These 12 Real Life Treasures Yet to be Found Will Surprise You

The Lost Imperial Fabergé Eggs

The bejeweled eggs crafted by the House of Fabergé between 1885 and 1917 have become synonymous with luxury and ostentatiousness, and for good reason. Indeed, was there ever a more exquisite gift given by a husband to his wife than that first egg, presented to Czarina Maria Feodorovna by her husband, Czar Alexander III of Russia, in the Easter of 1885? Designed by the in-demand jeweler and goldsmith Peter Carl Fabergé, the egg was encrusted with plain white enamel. Upon opening it, however, Maria was dazzled to find that the yolk was made completely from gold, and the surprises didn’t stop there. Inside the yolk was a golden hen, adorned with ruby eyes and, inside that, a miniature, diamond-encrusted replica of the Romanov crown, alongside a second, tiny egg fashioned from ruby.

The Czarina’s joy persuaded the Czar to commission Fabergé to create a new egg each year, thus beginning an Easter tradition that he would pass on to his son Czar Nicholas II. Each year, the egg would be more luxurious than the last. So much so, that it became a full-time job for Fabergé. He was installed as the official goldsmith of the Russian Imperial Court and was soon employing around 500 artisans as he looked to keep the autocrat and his family happy. What really delighted Alexander and Maria was the element of surprise, and Peter Karl was happy to deliver. As well as miniature hens, some eggs contained small (golden) trains or jewel-encrusted portraits of the Royal Family. And then, there was the Winter Egg, the most opulent of them all.

However, these were troubled times for Russia. In 1917, revolution rocked the country, with the Romanov dynasty brought to a crashing end. In 1918, the Bolsheviks, working to establish their own dictatorship, had Czar Nicholas II and his family executed. Fabergé himself managed to escape to Switzerland, though his workshop was taken from him, with countless treasures ‘nationalized’. The eggs themselves were packed up and hidden away in an obscure corner of the Kremlin, destined to be forgotten.

It was only the financial needs of the Communist state that led to the treasures seeing the light of day again. Stalin, needing funds to consolidate his grip on power, decided to auction the eggs off on the international market. Unsurprisingly, they were snapped up, not just by wealthy private individuals but also by public collections and even by the British royal family. Not all of them were purchased, however. Of the 50 Imperial Fabergé Eggs, 43 have been accounted for. And the rest? Who knows?

The good news for treasure hunters is that the Third Imperial Egg was identified as recently as 2014. It had been purchased by a scrap metal dealer a few years previously. What he believed to be a novelty item worth a few hundred dollars turned out to be worth around $33 million. Who knows where the other eggs, among them the Sapphire Pendant, crafted in 1886, the Cherub with Chariot, made in 1888, or the Royal Danish of 1903 will turn up?

The Treasure of Lima

In 1919, Franklin Roosevelt traveled to Cocos Island, an uninhabited outcrop off Costa Rica, famed for its natural beauty and its wildlife. But it wasn’t the flora and fauna that had drawn the future President. What he sought was another kind of treasure the so-called Treasure of Lima. And Roosevelt isn’t the only famous figure who has tried their luck on Cocos Island. In the 1920s, the British racing driver Sir Malcolm Campbell led an expedition there, so too did movie star Errol Flynn, the latter in the 1940s. Countless other adventurers and treasure seekers have also been drawn here. Why? And what did they hope to find?

The story dates back to 1820, when the Spanish feared they were about to lose control of the city of Lima. A freelance trader, a Captain William Thompson, was tasked with transporting a precious load from Peru to Mexico. Despite his orders, the cargo was just too tempting for Thompson. In all, it included 113 religious statues, all made of gold, 200 chests filled with jewels, more than 1,000 diamonds, not to mention dozens of gold and silver bars and solid gold coins.

Soon after Thompson set sail in his ship, the Mary Dear, he and his crew put their plan into action. They ruthlessly cut the throats of the Spanish guards sailing with them. They also murdered the priests accompanying the religious icons, tossing all the bodies overboard. The ship was redirected to Cocos Island and, so the story goes, the entire stash of loot buried. The gang decided to lie low for some time, agreeing to meet up in a few years, to dig up the treasure and divide the spoils.

Before long, however, the Mary Dear was captured, and the crew tried and executed. Thompson and his first mate were spared after agreeing to take their Spanish captors to the exact spot the treasure was buried. Once they landed on Cocos Island, however, the pair managed to escape into the jungle, never to be seen again. Some say Thompson succeeded in getting back home, abandoning his dreams of getting rich and taking his secret with him to the grave. And what of the Treasure of Lima? Numerous people have tried – and fail – to find the loot, which is today valued at $200 million. Most recently, in 2012, a team of scientists and academics returned to the island but left empty-handed. Given their lack of success, some amateur sleuths now believe that the riches are actually buried on another island, just waiting to be dug up.

The Kruger Millions

Some tales of lost treasures simply refuse to die, no matter how much they are dismissed or even discredited. The story of the Kruger Millions is one such tale. A hoard of gold reputedly stashed away by President Paul Kruger of the South African Republic at the end of the nineteenth century, it has long fascinated treasure hunters, with countless expeditions having been mounted in a bid to claim some, or even all, of a loot estimated to be worth an incredible $500,000,000 in today’s money. So why would a political leader hide such a huge amount of money away where nobody could ever find it?

As with many other treasures, political unrest lies behind this tale. In 1899, the Orange Free State and the South African Republic started rebelling against the extent of the British Empire’s influence in the south of Africa. The resulting Boer War was complex in its origins and aims. What was most definitely one key concern for the rebelling white South Africans was control of the hugely lucrative Witwatersrand gold mines. It was these mines which produced the gold coins that backed up the fledgling nation’s wealth. Each one-ounce coin was adorned with President Kruger’s head and stored in the national reserves in the capital city of Pretoria.

With the Boer War waging, Kruger ordered that, if one day it looked like the British would take Pretoria, all the gold was to be moved out of the city and hidden somewhere in the Lowveld region of the country. Sure enough, that day came and so, according to the legend, at the very end of the 1890s, several wagons were filled with gold bullion and coins and taken into the bush. The South African soldiers protecting the precious cargo came under attack from a British patrol and many perished. But still, the remaining men succeeded in their mission, burying the whole wagons, keeping the riches safe from the Brits.

The day after the loot was hidden, however, the soldiers came under attack again. All were killed, meaning nobody who knew the exact location of the Kruger Millions was left alive. Even the President himself didn’t know. What’s more, in 1900, he was forced to leave South Africa and seek exile in Switzerland. He died just four years later, still unaware of what happened to the coins with his face on them.

Over the decades, countless bounty hunters and amateur adventurers have searched high and low in the Lowveld region hoping to strike it rich. To date, the location of the gold remains a mystery. From time to time, however, a single coin, or even a handful of gold coins dating back to the 1890s, are dug up from the South African soil, keeping the legend of a huge stash well and truly alive.

The Honjo Masamune

Masamune is widely regarded as Japan’s finest ever swordsmith. Between the late-thirteenth and early-fourteenth century, his workshop, located in the Sagami Province, crafted countless weapons for discerning samurai. None, however, quite matched the Honjo, believed to be one of the finest swords ever crafted, not just in Japan, but anywhere in the world. Quite how remarkable a weapon it is, however, is hard to tell, since it’s been missing for more than half a century.

Due to a lack of historical records, it’s not known who the sword was originally made for. What is known, however, is that one of the first men to wield it was a samurai warrior called Honjo Shigenaga, for whom the weapon is named. But, according to legend, he wasn’t the first. Indeed, the story goes that Honjo was engaged in battle and at the mercy of another warrior. His enemy hit dealt him a normally-fatal blow to the head, slicing his helmet clean in two. Miraculously, Honjo survived, got back up and killed his foe, taking his weapon for himself.

Over the centuries, the Honjo passed through many hands. Sometimes it was taken as a spoil of war, at other times it was simply sold by warriors needing some short-term money. Eventually, it became a prized possession of the Tokugawa Shogunate, who ruled over Japan for 250 years. Even after their rule came to an end, the sword continued to be passed down through the generations, the weapon’s reputation growing all the time. By the twentieth century, the Honjo had come to be seen as a symbol of the nation’s past greatness and it was declared a Japanese National Treasure in 1939.

This status didn’t save the sword from being taken from the country. With the end of the Second World War, the victorious American forces declared that all Japanese families surrender their weapons, including historic samurai swords. The Tokugawa family duly complied with the decree, perhaps hopeful that the unique and priceless nature of the Honjo would be recognized and respected. The sword, however, was simply taken and lost for good.

Researchers believe that the Honjo was taken as a souvenir by an American soldier, unaware of what treasure he was taking home with him. To complicate matters, Masamune was one of the few master swordsmiths who refused to put his signature on the hilt of his weapons. As such, the Honjo Masamune could be lying in an attic somewhere in the United States. Should it be found and identified, it will become just one of a handful of his weapons to be known today. What’s more, it will be worth a small fortune, though whether the money would go to the Tokugawa family or the family of the American solider who took it out of Japan is another matter.

The Amber Room

It’s got everything a good missing treasure tale should have: royalty, rumor and conspiracy, Nazis and untold riches. What’s more, the case of the Amber Room is no legend. There really was an entire room decked out floor-to-ceiling in amber, gold and precious stones, it really did belong to the rulers of both Germany and Russia, and it really was lost to time during the Second World War. Quite simply, it’s one of the greatest stories ever told, and one many believe will have a happy ending one day. But first, let’s start at the beginning…

In 1701, King Frederick I of Prussia commissioned two of the greatest craftsmen of their generation to build a new room for his Charlottenburg Palace. The German sculptor Andreas Schluter, along with the Danish amber artisan Gottfried Wolfram, conceived an entire room decorated with lavish panels. Once installed, these panels would give the impression of being inside an amber shell, amazing any visitors and emphasizing the wealth – and the good taste – of the Prussian king. The whole work took eight years to complete, with the Amber Room finally open in 1709.

King Frederick’s successor, his son William I, however, placed greater store on international relations than on art or luxury. As such, when he wanted to make a peace offering to Peter the Great of Russia, the Amber Room seemed ideal. So, in 1716, the whole room was disassembled and transported all the way to the Winter Palace in St Petersburg. There it stayed for 40 years, until, in 1755, Catherine the Great decided she wanted it moved to her own official residence, the Catherine Palace. There, under the acclaimed Italian architect Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli, it was expanded, ultimately covering 180 square feet.

In 1941, with Nazi Germany at the gates of the city, Stalin ordered the Amber Room to be protected at all costs. Deemed too delicate to move, the Soviets tried to fool the enemy by covering the ornate panels with simple wallpaper. The ruse was uncovered and the enemy took the room apart and moved the panels back to Germany. Under the expert eye of Alfred Rodhe, the room was re-assembled in Koninsberg Castle, though what happened next is a mystery.

According to some historians, the Amber Room was destroyed by Allied bombing. Others, however, are convinced it survived. Could it be that Rodhe put the panels on a train or a boat that was then either lost in a cave or sunk? Clues to the fate of the treasure are few and far between, though in 1997, a fraction of a mosaic from the original room did turn up. Until the full masterpiece is discovered, a full-scale replica can be seen in St Petersburg.

Nazi Gold Train

In 2015, representatives of the world’s media flocked to a small, unassuming town in south-west Poland. The reason? A pair of amateur treasure hunters announced that they were on the verge of finding the so-called Nazi Gold Train, a locomotive laden with treasure that was hidden in the closing stages of the Second World War, never to be seen again. However, despite making use of the latest radar technology, the intrepid duo went home empty handed. The Nazi Gold Train – if indeed it exists – is still out there, waiting to be found.

The idea that the Nazi would hide looted valuables in remote caves is far from fanciful. In fact, it was common practice. As they pillaged their way through Europe, many top officials of the Nazi regime looked for secret but secure locations to stash away treasures ranging from gold bullion to precious artworks. In most cases, they hoped they would be able to return to retrieve their loot once the war was over. So it’s no surprise that stories of an entire train filled with treasure being hidden in a network of secret tunnels in Poland’s Owl Mountains, emerged after the war and have failed to go away.

According to the legend, in 1945, when it was apparent to all that Nazi Germany was going to lose the war, a group of soldiers in Poland decided to hide their gold and other treasures, to keep their loot safe from the advancing Soviet forces. The train left the city of Breslau (now modern-day Wroclaw) and driven into the elaborate system of tunnels that had been dug into the mountains as part of a top-secret wartime plan. Whether the so-called Project Riese (or Project Giant) was aimed at building a new underground headquarters for Adolf Hitler or even a huge underground armaments factory, is not known. However, a large section of the tunnels were indeed completed, and it’s here that treasure hunters believe the train and its valuable cargo were taken.

Unsurprisingly, the victorious Soviet Army, upon learning of the story, set to work trying to find the train. However, despite numerous searches of the Owl Mountains, they never even came close. Neither have the treasure hunters who came after them, which leads us to the ill-fated 2015 attempt, which left its leaders looking foolish with the whole world watching. That most recent treasure hunt only helped support the argument, put forward by some academics and other local historians, that the train never existed in the first place. However, the legend refuses to die down, much to the delight of the small towns and villages situated alongside the mountains as tourists and amateur sleuths continue to head there hoping to strike gold.

The Patiala Necklace

The House of Cartier is synonymous with ostentatious, though tasteful, displays of wealth. So it’s no surprise that when they set about making a necklace for Bhupinder Singh of Patiala in 1928, they spared no expense. As the ruling Maharaja of the state of Patiala, India, Singh was used to the finer things in life, so making a piece of jewelry that would be the centerpiece of his collection was no easy feat. Nevertheless, the House of Cartier did it, and the Patiala Necklace was soon regarded as one of the most exquisite pieces ever made.

In all, the necklace contained an incredible 2,930 diamonds. But that’s not all. Its centerpiece was the De Beers Diamond, the seventh largest in the world, with a pre-cut weight of 428 carats. That in itself was worth a small fortune. Alongside this huge stone, the necklace was adorned with seven other large diamonds and several Burmese rubies, again all worth huge sums of money.

As is customary, Bhupinder Singh passed the necklace onto his son, Maharaja Yadavindra Singh, who was last seen wearing it in 1948. Then, it simply vanished. It’s possible the family knew what happened to it but preferred to stay silent. Indeed, it could well be that the family fell on hard times and needed money so desperately that they decided to break the necklace apart and sell off its individual jewels on the international market. However, nobody knows for certain what led it to vanish from the Patiala royal treasury in April of 1948.

In a strange twist, the De Beers diamond reappeared some years later. It turned up at a Sotheby’s Auction in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1982. Despite the strange circumstances surrounding the stone and its sudden re-discovery, it was sold for $3.16 million, a significant sum at the time but only a fraction of what it’s likely to fetch today. But that’s not all. In 1998, a representative of the House of Cartier unexpectedly came across the remains of the Patiala Necklace in a London antiques shop. Surely the story of lost treasure was over? Not quite.

Cartier may well have been able to reconstruct the necklace, complete with a replica of the De Beers Diamond, but many of the original jewels remain missing. In fact, all seven of the other large diamonds, the biggest 73 carats, are unaccounted for, as are the striking Burmese rubies. Could it be that they too are waiting to be discovered in an obscure antique shop, laying the mystery of one of India’s greatest treasures to rest once and for all? Only time will tell.

The Menorah of the Second Temple

While some missing treasures are often described with reference to the many millions of pounds they would be worth if they were found today, there are some you simply can’t put a price on. This is surely true for the Menorah of the Second Temple, a religious artifact that has been missing for centuries. A lack of historical evidence or even clues as to its whereabouts hasn’t stopped the ultimate fate of the Menorah being the subject of countless theories, some significantly more plausible than others.

In the Bible, the Menorah is described as a candelabra with seven arms. While it may originally have had a practical purpose, with olive oil burned on each of its lights to illuminate the Second Temple in Jerusalem, it has long since had a huge symbolic value for the Jewish people. Indeed, the Menorah had served as a symbol of Judaism itself for centuries and these days appears on the coat of arms of Israel. Its potency is only made greater by the fact that it hasn’t been seen for more than 1,000 years, the ultimate lost treasure of an entire people.

The Book of Maccabees in the Old Testament describes how a second Menorah was crafted after the First Temple of Jerusalem was attacked and its treasures pillaged. This replacement didn’t last long, however. In 70AD, with the Roman conquest of Jerusalem, the Menorah was taken to Rome and, according to the writings of Josephus, displayed triumphantly by the returning generals. The records also show that it was then placed in the Temple of Peace, an ancient Roman temple whose construction was funded entirely by the spoils of campaign against Jerusalem, and there it remained for several centuries.

When the Vandals took Rome in 455AD, the Menorah was still on display in the temple. But after that? Nobody knows for sure, and this is the point where academic historians, amateur sleuths and conspiracy theorists start to disagree. The first group believe the simplest explanation is the most likely: as with many treasures of the time, it was melted down or just broken up by the Vandals. Alternatively, the conquerors may have taken it out of Rome and to their own capital. Carthage, though what happened to the Menorah after that is another question.

More colorful explanations include the theory that the Menorah was lost in a shipwreck just outside of Rome. In fact, this idea got such support at one point that in 1919, archaeologists had the River Tiber dredged in a bid to find the lost treasure. Alternatively, some theorists even maintain that the Vatican has the Menorah secreted away in its vaults, or – in a twist that would make Dan Brown proud – that it’s hidden in the vaults of Rome’s Catholic cathedral, with successive Popes keeping the secret safe.

King John’s Treasure

King John of England was known as ‘Bad King John’ for good reason. As well as being generally regarded as hugely incompetent, he was something of a tyrant and also hugely greedy. The mad monarch would routinely rob from his enemies and even his allies, enriching himself with gold coins, gold plates and jewelry. Some, he gave away to his bodyguards and closest allies, more for self-preservation than due to any sense of generosity. The vast bulk, however, John kept for himself, though it is believed he lost much of his treasure, and it’s yet to be found.

The background to the legend of King John’s Treasure is a matter of historical record. By the end of the twelfth century, the major landowners of England had had enough of their crazy king. The barons rebelled, seeking to reverse John’s fiscal reforms and negotiate better conditions for themselves. While both sides laid down their arms with the Magna Carta peace treaty of 1215 – a treaty that is still seen as a major milestone in British history – neither the king nor the barons stuck to their word and fighting recommenced soon after.

In October 1216, while out waging war in the east of England, the king fell ill and started to head westwards back to his castle. While the monarch made it safely back to Newark Castle, his men tried to take a short cut over the large expanses of marshes and mud flats known as The Wash. They, and the wagons they were transporting, became trapped in the mud as the tide started to rise. The men were drowned and the wagons, containing all of King John’s crown jewels, were lost.

Eight centuries on, the treasure has yet to be found. But that’s not due to a lack of trying. Over the years, everyone from professional archaeologists to mystics have headed to The Wash in a bid to find the jewels. But what will they find if indeed they do uncover the wagons? According to some historians, John was only carrying with him some panels for his own private chapel or, at most, a single crown. But others believe that a huge hoard of treasure is there to be found, with the whole stash possibly even worth as much as $70,000,000 in today’s money. However, until the mud gives up its secret, what Mad King John lost that day in 1216 will remain a mystery.

The Treasure of the Flor de la Mar

When the Flor de la Mar (or ‘Flower of the Sea’) set sail from Malacca, a commercial hub in the East Indies, one night in November 1511, it is reputed that she was carrying the largest treasure ever assembled by the Portuguese Navy. On the face of it, this was a straightforward journey. After all, the frigate had been successfully sailing the Indian Ocean for nine years and, despite her bulk, was known for her agility. What’s more, her captain the nobleman Alfonso de Albuquerque, was an experienced skipper. As well as being a decorated knight and respected explorer, he was a veteran of runs between the East Indies and his native Portugal. Surely, he could be trusted to deliver the precious cargo to his king?

Along with four other ships, the Flor de la Mar got caught up in a violent storm in the Straits of Malacca, just days after leaving port. On the night of 20 November 1511, it hit the infamous reefs of Sumatra and broke in two. The captain was saved from the waves, though others weren’t so lucky. Several of his crew, as well as a number of slaves he was transporting back to Portugal, were drowned. And, of course, the vast treasure he was carrying, much of it a gift from the King of Siam to his Portuguese counterpart, was lost beneath the waves.

While an exact itinerary has yet to be found, it is believed that the Flor de la Mar was carrying several tonnes of gold, as well as many other precious items. In all, the collection is believed to be worth somewhere in the region of $2,6 billion in today’s terms. It’s hardly surprising, then, that, ever since the ship went under, its whereabouts has been the subject of much fasciation and numerous attempts have been made to locate the doomed vessel and, more importantly, recover its precious cargo.

Frustratingly for treasure hunters, the maps the Portuguese sailors of the time used were far from accurate. As such, the exact location of the shipwreck is the subject of much debate. That’s why several well-financed missions have ended up in failure. But even if a treasure hunter was lucky enough to beat the huge odds and find the right spot of the sea bed, perhaps with the help of underwater drones, it’s unclear who would get to keep the loot. Not only Portugal, but Indonesia and Malaysia too, claim salvage rights for the shipwreck.

The Treasure of the Knights Templar

Thanks to the novels of Dan Brown, as well as the blockbuster movies they inspired, most of us are familiar with the Knights Templar. The religious order was established in 1119AD to protect Christian pilgrims on their journeys through the Middle East, with a network of castles and other fortifications built to offer shelter to those in need. Their work was supported by rich benefactors, meaning that over the centuries, the Knights Templars were able to amass a veritable fortune, not just in gold coins, but also in jewels and other precious objects such as artworks. Could it really be that a huge stash of this treasure was hidden away, never to be found?

Some Templar researchers certainly believe this to be the case, and a handful have even dedicated their lives to finding this lost treasure. They argue that, in the confusion and turmoil that surrounded Pope Clement II’s 1307 decree that all Knights should be arrested, and their possessions seized, not only did many Knights escape, but a large proportion of their wealth could have gone missing too. But that doesn’t solve the biggest question of them all: where are the vast riches accumulated by the Knights hidden?

According to most Templar historians, the Paris Templar members succeeded in loading up a wagon full of their treasure and leaving France just before that fateful day in 1307. Many believe they fled to Scotland, taking their wealth – and even maybe the Holy Grail – with them. However, no concrete evidence has ever been found of this happening, so quite what became of the riches of the Paris temple remains a mystery.

Recently, speculation has been mounting that the so-called Oak Island Treasure – a stash believed to be buried on this island in Nova Scotia – could, in fact, be the lost loot of the Knights Templar. Perhaps its lying here waiting for the Order to rise up again…

Where did we find this stuff? Here are our sources:

“Did Archaeologists Uncover Blackbeard’s Treasure?”. Abigail Tucker, The Smithsonian, March 2011.

“Where are the Romanovs’ Missing Faberge Easter Eggs?”. Allison McNearney, The Daily Beast, March 2016.

“British Explorer Closes in On Legendary ‘Treasure of Lima'”. Jasper Copping, The Daily Telegraph, August 2012.

“Town under siege as missing ‘Kruger gold’ is found on farm”. Christopher Munnion, The Daily Telegraph, June 2001.

“Is This Famous Samurai Sword Missing in America?”. Allison McNearey, The Daily Beast, July 2016.

“Amber Room: Priceless Russian treasure stolen by Nazis ‘discovered by German researchers;”. The Independent, October 2017.

“Nazi gold train search abandoned – but brings in £150 million for Polish town”. Benjamin Kentish, The Independent, August 2016.

“Discovery Channel to air mystery of ‘The Patiala Necklace'”. Sandeep Unnithan, India Today, February 2004.

“The lost jewels of Bad King John”. Theodora Sutcliffe, BBC, September 2017.

“Sunken Portuguese galleon sighted in Java Sea”. The Malaysian Star, April 2014.