- If you've ever lost something, you know just how frustrating it can be. Now imagine if what you lost
was a priceless treasure. But more so than just being lost, there are some irreplaceable
treasures that were discovered that simply vanished without
a trace, with no explanation. How could that have possibly happened? The following are just those stories. (whooshing)
(eerie music) (creaking)
(gasping) Here are 10 Priceless
Treasures That Vanished. (whooshing) Number 10 is Menorah
from the Second Temple. Some priceless treasures are so valuable, not just because of their age and the materials that
they're made out of, but because of their religious importance. That's the case with the menorah which disappeared from the Second Temple. This artifact was an
ancient Hebrew lamp stand made of pure gold. It was first used as a portable
sanctuary set up by Moses. And then, in the Second
Temple in Jerusalem, the menorah had been held up as one of the most important
symbols in Judaism. But in 70BC, the Romans sacked
the temple and stole it. They then displayed it as a trophy of war in the ironically named Temple of Peace. The temple then burned down AD 191. Rumors persist that
this priceless treasure ended up in the hands of
an east-Germanic trade known as the Vandals. But to this day, no one knows where it is. (whooshing)
(eerie music) Number nine is the Florentine Diamond. Many treasures have been
lost, stole, or hidden throughout the 20th century. One of the most captivating
mysteries from this time is the disappearance of
the Florentine diamond. The bright yellow diamond
originally came from India, although this origin has been disputed. Many believe that it's as old
as at least the 15th century and was worn by Charles
the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, during the Battle of Morat in 1476 in what is now modern day Switzerland. It was found in the mud by a peasant and since then, has changed many hands until 1918 when at some point, the diamond was stolen
by a mysterious figure close to the imperial family of Austria. Treasure hunters continue
to seek for the diamond and sightings suggest that it was smuggled into the Unites States
for some unknown purpose. (whooshing)
(eerie music) Number eight is the Honjo Masamune. The sword known as the Honjo Masamune represented the shogun in Japan during their most powerful period. It was passed down from
one shogun to another, a forged symbol of their power. It was won by a general called
Honjo in the 16th century after it split his helmet
but did not kill him. The sword remained in Japan until 1945 when the war with the allies ended. At the time, Sergeant Coldy Bimore walked into a police station
where the sword was being kept. He kept it as a representative
of the U.S. Army, but Sergeant Bimore then vanished. And it was later revealed that there was no such
man in the U.S. ranks. It's a complete mystery who he was and what happened to the sword. But as a Japanese cultural
and priceless treasure, it remains one of the most sought after and missing artifacts of all time. (whooshing)
(eerie music) Number seven is Tucker's Cross. Tucker's Cross is a jewel
encrusted 22 karat gold cross discovered by marine explorer,
Teddy Tucker, in 1955. While its origins cannot be verified, some have suggested that the
cross came from San Pedro, a Spanish galleon which was lost at sea during the late 15th century. Tucker did not understand how important his find was at the time. But by the 1990s, it
was largely considered to be the most priceless artifact ever discovered at a shipwreck site. Long before this, Tucker sold the cross to the government of Bermuda in 1959. He and his wife oversaw the museum where the cross was being
stored on the island. But just before the museum
was about to be sold, it was discovered that the
cross stored there was a fake and that Tucker's original
discovery had been stolen and replaced by a replica. It remains missing to this day. (whooshing)
(eerie music) Number six is Brink's-Mat Robbery. In 1983, over 100 million dollars worth of gold bullion, diamonds, and cash were stolen from a warehouse near Heathrow airport in London. Newspapers dubbed it the crime
of the century at the time. And most believed that the robbers and the gold would be recovered. But this was only half true. While some of the robbers were caught, four got away and the gold vanished. By the mid-90s, one
theory was that the gold had been melted down and sold back to the legitimate gold market. One report from an insider claimed that all gold jewelry
in the United Kingdom now contains some of the stolen gold. While this can't be verified, it could be that the
missing treasure trove is hiding in plain sight
in the store windows of jewelry shops throughout
the United Kingdom. (whooshing)
(eerie music) Number five is Llywelyn's coronet. One of the most important lost treasures of Welsh history is the Llywelyn coronet, an ancient crown dating back to at least the early 13th century. It was used to crown the
Prince of Wales at the time as the leader of the Welsh people. After a short but brutal war with England, the Welsh crown was seized and displayed in Westminster Abbey by King Edward I of England to show that the English
had conquered all of Wales. The crown disappeared under mysterious circumstances after that. The fact that such an important
relic of English conquest could disappear lends itself to rumors that the Welsh stole it back. Since then, some believe
it has been hidden by a secret group in Wales who will one day come
forward with the crown when Wales regains its independence. (whooshing)
(eerie music) Number four is Tokugawa's buried treasure. Stories of buried treasure and hidden loot exist all across all cultures. One of the most impressive
is the relatively little known mystery
of Tokugawa's treasure. This treasure was buried
somewhere in Japan around the middle of the 19th century. It's said that the shoguns who had ruled Japan for hundreds of years knew that their empire was about to fall and be replaced by the Japanese emperor. Facing annihilation, the
shoguns entire wealth was buried in six huge caskets 76 meters beneath the earth. Then all of those who were
involved in hiding the treasure disappeared in order to keep it safe. The treasure has never been recovered, though there are whispers
that the Japanese emperor recovered it and eventually used it to pay for Japanese expansion. Treasure hunters continue to this day to look for it with zeal. (whooshing)
(eerie music) Number three are the Antwerp diamonds. In 2003, a group of thieves committed one of the
heists of the century, stealing a vast treasure which
has never been recovered. Known as the Antwerp diamond heist, the treasure trove of priceless jewels included diamonds, gold,
and other precious stones. The thieves were led by a man
called Leonardo Notarbartolo. Also known as the School of Turin, some of the gang, included
Notarbartolo, got arrested, but the diamonds have
never been retrieved. While authorities claim
that the gang stole over 100 million dollars
worth of diamonds and gold, he suggests that the entire
heist was an insurance scam. Notarbartolo was hired by an unnamed man to rob the vault where
the diamonds were stored. But he says that there was only 20 million dollars of loot there. Someone has the other 80
million, but nobody knows who. (whooshing)
(eerie music) Number two is the Patiala necklace. Created by the house of Cartier in 1928, the Patiala necklace was
made for a powerful Maharaja. Adorned with a staggering 2,930 diamonds, the necklace included the seven largest diamond in the world. Any one diamond from the necklace would be ridiculously valuable today. The necklace mysteriously
vanished in 1948. It was held in the royal
treasury of Patiala, but despite being under guard, managed to disappear without a trace. Bizarrely, some of the
necklace has reappeared but not all of it. In 1982, the largest diamond was sold for millions of dollars at an auction in Geneva. Then a piece of the necklace was discovered in a
secondhand jewelry shop, of all places, in London. However, the majority of the diamonds and large parts of the
necklace itself remain missing. (whooshing)
(eerie music) And number one is the Peking man. Some treasures are precious
because of their rarity and age. Many of these are archeological
relics of our distant past. The Peking man is just one of those relics and vanished in 1941. Discovered originally near Beijing, the fossils consisted of broken pieces of skull, mandibles, and teeth. They dated back to over
700 thousand years ago. The fossils revolutionized
our understanding of humanity's origin. Despite being priceless in terms of both monetary and historical value, the fossils disappeared
mysteriously in the early 40s. At the time, Beijing was
under Japanese control. Just before America and Japan went to war, the fossils were taken. One story suggests that
they vanished near America and another that they were
aboard a Japanese vessel which now lies at the
bottom of the Pacific ocean. But either way, these are just rumors. And a big part of our
archeological history may be lost forever. (whooshing)
(eerie music)
