Missing Treasures Waiting To Be Discovered

Since the beginning of the time, treasures have been a very exciting topic, necessarily associated with a great dose of mystery. Even more is this true for treasures that, at many different times and under many different circumstances, have outright disappeared.  Speculation about them is always accompanied by questions or doubts. What are the missing treasures of today? Read on.

The Amber Room or Yantarnaya Komnata

Created in Berlin, during 1716 it was transported to Saint Petersburg and from there it disappeared during the WWII. Currently there is a reconstructed version of The Amber Room at the Catherine Palace near Saint Petersburg.

Andrey Zeest - Amber Room 2 (autochrome).jpg
Original Amber Room, around 1917 / By Андрей Андреевич Зеест – http://igor-bon.narod.ru/index/avtokhrom/0-106, Public Domain, Photo


Copy of Amber Room / Photo: Shutterstock

Crown Jewels of Ireland

They were stolen from the  Dublin Castle in 1907 and since then they remain missing.

Lord Dudley, Grand Master of the Order of St. Patrick.jpg
By National Library of Australia – http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136667649, Public Domain, Photo

Irish Crown Jewels.jpg
By Dublin Police (Life time: 1907) – Original publication: Dublin Metropolitan Police Immediate source: The journal.ie, Public Domain, Photo

Antwerp Diamond heist

More than $100 million worth of diamonds, gold and jewelry were stolen (which made it one of the largest heists) from the Antwerp World Diamond Centre between 15–16 February 2003. The diamonds were never found. The book “Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History“ was inspired by the incident.


Diamonds – an illustration photo / Photo: Shutterstock

Peking Man – Homo erectus pekinensis

The remains of Homo erectus pekinensis appx. 500 000 years old were lost during WWII in China 1941.

Peking Man Skull (replica) presented at Paleozoological Museum of China.jpg
Copy of the Homo erectus pekinensis / Photo: Yan Li

The Just Judges from the Ghent Altarpiece

by Jan van Eyck. The panel disappeared on April 10, 1934 and was replaced with a copy. There is still no trace of the original piece of art.

Ghent Altarpiece E - Just Judges (original painting).jpgGhent Altarpiece E - Just Judges by Vanderveken.jpg
Above: original / Photo: Max Friedländer, Below: the copy / Photo: Wikipedia

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