Humans have a long history and they have always left their marks all over the world. Sometimes they hide their precious treasure to protect it.
Now, after hundreds of years, many hidden treasures have been discovered and some are dated from ancient times. In the past few years, many notable treasure hoards were found and many of them have worth of million dollars.
Perhaps, thousands of treasures are yet to be found. In this list, we have included some of the unique and most precious treasure humans have found to date. We haven’t included things recovered from shipwrecks.
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10. California Treasure
In 2013, a couple in Calfornia found gold coins worth $10 million, while walking their dog. These coins were found in rusty metallic cans under the earth’s surface.
The treasure contained 1400 gold coins and considered to be the greatest treasure ever found in the United States. These coins were dated to the late 18th century and surprisingly found in good condition. Still, it is not clear who hid these gold coins.
9. Ophel Treasure
Dr. Mazar, an archaeologist at the Hebrew University found a treasure at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The treasure was unearthed on 9th September 2013.
It contained 36 gold coins and other antique jewelry which dated to the Byzantine era (5th century to mid-15th century). All the recovered things belonged to the regions of different Byzantine emperors, ranging from the 5th century to the 7th century CE.
8. Frome Treasure
In 2010, Dave Crisp found a hoard of over 52,000 Roman coins in Frome, England. He found coins in a big ceramic pot which was dated between 253 AD and 305 AD. After excavating, the treasure was taken to the British Museum to further investigate the coins. A national treasure committee valued the hoard for more than 320,000 pounds.
7. Staffordshire Hoard
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On 5th July 2009, Terry Herbert discovered King Ransom’s treasure in Staffordshire, England. The hoard belongs to the Anglo-Saxon era. The treasure contained more than 3500 pieces including 5 kg of gold and 1.3 kg of silver. At that time, the treasure was valued more than 3.2 million pounds. It is now kept in the Birmingham Museum and Art gallery.
6. Midwest Megahoard
In 1998, a big collection of 1.7 million rare coins was discovered from the Midwest collector’s house in the United States. These coins include Indian head pennies and Liberty and Buffalo nickels. This hoard weight is over 7.6 tons and was stored behind the walls, floorboards and in the 55-gallon drums.
In 2011, the Littleton Coin Corporation purchased the coins. The number of coins was so large that it took a couple of months to transfer coins to Littleton’s headquarter in Hampshire.
5. Hanumandhoka Palace Treasure
On 28th June 2011, a big treasure was found by some laborers in the Hanumandhoka Palace in Nepal. This is a UNESCO world heritage site believed to be more than 500 years old. The lost treasure was found from the storeroom of the old palace: three boxes of treasure include 3 kg gold and 80 kg silver antique ornaments. Now, this site is used as a museum.
4. Hoxne Hoard
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On 16th November 1992, a big Roman treasure was discovered by a man in the village of Hoxne, England. More than 15,000 ancient Roman coins and 200 other items were found, which belonged to the 4th century. In 1993, a treasure committee valued it at 1.75 million pounds and recently it is revalued at over 3 million pounds. Now, these precious objects are kept in the British National Museum.
3. Silverdale Viking Hoard
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On 6th January 2007, David and his son unearthed a big treasure using a metal detector in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. The treasure contained 617 silver coins and 65 other good quality silver items that were dated back to 9th AD and came from France and Germany. This 1 million pound treasure was kept by the Yorkshire National Museum and a small portion was given to the landowner.
2. Atlantic Ocean Treasure
In the month of July 2013, American treasure hunters found 60 tons of silver from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean near Ireland’s coast. Its estimated value is $77 million. The treasure was found in a British ship which was sunk in 1941 while carrying silver from India to Britain to fund the war.
Most of the bricks were recovered in 2012. Almost 80 percent of the treasure was retained by the exploration company and the rest was inherited by the government.
1. South Indian Temple Hoard
Also Read: Oldest Things Ever Found on Earth
One of the world’s biggest treasure was found in Shree Padmanabhaswamy Temple located in Kerala, South India. It contained a surprisingly huge amount of gold and jewelry worth almost $22 billion.
The treasure was found in the underground chambers in 2011. Some of the popular things found in the treasure include golden bow, golden rope, Napoleonic Coins and gold coins of the East India Company. The temple is now under state government’s control.