There are many places around the world where treasures can
be found and sold on the black market for a high price, especially if it’s an
item that has been stolen from an ancient burial site or museum. In this
article, we’ll take a look at seven of the most expensive treasures that have
been discovered in recent years. Each of these has since been returned to its
rightful owner, whether it be Egypt
or China,
but it wouldn’t surprise us if there were more hidden treasures just waiting to
be discovered...and then sold on the black market to the highest bidder!
1) Xian Terracotta Warriors
Of all of China’s
archaeological finds, none come close to rivaling those of Xian. In 1974,
farmers in Shaanxi
Province were digging a
well when they came across a large cache of life-sized clay soldiers. These
statues date back to between 209 and 206 BC and are arranged in battle
formation; at least eight different terracotta warrior figures have been found
since then. It is believed that these warriors were buried with Qin Shi Huang, China’s first
emperor. This is one of many mysteries surrounding these artifacts—the true
reason for their existence has yet to be determined. Experts believe that they
may have served as guards or even assassins; another theory suggests that they
may have been used for rituals or burial ceremonies rather than actual warfare.
Regardless of their purpose, it is clear that these terra cotta warriors
represent an incredible feat of craftsmanship and artistry—and would cost any
buyer millions upon millions of dollars!
2) Gold from the SS Central America
Discovered in 1984, gold from SS Central America is valued
at $400 million. This treasure was found by Columbus-America Discovery Group
off of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. In total, there were 18 tons
of gold and silver that was used to purchase supplies during the California
Gold Rush in 1857. This wreck remains one of history’s most famous shipwrecks.
While a salvage firm was contracted to recover parts of it, they ended up
taking all but 500 bars of gold worth $50 million because they could not raise
it with their equipment. Since then, many other companies have tried to get
back into sea and remove it but with no success yet because they are unable to
find where it lies exactly underwater.
3) T206 Honus Wagner baseball card
In February 2018, a rare T206 Honus Wagner baseball card was
auctioned off by SCP Auctions for $3.12 million, making it one of most
expensive treasures found in recent times. This particular card is only one of
fifty in existence and is considered to be among the most iconic sports trading
cards ever produced. It depicts Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame player Honus
Wagner; interestingly, its values actually increase as it gets older due to
limited availability (it’s a non-sports trading card). In other words, a
vintage Honus Wagner is more valuable than a modern version—because there are
fewer available—and since only fifty were ever printed and distributed at all,
it’s extremely rare indeed.
4) Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I by Gustav Klimt
When Austrian authorities recovered a stolen Klimt painting
from an art-smuggling ring in 2006, they were faced with a dilemma: Find
Bloch-Bauer's heirs and return it, or put it up for auction? They decided to
auction it off—and after eight minutes of fierce bidding at Christie's, an
anonymous bidder paid $135 million for what became known as the woman in gold.
At $206 million total, including fees, it remains one of history's most expensive
paintings. It is currently on display at Vienna's
Belvedere Palace.
Statue of Zeus at Olympia:
While there are many ancient treasures still missing (such as King Tut's tomb),
there are plenty that have been found over time. In 1864, French soldiers
stumbled upon one such treasure while digging trenches near Paris:
An enormous Greek statue of Zeus, which was created sometime between 460 and
430 B.C., during Greece's
Golden Age.
5) The Mona Lisa
In 1911, an art thief disguised as a priest broke into Da
Vinci’s The Louvre in Paris
and stole it. In 2015, special agents from Scotland Yard recovered it from a
small flat in London.
As of 2016, its current value is $758 million. The theft was executed so
smoothly that no one noticed until lunchtime when Leonardo himself popped by to
inspect his handiwork and found his painting missing. It took just two years
for detectives to discover where it was and for Scotland Yard to recover it
with help from French officials, who planned to send their own investigators
over anyway in order to bring back their most famous work of art.
6) Fabergé eggs
In 1885, Michael Fabergé was commissioned by Tsar Alexander
III to create a gift for his wife, Maria Feodorovna. He created an Easter egg
in honor of her favorite saint, Seraphim of Sarov. The egg is made of gold and
jeweled with diamonds, sapphires and emeralds—the most valuable eggs ever made.
It was bought at auction in 1990 for $9 million by an anonymous buyer who then
had it donated to President Boris Yeltsin as a gift to Russia. Four
years later, it was stolen from its display case in Moscow's
Kremlin Palace. It has never been recovered. The
second-most expensive Fabergé egg, also owned by a Russian oligarch, sold at
auction in 2004 for $8.3 million.
Fabergé egg:
This diamond-encrusted platinum egg was
created by Peter Carl Fabergé for Czar Nicholas II's wife Alexandra Fyodorovna
in 1897. It is one of only two such eggs made, and it took a year to create. It
sold at auction in New York City
in 1998 for $5 million, and it is now owned by an anonymous private collector.
7) Marie Antoinette’s diamond necklace
The most expensive treasure ever found was once owned by
Marie Antoinette. This 17th century necklace included over 6,200 diamonds and
pearls in an ornate floral design. The French queen had owned it for less than
a year before being forced to wear it as she walked to her death at age 34. In
1911, her necklace was sold to pay off some of France’s national debt—and even
still it brought in nearly $7 million (about $175 million today). That’s one
expensive bling! Today, though, you can get your hands on a similar piece with
half that price tag: Forevermark offers their Antoinette Necklace with 2.6
carats of white round brilliant diamonds and more than 50 round brilliant-cut
white diamonds totaling just under 3 carats set in 18k gold. We think they might
have missed an opportunity here to call it Marie instead...
8) Travertine marble bathtub in Nero’s Domus Aurea villa
One of a series of twenty-five 'wet rooms' in Rome's ancient
imperial baths, Nero's Travertine marble bathtub once sat in his Domus Aurea
(literally, Golden House) villa. This opulent home was built for Caesar
Octavian as a retirement home on land seized from Nero. Tiberius continued to
use it after Octavian died and until he moved to Capri.
He abandoned it, leading to its eventual decay and conversion into an
amphitheater in 19AD by his successor Caligula. Later emperors removed
architectural elements like columns and mosaics for their own homes, leaving
what remained an embarrassment that was demolished during renovations under
Emperor Nerva in 97AD.
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