.

2. The Sarcophagus Of Menkaure

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The smallest of the three pyramids of Giza is the pyramid of pharaoh Menkaure, and it once housed a sarcophagus - until it was taken by an English officer and attempted to be shipped to England. Unfortunately, the ship sank - and the ancient Egyptian sarcophagus along with it.

3. Ark Of The Covenant

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The Ark of the Covenant was a chest spoken of in the Hebrew Bibles, said to hold tablets which showed the 10 Commandments. The sacred temple which housed the Ark was destroyed in 587 B.C when Jerusalem was conquered. Nobody seems to know what happened to the Ark of the Covenant.

4. The Honjo Masamune Sword

Image Source / Live Science
This particular sword was said to be made by the greatest sword maker in the history of Japan, named Gorō Nyūdō Masamune. It passed through hands, won during battles, until it was taken by the Americans during the Second World War. The sword was never seen again, speculated to be destroyed, or even still in existence in America.

5. The Lost Library Of The Tsars Of Moscow

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This library was said to contain a huge collection of ancient Greek books and texts written in other languages, before it's claimed that Ivan the Terrible took over the texts and hid them. Any attempts to find the 'hidden' library after this time have failed, and some people believe the library may not have even existed.

6. The Crown Jewels Of Ireland

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The crown jewels of Ireland were originally in Dublin Castle before they were stolen in 1907. They were originally kept in a library, but the security was apparently so bad that the robbery was possible. It's still not known where the jewels are, or even who managed to steal them!

7. The Lost Poems Of Sappho

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Sapho was a Greek poet, also considered the Shakespeare of her time. Unfortunately, unlike Shakespeare, not many of her works are left! A lot of them disappeared - but in 2014, parts of two poems by Sapho that had never been seen before were revealed, but it's not exactly certain how they were even found.

8. The Treasure Of A Dead Bishop

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A ship named São Vicente was sailing from Portugal to France in 1357 when it was carrying treasures from a recently-dead bishop of Lisbon, including jewels, gold, silver and tapestries. The ship was attacked by pirates who took the treasure, and one of the pirate ships managed to get away, with no one knowing what has happened to the stolen treasure since.

9. The 'Just Judges' Artwork

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Painted by Hubert and Jan van Eyck in Belgium, the 'Just Judges' is a panel of artwork which is part of a greater piece named the Ghent Altarpiece. Someone obviously liked this particular panel, because it was stolen in 1934 and hasn't been found since! The case file for the stolen artwork is still open to this day.

10. The Florentine Diamond

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The Florentine Diamond was a 137-carat yellow jewel, possibly from India before it made its way to Europe. It was once in possession of Emperor Charles I of Austria-Hungary, who placed it in a bank vault in Switzerland after fleeing following the First World War. It was entrusted to an Austrian lawyer, but he was later arrested, and nobody knows what happened to the diamond after that.

11. The Lost Mural Of Da Vinci

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Did you know that Da Vinci painted a mural? It showed the Italian League's victory over Milan in the Battle of Anghiari, and was painted in Florence's town hall. The mural then disappeared when the hall was remodelled by another painter. It's believed that he could have actually just painted over Da Vinci's mural with his own (the audacity) but researchers have failed to find the original work, and it's now debated whether he even painted it at all, apparently!

12. A Menorah From The Second Temple

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A menorah (Hebrew candelabra) belonging to the Jewish from their Second Temple was taken by the Roman army when they fought against the Jewish rebels and destroyed the site. It was believed they took the menorah back to Rome, but nobody knows what happened to it since.

13. The Copper Scroll's Treasure

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One of the famous Dead Sea Scrolls is a copper sheet engraved with text, which talks about the location of further treasure to be found. The Copper Scroll itself is in a museum in Jordan, but nobody knows whether the treasure discussed on the scroll is fake, real or lost. The treasure spoken about is so huge that, if it were to be found, it would be quite the taking!

14. 13 Works Of Art Stolen From The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

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Two people dressed up as police officers managed to break into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990 and steal not one, but thirteen pieces of art - worth around $500 million! The paintings were never found, and neither was the identity of the thieves.

15. The Peking Man

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The fossils of a now extinct species, also known as the Peking Man (believed to have lived between 200,000 and 750,000 years ago) were found in a cave near Beijing, but they then disappeared when the Japanese invaded China. The location of these prized fossils is still unknown today.

16. 'Q Source' Text

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'Q Source' is the name given to a supposed first-century A.D. text that's said to include sayings relating to Jesus, and some believe that - if the text exists - it was used by writers to create the gospels of Matthew and Luke. But no official copy of Q Source has ever been found, and nobody knows if it ever existed, or if it's since been destroyed after existing originally.

17. Nazi Gold

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There has been a legend of Nazi gold apparently sunk in Lake Toplitz in Austria by a Nazi officer in order to stop it being taken by Allied forces. There have been searches in the lake for the gold, but nothing has ever been found. That doesn't mean the gold isn't there, though, as apparently searching this particular lake is extremely difficult - and dangerous.

18. The Lost Raphael Painting

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This painting is called 'Portrait of a Young Man', by Italian painter Raphael, and was owned by a museum in Poland before it was invaded by the Germans. The painting was stolen by the Nazis, and last seen in Germany. The man who had been keeping the painting was sentenced to death for his war crimes, and the painting was never found.

19. Poland's Royal Casket

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Princess Izabela Czartoryska of Poland created this collection of royal artifacts called the Royal Casket, back in 1800. The artifacts included jewels and works of art. Once again, it was the Nazis who seized this treasure when they invaded, and the treasures of the casket have since been lost.

20. Shakespeare's 'Love's Labour's Won'

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If you're a fan of Shakespeare, you will have heard of one of his plays called 'Love's Labour's Lost'. So what's this one? It's believed that he wrote 'Love's Labour's Won' as a possible sequel to the other, but there are no copies of 'Love's Labour's Won' in existence today - which is strange to say that every Shakespeare play is part of most people's school schedule. But there's a theory that 'Love's Labour's Won' could also be 'Much Ado About Nothing', though it's never been confirmed.

21. Gospels From The First Century

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The oldest copies of the Christian gospels date back to the second century A.D, but it's believed that there may have been gospels dating back to the first century. Scholars found a fragment of the Gospel of Mark which they believed could be a first century text - but this was later disproven, though theories about lost first century gospels still exist.

22. Michelangelo's Mask Of A Faun

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This is a bit creepy, isn't it? This marble mask of a faun (half-human, half-goat in mythology) is believed to have been the work of famous Italian artist Michelangelo. The mask was once owned by the Bargello Museum in Florence, but was then stolen and later lost.

23. The Nativity Painting By Caravaggio

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Officially named the 'Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence', this painting by Caravaggio was stolen from a chapel in Sicily, Italy. It was never found out who actually stole it, and the painting was never found, either. A replica has since been put back in the chapel in place of the original.

24. The Missing Romanov Fabergé Easter Eggs

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The Russian imperial family had some extra-special Fabergé 'Easter eggs' made for them between 1885 and 1916 - a whopping 10 of them. But following the deaths of the Romanov family, some of the original eggs went missing, and are still missing today. Theories range from some being in private collections, to maybe being in the United States.

25. The Jules Rimet Trophy

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This trophy was to be awarded to the winners of the World Cup tournament, first given in 1930, and was then passed from winner to winner. The trophy was made from gold and semi-precious stones, and the rules stated that, if a team won the World Cup three times, they would get to keep the trophy for good. Brazil won for the third time in 1970, so the trophy was shipped off to Brazil - and then stolen, of course. It hasn't been seen since.

26. The Treasures Of Nimrud

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Nimrud, an ancient city in modern-day Iraq, housed many treasures, but since the city has been attacked by the terrorists known as ISIS - including parts of the city being blown up or bulldozed - many treasures of Nimrud have been destroyed or damaged.

27. The Lost Camera Of Mallory And Irvine

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George Mallory was a British explorer who, with fellow explorer Andrew Irvine, disappeared in 1924 during their attempt to climb Mount Everest. Nobody knows if the pair managed to reach the top before they died. They were carrying a camera with them for their climb, and when Mallory's body was found, the camera wasn't there. Irvine's body was never found, and it's believed the lost camera would be with him. The film of the camera would be able to reveal whether they actually did make it to the top or not.

28. 'Leda And The Swan' By Michelangelo

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The story of Leda and the Swan is one from ancient mythology, where either the Roman god Jupiter or the Greek god Zeus takes the form of a swan to seduce Leda. Michelangelo's painting is one of many renditions of this story, but his original painting was lost. One theory is that, because the painting is more on the erotic side, it was willingly destroyed.

29. The Lost Film 'The Life Of General Villa'

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'The Life of General Villa' was a film about the Mexican general Francisco Villa. The film including footage of real-life battles, after Villa himself made a contract with the makers of the movie to film him in real battles in exchange for some of the profits. The film was successfully made, but is now lost.

30. The Very First Feature-Length Film

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The world's very first feature-length movie was called the 'Story of the Kelly Gang', and was released in 1906 in Australia. The film was released with great success, but later became controversial because of the criminal gang it showed. The film was then banned in certain places, but it was unfortunately never properly preserved, which means the majority of the film was then lost.

31. The Ancient Coffin Found at the Pyramids of Giza

Image source/ arabnews
Menkaure's pyramid is the smallest of the 3 pyramids of Giza, it was discovered around 4500 years ago. A British military officer tried discovered an exquisite coffin in the pyramid and attempted to sail it across the sea in his boat - which sank, along with the coffin. It's never been recovered since.

32. The Treasure of the Bishop of Castillon

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Back in the year of 1357, Thibaud de Castillon who was the Bishop of Lisbon, was sailing on a ship carrying many of his treasures - gold, tapestries, jewellery and more extremely valuable goods. The ship was attacked by pirates, and they stole the treasures from the ship.

33. The Mosaic of Jesus

Image source/fineartamerica
The mosaic is an AD, first0century text. It is a text which allegedly includes many texts to Jesus inside it. Intellectuals who have studied the history believe that these texts were helped to write some famous texts of the bible. But the text has never been discovered.

34. The Three Brothers Jewel

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The Three Brothers Jewel existed in the 14th century. Not only were they extremely expensive, they also had every distinct features which set them apart from other jewels.  This jewel has been passed from various historical famous figures. However, the trail has now gone cold as to where this jewel remains.

35. The Jewels of King John

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King John lived from 1166 to 1216. During his life he loved to collect valuables and treasure. Some of the greatest of his collection were his jewels as to which were extremely precious. But, one day when he was travelling the jewels in his cart disappeared along with the cart itself.

36. Genghis Khan's Tomb

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Genghis Khan is a very well known historical figure. He was paranoid about his grave being disturbed in his death and so the location was ultra secret, with those burying him being killed on his orders so that nobody would ever know. And, nobody still has managed to find the grave.

37. The Tomb Of Cleopatra

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Similarly, the historical figure Cleopatra's tomb had never been discovered. History tells us that her tomb is covered and adorned with precious materials and jewels. And no matter how hard people have tried her tomb has not yet been discovered, it is thought parts may be in the sea by now.

38. The Treasure Of Lima

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The Treasure of Lima passed various hands and went on a voyage over the seas. However, through exchanges and travels the treasure became lost and has never been recovered to this day. William Thompson as far as we know was last in possession when he stole it for himself and went on run with the Spanish chasing after him.

39. The Key West Treasure

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There were Spanish ships off the Key West coast, one of which was carrying a massive load of gold and treasure. A hurricane upturned the ships and sank them, with the treasure too. Around $500 million was found and collected. Another 200 million apparently remains...

40. The Lost Riches of John Dillinger

Image source/upnorthnews
American John Dillinger gained a famous reputation for being a gangster during the time of The Great Depression. He raided multiple banks and accumulated massive wealth. The story goes that he buries it in the ground and it was never to be found again.

41. The Gold Mine of Superstition Mountain

Image source/wikipedia
Theories, stories and folklore surround the existence of The Superstitions Mountains. People claim they have found monsters, seen UFOs and one man claimed he found a mine full of gold there. However, he would not share its location. And, nobody else has ever managed to find it again.

42. The Treasure Of The Esperanza

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The Esperanza was a Spanish ship which was traveling across the ocean. It was thought to be carrying around $3 million dollars worth of precious metals. But, when a storm struck the ship was destroyed and the goods seized by pirates and from then on never seen again.

43. The RMS Republic

Image source/wikipedia
The RMS Republic was a new state of the art ship with the newest and most expensive technology. However the ship crashed into another during a heavy fog. Some survived on board. But, the $3,000,000 million was never to be seen after that day and i remains lay on an ocean floor.

44. The Spanish Silver Cache

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The Spanish Silver Cache describes a story in which a group of donkeys were carrying loads and loads of silver. But, when they were chased it is said that the treasure ended up being buried somewhere in the Texan earth. People have continued to look for this treasure.

45. The Treasure of the Rocky Mountains

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Up in the Rocky Mountains, Thomas Beale discovered a goldmine, packed full of gold - worth up to 40 million. Him and his men buried it at different locations around the mountains. He left no one with instructions, just a key. But Beale never returned and nobody could locate the gold.

46. The Treasure of Captain Grant

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Captain Grant Marsh buried his treasure worth around $350,000 to keep its safe against his enemies so that nobody else could find it. Yet, he himself could never find where he had buried his treasure, despite returning and trying on multiple occasions.

47. The Lost Treasure of Blackbeard

Image source/prnewshire
Blackbeard was a pirate whose real name was Edward Teach. He was part of a pirates crew for two years who continuously pirated ships and gained a lot of wealthy goods. The theory goes that he buried his treasure before he was killed and he was never found again.

48. Picasso's Stolen Art

Image source/artnews
 Picasso is one of the most famous artists in history, even today. And, because of his reputation, his paintings are one of the most sought after...and stolen. His painting named 'Le Pigeon Aux Petits Pois' was stolen, seemingly gone forever, along with some of his other works.

49. Athena Parthenos

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Athena Parthenos is a precious statue created from ivory and gold, created by famous sculpture Phidias. However, the statue has a trail in history around 164 BC. After that, it is hard to trace what happened to the statue or if it survived the times.

50. Montezuma's Treasure

Image source/ wiki
The riches of Montezuma were taken by Henan Cortes and the Spanish back in 1520. Cortes tried to run away with the treasure but he ended up having to throw it in the rover. When they returned one year after, the treasure could no longer be found again.

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