15 Times People Discovered Treasure

we've all dreamt of finding a horde of buried treasure but while most of us would be lucky to find an old coin in the ground during our lifetimes some people are far more fortunate with billions of dollars worth of valuable objects thought to remain in lost shipwrecks and buried in the ground around the world there's certainly plenty to be found it's just a question of looking in the right place before you get your metal detector out make sure to keep watching because to inspire you for your own search we're going to take a look at 15 times people discovered treasure number 15 the saddle ridge horde in 1848 after james w marshall found some gold in coloma in california one of the biggest gold rushes in history began with hundreds of thousands of people moving to the region in the hopes that they'd find some for themselves well there's very little of it left now to be discovered some of those who were successful are thought to have left part of their fortunes behind and in 2013 one lucky family discovered the largest collection of buried coins ever in the u.s and it was hidden in their backyard while walking their dog around the perimeter of their property they noticed a strange-looking rusted can and inside it was a collection of 1427 gold coins that each dated between 1847 and 1894. the face value of these coins totaled 27 980 but the overall worth based on the gold and historical importance was estimated to exceed 10 million dollars quite how the horde became buried there is not known however it's thought they could have been the proceeds from a theft of the san francisco mint in 1901 or perhaps it was even buried by jesse james we'll probably never know for certain but the couple who found it were allowed to keep it and still to this day can't believe their luck number 14 the ss gersapa the ss gersappa was a british ship that was launched in 1919 and while she became part of a civilian fleet responsible for transporting people and cargo around the world she was commandeered by the british navy to help move vital supplies during the second world war it was in 1941 as part of convoy sl-64 that she'd make her final trip because while on her way to galway in ireland she was torpedoed by a german submarine the ship soon sacked with the loss of 85 lives because there was no record of where exactly this had happened she was believed to have been lost forever there was however great interest in finding where the remains of the ship were because at the time of her sinking she was known to be carrying a large cargo of around 200 tons of silver and a number of other valuable objects it was in september of 2011 that odyssey marine exploration after receiving permission to search by the british government finally found the wreck they began salvaging what they could and within a couple of years it managed to recover more than 50 million dollars worth of silver quite how much remains down there is not yet known but the story is proof that with extensive research and investigation it's possible to significantly increase your chances of finding lost treasures number 13 the seat and down horde metal detectors can often be seen scouring beaches and fields around the world normally the most they can find is the occasional small object but for many it's the experience that matters more than the final outcome there are some enthusiasts however who have managed to strike it lucky by this method and in 2014 a british man made one of the largest finds ever he was searching in a field when he found something of interest just below the surface and couldn't believe his eyes when he pulled two roman coins which he described as being the size of a thumbnail he decided to dig deeper into the ground and before he knew it every scoop he took out was full of copper alloy coins in total the discovery which is now known as the seaton down horde contained around 22 000 coins that dated from over 1700 years ago with dates ranging from 260 a.d to 350 a.d the coins themselves wouldn't have been wildly valuable at the time they were made and even in modern times the overall worth of the fine was thought to be around a hundred thousand dollars still the historical significance was seen as priceless because they all feature portraits and inscriptions that have gone on to tell us a huge amount of information about life and society at the time number 12. the panagura state treasure in december of 1949 three brothers from the town of panagiriste in bulgaria were working together at a tile factory near the local train station they were digging up clay to be made into tiles when they spotted something shining beneath the surface of the ground doing what any of us would they began to dig around the object to find out what it was and this led to the discovery of one of the most significant archaeological finds in the past century what's become known as the panagura state treasure there were nine solid gold artifacts which included seven raita a file and an extremely rare amphora writin these were essentially golden vessels with intricate carvings on them and can be traced back to the threshian empire between 400 and 300 bc incredibly the artifacts together contain 13 and a half pounds of pure gold and while this is valuable enough they are some of the greatest examples of artistry and craftsmanship from the time the historical value is also priceless because very few objects like these from the thracians still exist since the discovery and the initial analysis the bangor state treasure has been on display at various museums across bulgaria there are now even three replica sets that are on display too so everyone in the country has a chance to see them and learn more about their cultural history number 11 viking jewelry the isle of man is a self-governing island that's in the irish sea between great britain and ireland and was historically an important stronghold for forces wanting to control the surrounding waters it had long been known that the vikings had built encampments there as a base of operations to launch attacks on the mainland and so while the discovery of viking treasure on the island may not be the greatest surprise find in december of 2020 was still extremely important a retired police officer who had taken up metal detecting as a hobby was searching over farmland in a northern region of the island when her device made the recognizable sound that there was valuable metal lying beneath what she had found was a small viking horde but one that included a gold arm ring and what was described as being a massive silver brooch both of which dated back more than a thousand years the police officer knew right away that she had found something significant notified authorities it was declared as a treasure by the courts which means it belongs to the crown so while the discoverer doesn't have the right to keep the full value they are paid a finder's fee instead she was quite happy with this as the important thing in her mind was the cultural addition that these treasures represented and they're now on display at the local museum so everyone can have a chance to see them for themselves number 10 staffordshire horde in july of 2009 terry herbert a member of his local metal detecting club was searching a recently plowed field in hammerwich in the uk when his device started making sounds he had never heard before at first he thought there had been a malfunction but upon further investigation it turned out that he discovered the largest anglo-saxon gold and silver horde ever in the following five days he retrieved 244 gold objects but subsequent archaeological digs found even more by the time the entire site had been excavated just under 4 600 items have been recovered including 3 500 pieces of jewelry 11 pounds of gold and 3 pounds of silver now known as the staffordshire horde after the region wire was found it was eventually purchased from herbert for 3.2 million pounds the equivalent of around 4.5 million dollars as well as the decorative items there were also swords helmets crosses and intricate golden strips and the true total value is likely to be far more than what was paid beyond the material value the horde represents huge historical worth too and is the most significant discovery from that time period helping researchers learn far more about the lives of the anglo-saxons how they fought and even the different roles that men and women played in society number nine the siebenberg house artifacts theo siebenberg had long been obsessed with the idea that ancient jerusalem was linked with the modern day city and that vast ruins from more than 3000 years ago still lie beneath the foundations he wanted to test his theory so when he moved into a property in jerusalem's old town in 1970 he began to excavate beneath it and has gone on to make some of the most important historical finds that have ever been unearthed in the region over the course of the next 18 years he discovered ancient remains of living quarters a series of rooms that were carved out of the rock a series of ritual baths called mikvas an aqueduct two cisterns and even a burial vault it's not just the larger structures but also countless smaller artifacts too such as pottery coins mosaics glass and jars as he had predicted everything that he found dated back to the times of king david and the first temple period and also from slightly after that time too he found such a wealth of history that his home has now been turned into a museum and is regarded as one of the best places to see the remnants of historical jerusalem we are constantly adding more people to the top fives production team to bring you all the best content be sure to subscribe with notifications on and hit the like button number eight the 1715 treasure fleet during the spanish occupation of south america regular shipments of the gold and treasures their troops had taken from the continent were sent back to spain this is partly what led to the rise of piracy at the time because so much valuable cargo was being transported and this led to fleets becoming increasingly bigger with many more warships to protect them as they made their journey while this allowed them to fend off attacks from other boats nothing could stop the onslaught of nature and in 1715 one of these treasure fleets was struck by a hurricane a few days after leaving port in cuba fifteen hundred soldiers were lost along with eleven of twelve ships in an event that is believed to have caused the largest single deposit of gold on the seabed in history despite attempts to salvage it only a fraction of the total cargo was retrieved and for years afterwards gold coins and artifacts continued to wash up on beaches in florida with such treasure to be found the 1715 fleet became legendary and in 1928 one of the largest of the ships the urca de lima was finally discovered since then further wreckage has also been found and in 2015 on the 300th anniversary of the fateful voyage a team was able to recover more than 350 gold doubloons that were worth several million dollars number seven piece of a royal crown henry viii was undoubtedly the most famous of england's kings or queens mainly because of his life choices and the way that he had such an impact on the day-to-day lives and beliefs of the country's citizens he was renowned for his love of everything luxury and opulent and there are countless paintings of him wearing lavish clothes and most spectacular of all his crown adorned with golden sculptures and gems it's long been regarded as a lost treasure of british history with the leading theory being that following his death the crown was melted down it was all the more amazing then when a metal detectorist found a strange object in a field in a place called little oxendine he pulled it from the ground and after cleaning it saw that it was a small golden figurine it took several years of research before he realized that it looked just like those depicted in images of henry's crown and that feature on a replica version and historians are now fairly certain that this is in fact one of the originals it's quite possible that before the crown was melted some of the ornaments were removed and kept as keepsakes and it's now made researchers wonder which other parts may still exist and where the next one will turn up number six the hanuman doka palace treasure spread over five acres in kathmandu and nepal the hanuman doka palace is a huge stunning structure that was first built during the 16th century as it has been there for so long it's not uncommon for researchers to find new objects or treasures on the grounds but in 2011 a discovery was made that seemed almost inconceivable workers were helping to renovate part of the palace when they found three boxes in a secret store room thought to be more than 500 years old these boxes contained coins and ornaments that according to one expert were most likely intended as offerings to the gods in total the boxes were full of gold and silver artifacts weighed at least 661 pounds and the first one that was opened was estimated to be worth at least a quarter of a million dollars since valuables like these are so small they can be hidden virtually anywhere especially in old buildings it just makes you wonder what else might be waiting to be found in the palace and others like it and whether we've even scratched the surface of the hidden wonders that are still to be unearthed number five world war ii enigma machine during the second world war the nazis got frighteningly close to taking over europe and potentially the rest of the world and it took the concentrated efforts of several countries to bring them down while the firepower the allies amassed was certainly one of the major factors in this victory it was the cracking of the nazis communications encryptions that really gave a strategic advantage especially in preventing the german u-boats from continuing their devastating attacks nazi troops had a complicated machine that looked like a typewriter that was used to encode messages and these would be present on their ships and submarines in late 2020 a diver was in the depths of the baltic sea to try and release an old fishing net when he found one of the devices which are now incredibly rare of course it had considerably decayed after years in salt water but nevertheless it's an important historical treasure that shows the ingenuity of the nazi war machine and how impressive it was that allied troops managed to overcome it this particular enigma machine is believed to have been one used by a nazi warship and is quite possible that it was purposefully thrown overboard before the ship was captured to prevent the allies from using it to help crack the code number four hermes head when we think of the ancient greeks some of the first things that come to mind were their artworks particularly their sculptures and statues one of the reasons for this is that they're more easily able to stand the test of time than other works so there's more of them than there are paintings for example sculptures can actually be so long-lasting that some have been found in the most surprising of places one of the strangest finds like this in recent years took place in november of 2020 while workers were performing repairs to an old sewer beneath athens to their amazement as they cleared the sludge they saw a face looking back at them they retrieved it and it was cleaned and it was only then that the head could be identified it was part of a statue of hermes the winged messenger thought likely to have been part of a hermetic column which were structures built at road intersections and ancient greece that served as road signs the head must have been detached at some point and used in the construction of the sewer while not particularly financially valuable it's undeniably a treasure of the ancient world and another example of how art and craftsmanship were at the core of ancient greek society number three the caesarea sunken treasure in february of 2015 zvika fair was diving in the water off the coast of caesarea an israeli port and noticed something shiny in the sand below it was somewhere where he had swung many times before and found pieces of pottery but this time it was different the night before a huge storm passed through that had churned up the seabed and what fair was looking at turned out to be a gold coin with arabic script written onto it he began to sweep more sand aside and kept finding more of these coins and soon called the authorities to alert them of the find it's believed the coins were once the cargo of a ship traveling through the region that probably itself was sunk by a storm more than 2 000 coins have now been recovered each of which is more than 95 pure 24 karat gold and are at least a thousand years old it's this purity along with the water conditions in this part of the mediterranean that meant the coins were preserved so well and with writing that's still legible they've proved to be valuable resources to researchers trying to learn more about that time period number two the forest fenn treasure while there are plenty of treasures around that have been left where they are by complete accident or misfortune many are hidden on purpose by their original owners who for some reason were unable to return for them there is an exception to this however because there was one valuable treasure horde that was purposefully hidden by its owner who had no intention of ever seeing it for himself again forrest fenn an art dealer and author from santa fe in new mexico hit a 12th century bronze box containing what he claimed to be millions of dollars worth of gold and gems somewhere in the rocky mountains in a self-published book that was released in 2010 he provided clues as to the box's location and this started a decade-long treasure hunt that saw people scouring the mountains of new mexico colorado wyoming and montana what seemed to be a fun idea at first soon became controversial because of the lengths of some of the treasure hunters would go in search of the prize five people died while trying to find the box which led to the chief of the new mexico state police appealing to fenn to end the mystery before more people got hurt others destroyed cultural artifacts and treasures were caught digging in protected areas thinking that they had found the true location and there were countless times that treasure seekers had to be rescued by emergency services after falling into a ravine or becoming stuck on mountain ledges finally to everyone's relief in 2020 it was announced that the box had been discovered in the end it was a medical student who managed to decipher the clues and find the treasure in wyoming but to this day he's refused to say exactly where or what exactly was in the mysterious box [Music] number one the bactrian horde in 1978 following decades of research into a supposed lost treasure a soviet afghan team led an archaeological dig at a place that's now called tiliatepe or the golden hill which is in the afghan province of joazan what they would go on to find would be one of the greatest treasure discoveries ever and would contain so many artifacts that they still haven't all been analyzed known as the bactrian horde the team recovered more than 20 000 pieces with items ranging from coins necklaces and medallions to belts crowns and even six burial mounds it's believed that the horde dates back to around 1900 years but there's one thing particularly unusual about it normally when a horde like this is discovered it's of coins and artifacts from one historic civilization but the bactrian horde contains coins from the parthians the romans and even from india it's now thought that the site belonged to either the ancient yuze people or the sakas who were part of a wider trade network with regions across the accessible world they are known to have lived in the region but eventually moved to india and it's quite possible the horde was simply too large for them to transport so they had no choice but to try to bury it and leave it behind the treasures were soon placed into a vault but because of political difficulties in the country in recent decades access to it was lost it was only in 2003 that it was opened again and now a new museum is being built in the afghan capital kabul where the intent is for the horde to be put on permanent display watch our binge watching playlist if you'd like to watch all of our most popular top 15 videos grab a drink grab a snack and get ready to binge you

Channel: Top Fives

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Keywords: Times People Discovered Treasure, treasure, found treasure

Id: u4rhqVxDxNM

Length: 20min 24sec (1224 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 09 2021