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Author Topic: Treasure - Treasure Everywhere..  (Read 9407 times)

sky otter

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Treasure - Treasure Everywhere..
« on: April 08, 2014, 01:47:49 pm »
10 Underestimated Items that Turned Out to Be Worth a Fortune


here's another article for your treasure thread..and don't you have one or two that you can add?  ;D

http://www.oddee.com/item_98785.aspx

10 Underestimated Items that Turned Out to Be Worth a Fortune
 11/27/2013
 by Grace Murano

1
The Painting Bought as Part of a $46 Job Lot that Turned Out to be a Constable Worth $390,000


A postcard-sized painting that was bought as part of a job lot for $46 (£30) at an auction and left hidden away in a drawer for a decade has been identified as a work by John Constable worth more than $390,000 (£250,000).

Robin Darvell bought a cardboard box full of items, including the small artwork -- which depicts a rural scene of trees, a bright blue sky, and a meadow -- at a sale in Canterbury, southern England more than 10 years ago. Only a faint signature on the back of its gold frame hinted at its origin. But when Darvell passed the painting on to his son Robert, Darvell junior decided to look into the painting's story and find out who painted it.

Robert Darvell, 45, the director of a film marketing company, contacted fakes and forgeries expert Curtis Dowling from the British TV show Treasure Detectives, who embarked on a year-long journey, analyzing the paint, canvas, and signature to help solve the mystery.

Darvell and Dowling believe that Constable painted the work as a gift for his father-in-law. It is thought that it has never been on public display before.

In 2012, the Constable painting "The Lock" became one of the most expensive British paintings ever sold, fetching £22.4m ($34.8 million) at an auction at Christie's in London. (Source:  http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/03/world/europe/constable-painting/)



2
The $1.6 Million Cabinet that was Found in a Pizza Parlor



A long-lost $1.6 million 17th century cabinet was found ... outside the toilets of a pizza parlor in Yorkshire, England!

The Roman baroque furniture was snapped up by a European private collector at a Sotheby's sale after the carved wooden base was reunited with its intricately decorated top half. The cabinet, which features a picture of the Pope blessing the crowd in Rome, was sold for £1,084,500, including the buyer's premium.

It had been feared that the giltwood stand had been lost forever, but it was recently discovered in the York branch of Ask by the head of furniture at Sotheby's, Mario Tavella. She had been looking for the console for 20 years, and realized that the table was almost identical to two other pieces housed in Denmark thought to have been given as gifts by Pope Clement IX.

The stand was sold by the York Conservation Trust, which owns the Assembly Rooms where Ask pizzeria has rented since 2002. (Source:   http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-499640/Seventeenth-Century-cabinet-outside-toilets-pizza-restaurant-sells-1m.html)



3
The Box Used as a TV Stand that Turned Out to Be an Antique Worth $10 Million


This Seventeenth Century Japanese lacquer box was a masterpiece in its time and, in our time, stout enough to support a heavy television set. What is now known as the Mazarin Chest passed through various hands over hundreds of years, eventually serving mostly practical purposes.
For several years, the largest of the two Mazarin's golden chests was considered lost. The Victoria & Albert Museum looked far and wide for it, anxious to bring the two rare beauties together again.
It turns out that in 1970, the chest was sold for $160 to a French engineer who worked for Shell Petroleum. The engineer used it as a TV stand in his South Kensington apartment for 16 years, then brought it with him when he retired to the Loire Valley in 1986, where he used it as a bar.

Oblivious to all this, in 2013 the engineer's family called in the auction specialists of Rouillac to appraise and sell his estate. Philippe Rouillac found Mazarin's lost golden chest in a house in Touraine propping up spirituous beverages. It sold at auction for 7.3 million euros ($9,5 million). (Source: http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/26043 |
Via:  http://m.neatorama.com/2013/09/05/Box-Used-as-a-TV-Stand-Turns-out-to-Be-an-Antique-worth-10-Million/)


4
The Man Who Discovered that the Old Cup He's Been Using as a Plinking Target is Worth $99,000


When he was a boy, John Weber, 70, was given this old cup by his grandfather. He assumed that it was just a worthless piece of brass and occasionally used it for target practice with his air rifle. Eventually, Weber decided to have it appraised, and experts concluded that it was a 2,300-year-old Persian gold cup of enormous value. It sold at auction for £50,000 or $99,000 U.S. in 2008. (Source: http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2011/04/worlds-most-expensive-plinking-target-million-dollar-gold-cup/
 | Via  http://m.neatorama.com/2011/04/11/man-discovers-that-the-old-cup-that-hes-been-using-as-a-plinking-target-is-worth-99000/)



5
The Man Who Bought $200 Million Ansel Adams Photos at a Garage Sale



Rick Norsigian's hobby of bargain hunting at garage sales paid off big time. Two small boxes that he bought 10 years ago for $45 -- negotiated down from $70 -- are now estimated to be worth at least $200 million according to a Beverly Hills art appraiser. Norsigian kept the boxes under his pool table for four years before realizing that they may be too valuable to store at home.

Those boxes contained 65 glass negatives created by famed nature photographer Ansel Adams in the early period of his career. Experts believed that the negatives were destroyed in a 1937 darkroom fire which destroyed 5,000 plates.

The photographs apparently were taken between 1919 and the early 1930s, well before Adams, who is known as the father of American photography, became nationally recognized in the 1940s.
(Source http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/07/27/ansel.adams.discovery/index.html?hpt=C1
| Via   http://m.neatorama.com/2010/07/27/ansel-adams-photos-from-garage-sale-worth-200-million/)



6
The $3 Bowl Found in a Garage Sale that Turned to Be a 1,000-Year-Old Treasure Worth $2.2 Million



Talk about a garage sale find! A New York family picked up a Chinese bowl at a garage sale for $3 and found out that it's actually a 1,000-year-old treasure worth $2.2 million.

The bowl — ceramic, 5 inches in diameter with a saw-tooth pattern etched around the outside — was eventually sold to a London dealer, Giuseppe Eskenazi, at Sotheby's auction house in New York in March 2013.

Sotheby's said that the bowl was from the Northern Song Dynasty, which ruled China from 960 to 1127 and is known for its cultural and artistic advances. The only other known bowl of similar size and design has been in the collection of the British Museum for more than 60 years.
(Source
  http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/20/17385541-picked-up-for-3-bucks-chinese-bowl-goes-for-22-million-at-auction?lite
 | Via  http://m.neatorama.com/2013/03/22/3-Bowl-Found-in-a-Garage-Sale-Sold-at-Auction-for-22-Million/)



7
The Alleged Jackson Pollock Painting that was Bought for Five Dollars and is Being Sold for $50 Million



Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock? is a documentary that tells the story of a woman named Teri Horton, a 73-year-old former long-haul truck driver from California who purchased a painting from a thrift shop for $5, only to find out later that it may be a Jackson Pollock painting; she had no clue at the time who Jackson Pollock was, hence the name of the film.

Horton purchased the painting from a California thrift shop as a gift for a friend who was feeling depressed. Horton thought that the bright colors were cheery, but when the dinner-table-sized painting proved to be too large to fit into her friend's trailer, Horton set it out among other items at a yard sale, where a local art teacher spotted it and suggested that the work could have been painted by Pollock due to the similarity to his action painting technique.

The film depicts Horton's attempts to authenticate and sell the painting as an original work by Pollock. Its authenticity was doubtful because the painting was purchased at a thrift store, is unsigned, and is without provenance. The main problem with the painting is that it "does not have the soul of a Pollock," according to collectors. In addition, Pollock had many imitators during his lifetime. However, a forensic specialist matched a fingerprint on the painting with those on two authenticated Pollocks and a can of paint in his studio, along with finding other evidence.

Horton once turned down an offer of US $9 million from a Saudi Arabian buyer, and says that she will take no less than $50 million for the painting. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_the_*$%26%25_Is_Jackson_Pollock%3F  )



8
The Old Vase Left Behind in a House that sold for $85 million



A brother and sister in Pinner, UK cleaned out the house belonging to their recently-deceased parents. They figured that an old vase that they found might be worth a few bucks, so they decided to have it appraised.


They took it to the local auctioneer Bainbridges in nearby Ruislip, who were in turn excited by the find and valued it at between £800,000 and £1.2m.

However, no one expected the reaction from Chinese buyers, who pushed the bidding up over 30 frenzied minutes to a world record £43m. By the end of the auction, the price was increasing in £1m chunks as the final few bidders - understood to be mainland Chinese businessmen - vied for the vase.

At one point, the sister selling it almost passed out from the rising value and had to leave the room for some fresh air.

The 18th century Qianlong-dynasty porcelain piece is believed to have fetched the highest price for any Chinese artwork ever sold at auction. The total price, including commission and VAT on the commission, was £53,105,000, or about $85 million.
 (Source http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/artsales/8128244/Chinese-vase-sells-for-53m-the-ultimate-cash-in-the-attic.html
| Via  http://m.neatorama.com/2010/11/12/old-vase-in-left-behind-in-house-worth-85-million/)



9
The Man Who Bought a $5 Box of Junk at a Garage Sale that Contained a Coca-Cola Stock Certificate that Could Be Worth $130 Million



In 2008, a California man named Tony Marohn bought a box of documents at a neighborhood garage sale for $5. When he got home, Marohn examined his take and noticed that one of the documents was a 1917 stock certificate for 1,625 shares of the Palmer Union Oil Company. With a little investigating, Marohn discovered that Palmer Union Oil merged with a company and that company then merged again with Coke and, according to the lawsuit, his twice-merged shares would entitle him to 1.8 million shares worth an estimated $130 million based on today's closing price of $72.02! That many shares would make Mr. Marohn's heirs the largest non-institutional shareholders of Coca-Cola and one of the richest garage sale hunters in history.
 (Source  http://www.celebritynetworth.com/articles/entertainment-articles/guy-buys-junk-130-million-surprise/)



10
The Man Who Paid $10 at a Las Vegas Garage Sale for What Turned Out to Be a $2 Million Andy Warhol Original Sketch




Back in 2010, British businessman Andy Fields purchased a collection of five paintings from a Las Vegas garage sale for $5. When he decided to have one of the paintings reframed, he discovered an early Andy Warhol sketch hidden behind it. The signed drawing is believed to be of 1930s singer Rudy Vallee and was created when Warhol was just 10 years old. Warhol paintings fetch absurd prices on the auction block — the artist is considered to be the bellwether of the art market — and the sketch is estimated to be worth a whopping $2 million.
 (Source  http://petapixel.com/2012/04/04/man-buys-priceless-warhol-sketch-at-garage-sale-for-5/)



« Last Edit: April 13, 2014, 12:43:42 pm by zorgon »

Offline zorgon

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Re: Treasure - Treasure Everywhere..
« Reply #1 on: January 04, 2015, 10:38:37 am »
Amateur treasure hunters unearth £1 million in Anglo Saxon coins


The hoard was bagged up by members of the the Weekend Wanderers Detecting Club. Credit: SWNS

Amateur treasure hunters have unearthed more than £1 million-worth of rare Anglo Saxon coins in a farmer's field.

The coins, which are over 1,000 years old, were stumbled upon by members of the Weekend Wanderers Detecting Club during a Christmas dig near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.



A total of 5,251 silver Anglo Saxon coins were discovered buried in the ground of rural farmland. Credit: SWNS

Over 100 people took part in the festive treasure hunt when the collection of more than 5,000 silver coins was found.

The perfectly-preserved coins, which feature the faces of Anglo Saxon kings, were stored in a lead bucket which was buried two feet underground.



Over 100 people took part in the festive treasure hunt when the rare find was made. Credit: SWNS

Experts have said the rare coins could be worth more than £1 million, while club leader Pete Welch described the find as "very significant".
They're like mirrors, no scratching, and buried really carefully in a lead container, deep down.

I'm just hoping that these coins will end up in a museum for the public to see. I wouldn't want to see them go to a private collector.

– PETE WELCH OF THE WEEKEND WANDERERS DETECTING CLUB



The coins will now be taken to the British Museum for conservation and identification. Credit: SWNS

The coins will now be taken to the British Museum for conservation and identification before a coroner will decide whether they are legally treasure.

A museum will then be able to bid for the coins with the money from the sale being split between the land owner and the individual who made the discovery
Last updated Fri 2 Jan 2015


http://www.itv.com/news/2015-01-01/amateur-treasure-hunters-unearth-1-million-in-anglo-saxon-coins/

Offline zorgon

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Re: Treasure - Treasure Everywhere..
« Reply #2 on: January 04, 2015, 11:31:00 am »
Where in Siberia is the last Tsar of Russia's 'missing' gold?


he leader of this venture Bair Tsyrenov told The Siberian Times: 'Following the discovery of the fragments of metal structures, similar to the frame of a railway bridge, at a depth of nearly 1,000 metres, Mir-2 began to rise on the slope covered with rocks. On this slope we discovered four bars with a distinctive golden glow, that were caught in a crevice on the sloping mass of rocks'

By The Siberian Times reporter24 January 2013
This year sees the 400th anniversary of the House of Romanov, the Russian royal family thrown on the scrapheap of history in 1917 as the Bolsheviks loomed.

The following year Nicholas II and his close family were shot by a firing squad in Yekaterinburg, but an intriguing mystery remains in Siberia over the whereabouts of 'hidden' or 'lost' Tsar's gold with claims it could be worth $80 billion at today's prices.

Across Siberia, groups of intrepid searchers have not given up hope of finding this treasure, convinced that it never fell into the hands of the Soviet authorities, and hoping this will be the lucky year for the royal gold rush.

'I am convinced that at least some of the tsar's gold remains in Siberia and I continue to hunt for it,' said one involved in a secretive bid to crack this historical mystery over the Romanov bullion.

'I will not divulge the locations I am searching but modern technology makes it more likely than ever before to be able to find the gold stashed beneath the surface'.

Here the Siberian Times reveals the main theories concerning the royal booty, which after the revolution was controlled by Admiral Alexander Kolchak, leader of the White Russian forces which for a time defied the advance of the Communist forces following the collapse of the old order in the country.


Grainy pictures from the vaults of a Kazan bank highlight that gold and other other precious metals of untold value were held here. Picture: The Siberian Times

Not in dispute is that as Russia descended into chaos during the First World War, treasures were shifted in 1915 from the capital city of Petrograd (now St Petersburg) to Kazan, east of Moscow, and later controlled by anti-Bolshevik forces, for safe-keeping.

In the months leading up to July 1918, when abdicated ruler Nicholas II and his family were shot on Lenin's orders, it is estimated that 73 per cent of the world's largest gold reserves were held in this Tatar city on the Volga River before most was shifted further east into Siberia.

Grainy pictures from the vaults of a Kazan bank highlight that gold and other other precious metals of untold value were held here.

One of Britain's most legendary spies, Sidney Reilly, and the colourful, womanising diplomat, Robert Bruce Lockhart, who with his lover Baroness Moura Budberg, Russia's 'Mata Hari', was accused of plotting to assassinate Lenin, were directly involved in this operation to prevent the gold falling into Communist hands.

It is also known that some of these riches were used by Kolchak to buy Western assistance in what soon amounted to a failed campaign to resist the might of Lenin's forces. Peristent reports suggest that much of the gold remained. One theory, examined more below, suggest that a hoard of gold remains buried to this day in forests on the edge of Kazan.

Other theories pinpoint five Siberian locations where gold from the royal vaults was secretly stashed - or lost.


Across Siberia, groups of intrepid searchers have not given up hope of finding this treasure, convinced that it never fell into the hands of the Soviet authorities, and hoping this will be the lucky year for the royal gold rush. Picture: The Siberian Times

Again not in dispute, as the Reds surged east, is that much gold was removed to Omsk in Siberia by train on 13 October 1918.

One month later Kolchak was proclaimed Supreme Ruler of the country and Omsk was briefly the capital city of anti-Bolshevik Russia.

Here by the Irtysh River, Kolchak had his headquarters and the city's central bank was also entrusted with the Imperial government's gold reserves.

The gold was guarded by a garrison of Czechoslovakian soldiers loyal to Kolchak  who had been trapped in Siberia by the war and revolution.

Some Omsk historians, notably Alexander Kuzhelev have claimed that a portion of this treasure remains hidden in labyrinthine secret chambers and old long-buried underground dungeons under the city, located from this bank.

'The retreating Admiral did not trust his foreign allies and the Czechoslovak Corps and decided to save the gold for the better times,' said one report.

'The gold can be found in an underground passage beneath the building that was the local representation of the State Bank at that time,' said Kuzhelev.

'The easiest way to move the treasure so that no-one knew about it would have been to move it one level lower. It is known and confirmed by many historical documents that Kolchak did not believe the Allies, and making the decision to move the gold to Beijing, he understood that it might get  into the hands from which it will be difficult to get back.

'It was decided to leave some of the gold in Omsk in case the allies would deceive them.'

It seems beyond extraordinary that the gold could remain hidden, especially in the narrow confines of a city.

Yet some cling to this version of what happened to 'Kolchak's Gold'.


http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/features/where-in-siberia-is-the-last-tsar-of-russias-missing-gold/

Offline zorgon

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Re: Treasure - Treasure Everywhere..
« Reply #3 on: January 04, 2015, 11:35:43 am »



Gold in National Bank in Kazan and, below, modern-day picture of the National Bank building in Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan. Pictures: The Siberian Times

Nina Pepelyayev, niece of Kolchak's prime minister Pepelyaev, recalled in her old age discussions about the gold from the time when she was in the admiral's entourage as it retreated east towards Irkutsk.

'Not all the valuables were evacuated', was her recollection.

There is a second version about the gold's hiding place around Omsk, however.

'Feeling that they would need to leave the city, but hoping for the eventual success of the White movement, the Admiral ordered his forces to hide the part of the gold reserves in Omsk,' said Ivan Shihata.

'A wagon with the valuable cargo was packed in boxes, and at night was taken to the appointed place, where it was reloaded onto carts and taken out of town. Between the Agricultural College and the Cossack village of  Zakhlamino 30 men under the supervision of eight officers (eyewitnesses mentioned this number) dug a hole, buried the boxes, and hid the treasure - and this was Kolchak's gold.

'Then the officers shot the soldiers, buried their weapons, and returned to the garrison. The officers also eliminated witnesses'.

The third theory is that as the gold was transported east from Omsk, some of the suspected 1,600 tons of royal bullion sank into Lake Baikal after a train accident. By legend this was supposed to have happened on line around Cape Polovinny.

Intriguingly, in 2009 fragments of carriages from the Circum-Baikal Railway believed to date from the period of the post-revolution Russian civil war were found in the lake. Amunition boxes were also discovered.

The following year the Mir-2 submersible located 'shiny metal objects' resembling gold bullions deep underwater near Cape Tolstoy. 


Intriguingly, in 2009 fragments of carriages from the Circum-Baikal Railway believed to date from the period of the post-revolution Russian civil war were found in the lake. Amunition boxes were also discovered. Picture: Channel 1 Russia

One environmentalist involved in the underwater search said: 'Deep-sea vehicles found rectangular blocks with a metallic gleam, like gold, 400 metres below the surface'.

Tantalisingly, a report at the time stated: 'Explorers attempted to grab hold of them with the mini-sub's manipulator arm but failed to due to the crumbling gravel on the lake's basin. One consolation is that the explorers have determined the exact position of the alleged treasure.'

The leader of this venture Bair Tsyrenov told The Siberian Times: 'Following the discovery of the fragments of metal structures, similar to the structure of a railway bridge, at a depth of nearly 1,000 metres, Mir-2 began to rise on the slope covered with rocks.

'On this slope we discovered four bars with a distinctive golden glow, that were caught in a crevice on the sloping mass of rocks.

'We were not able to get close to the discovery, the slope was very shaky, any action caused a movement of gravel.

'The manipulator could not reach the bars, but we recorded their exact location. 

'Exploring these 'shiny objects' in the same year became impossible because of a weather change. Special dives in the area the following year could only be done by the local divers, but the depth and poor illumination made it impossible to find the 'shiny objects'.'

While admitting that historians have disputed a train crash involving the royal bullion, he said: 'It would be tempting to assume that the 'shiny objects' we found could be related to the history of the disappearance of the gold reserve of the Russian Empire, better known as the Kolchak Gold'.

He has spoken of 'alternative' searches for the gold in Baikal - but did not give details.

It cannot be ruled out that armed with the information on the location of this gold, private hunts out of the public gaze are planned for the royal riches under the surface of this Siberian 'sea'.

Yet this is not the only story relating to the 'lost' treasure in Lake Baikal. Another account suggests that the gold was carried towards Imperial China by troops loyal to Kolchak across the frozen lake in the winter of 1919-20. This desperate attempt to smuggle the tsarist treasure would have come around the time that Kolchak was captured and shot to death in Irkutsk on 7 February 1920.

This version holds that the soldiers froze to death as temperatures sank towards minus 60C.

The gold stayed on the ice-bound surface of the until spring before sinking to the bottom of the world's deepest lake, never to be seen again.


On Kolchak's gold, historian Oleg Budnitskii, of the Russian Academy of Sciences, disputes the value of the treasure trove which he puts at closer to $5 billion at today's prices than some estimates of up to $80 billion.

If true it raises the possibility that these riches lie on the floor and could be found. Yet the maximum depth of Baikal is 1,642 metres (5,387 ft), and it contains more water that all the Great Lakes of North America combined. No 'treasure map' exists, or even hint of the route these forces may have taken, and the scale of any underwater hunt is mind-boggling.

A further fascinating hypothesis about the Kolchak gold reserves stretches further north in Siberia's Krasnoyarsk region.

Researcher Eugene Pashchenko claims that in 1919 a special detachment of White forces were deployed close to the now disused Ob-Yenesei canal.

'Local people  showed me a mass grave, where lie the remains of about five hundred White solders,' he said.

'What were they doing here? Who managed to destroy a large, well armed military force? Official documents about this accident do not exist. It is believed that this unit could have been performing a secret mission for the delivery of Admiral Kolchak's gold'.

The assumption is that the plan was to get the gold out of Russia via the Northern Sea Route which was successfully used by Kolchak for receiving munitions from the West.

'The Whites failed to fulfil this task,' he said.

'The detachment died halfway to their goal. However, the local residents who survived passed down the story that before their deaths the White solders were hiding something.'

Of course, it is not impossible that there are elements of truth about all these versions: that the gold was divided up and some is to this day in Omsk, Krasnoyarsk and Baikal. Or all could be wrong.

Back in Kazan, author Valery Kurnosov says evidence of a gold hoard close to the city - perhaps worth $1 billion at today's prices - lies in the files of both the old Soviet KGB and Britain's foreign intelligence service, MI6. A New York court was told in 1928 of an evacuation of gold and platinum by foreign legionnaires in 1918. It was revealed they took it by lorry to a site in the woods near Kazan.




Valery Kurnosov says evidence of a gold hoard close to the city - perhaps worth $1 billion at today's prices - lies in the files of both the old Soviet KGB and Britain's foreign intelligence service, MI6. Below, Tsarist era map evidently containing clues to the location of the Kazan gold stash. Pictures: The Siberian Times

This came in an astonishing submission to the judge from a Pole called Vyacheslav Vetesko. His brother Konstantin, a legionnaire, had told him in 1920 as he lay dying in Kazan how he had buried the gold with his own hands amid the flames of revolution then engulfing the city.

By candlelight, his brother expiring in front of him, Vyacheslav copied down details of the location of the gold and key landmarks to identify the spot, and later fled the USSR for Warsaw.

'Konstantin told how the Red Army bombed a convey moving the gold in Kazan in 1918,' said Kurnosov. 'The soldiers guarding it ran away. He and his group of legionnaires - among them Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Serbs and Croatians - managed to grab the gold and moved it to the forest, hoping to come back for it later if, as they expected, the Bolshevik stranglehold failed.

'He told how they secured the gold, but that all his fellow mercenaries were killed by Lenin's forces as the Reds pushed back the Whites. Konstantin was the sole survivor to tell the the story about the hidden Kazan gold."

This gold - probably owned by private individuals from the old royal capital rather than the tsar - led to an extraordinary joint operation between east and west in Stalin times in an attempt to locate it.

Called Operation Golden Fleece, the hunt began on 1 October 1929 and there was an agreement to share any treasure that was found.


Letter from Moscow archive to researcher Ibragimov saying that certain details on the Kazan gold remain classified. Picture: The Siberian Times

http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/features/where-in-siberia-is-the-last-tsar-of-russias-missing-gold/

Offline zorgon

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Re: Treasure - Treasure Everywhere..
« Reply #4 on: January 04, 2015, 11:37:31 am »
Sources with access to other documents on the gold which remain classified to this day say that one of two leaders of the foreign contingent Roger George Ludwig Gariel was in fact  identified by the Soviets as a spy working directly for British intelligence.

'It is clear London was taking a close interest in this search, and no doubt the records would be in their files," said Ravil Ibragimov, another researcher convinced the gold still lies hidden.

An 'urgent, top secret' telegram sent to Moscow by a Soviet official stated: 'After whole day spent with no result yesterday, the foreigners became a bit more open. As a result, I got a chance to have a look at their notes, and plans, and maps'.

Another from Nicholay Prasolov, manager of the State Bank in Kazan, told his Moscow chiefs of his conviction that 'the treasure is not a myth. It exists, and is buried somewhere in the region around Kazan. But the materials they are using so far are insufficient to detect the exact location'.

Ten years later he would be executed by Stalin as an 'enemy of the people', for financial crimes amounting to 'counter-revolutionary activities', possibly in relation to the gold.  For now the Soviets wrote daily 'protocols' reporting on progress on the search and on the behaviour of the foreigners.


Head of the Russian search in 1929, Nikolai Prasolov, later executed as an 'enemy of the people'. Picture: The Siberian Times

At one point, a lawyer with the foreign group was sent to Warsaw for consultations with Vyacheslav and to get more instructions about the location of the gold. Six weeks into the hunt, after heavy snow falls, it was aborted.

The aim was to restart it the following year, but the Soviet side refused, perhaps hoping that by now they now had sufficient knowledge to locate it without foreign involvement.

There is indeed evidence that the Russians returned to the hunt in the following two summers, and again between 1948 and 1950, and once more in 1963, in the final year of Khrushchev's rule.

'The place where the treasure hunters stopped their search was in a meadow of about 300 square metres enclosed within a forest. Several expeditions later undertaken by the Soviet side could not find any treasures there. But they deployed soldiers and sappers armed with small shovels. Later the authorities hired peasants. But you need heavy equipment - excavators, bulldozers, and the like.'

'I am convinced the gold is still buried in its original location, and can be extracted,' said researcher  Ravil Ibragimov, who has worked on finding the gold for half his lifetime after hearing stories as a Soviet child of its burial near his village of Astrakhanka. 'There is not a scrap of evidence that it was taken out of the ground by the Bolsheviks or anyone else'.


Secret agreement on the foreign gold hunt in 1929. Picture: The Siberian Times

On Kolchak's gold, historian Oleg Budnitskii, of the Russian Academy of Sciences, disputes the value of the treasure trove which he puts at closer to $5 billion at today's prices than some estimates of up to $80 billion.

He also claims to have 'put to rest' the debate on Kolchak's gold by asserting that virtually every rouble can be accounted for and that no mystery remains.

'The lion's share of the money received by the government of Admiral Kolchak... was used for the purchase of arms, uniforms, and other military supplies', he wrote, while also detailing how vast sums went into Western banks and was later used to pay off outstanding loans.

Many, though, are not ready to believe the logic of his analysis and crave the discovery of the gold in Siberia 95 years after abdicated Nicholas II and his family were slain in the Urals.

http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/features/where-in-siberia-is-the-last-tsar-of-russias-missing-gold/



Offline zorgon

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Re: Treasure - Treasure Everywhere..
« Reply #5 on: July 30, 2015, 03:53:04 pm »
I guess I will add my find to this thread...


I picked up an old Belt Cup from the fellow across the street from me. He had a yard sale and had a few old items from his father who passed away. He had taken over the house after the mother sold it to him and moved to an apartment.

Before she moved out  she had told my neighbor and friend (also Ron) to take a look inside the house for anything he wanted. (He had been her handyman for years)  She said don't be shy, because my son will just toss everything anyway.

Well he didn't feel right and never did. True to her word the son did toss out a lot of stuff. We missed the first batch (about 20 trash bags) but got the second. I really regret missing the first batch as the flintlock parts were in the second lot... I shudder to think what he tossed away...

Ron got a signed invitation for Tom Thumbs wedding and some other old posters... Lots of little stuff. I still have two barrels he was going to cut up for firewood. They are original Voyageur powder kegs.

At the yard sale he had there were some mineral samples and two items from the voyageur days  a powder flask for $10.00 (another guy had that already) and the Belt Cup. $10.00

The father was a Mason and Boyscout Leader and a Mine owner up in Northern Quebec. He was a gun expert and avid treasure hunter...  wish I had met him

So this belt cup.... I recognized it as a belt cup because we have similar things for Medieval recreation...  This one was a scoop shaped cup with ornate carving  and a little barrel on a string that hooks over your belt.  When you need a drink you just scooped up some water.

Well I looked them up on line and found a few others, but they were plain, no carving, like this one



I saw some around $250.00  so listed mine for $280.00 on Ebay

But something made me stop and double check  So I pulled the listing and sent the pictures to several auction companies. Christies and Southebies were not interested, Seems they only cater to 'certain clientele' :P  But Heritage Auctions was...

My agent told me a similar cup had sold for $1500.00 though mine was better.

Well dang  I was good with that :P  So I sent it to them.  They put it on show in New York and she wrote me that they would have to increase the estimate to $2,500-4,000 and if I was okay with that...

Well ummmm YEAH!!! :P

So it went to another showing in Sante Fe New Mexico. Here the estimate was once again increased to $5.000-8,000

 :o

Then finally it went to Dallas Texas for the October Auction of Native Items. I had originally submitted the item in Jan.

The final hammer price? $30,000!  Heritage charges the seller 20% so my net was $24,000.00. They also charge the purchase 20%  so he paid $37,000. It was touted as the best example of such a cup and came in second only to a Native glass bead jacket that was found at Custer's Last stand

THIS was the cup





http://fineart.ha.com/itm/american-indian-art/wood-sculpture/an-eastern-woodlands-carved-wood-belt-cupc-1760/a/5161-50330.s

This item was featured on the inside cover of the catalog in full page so I still have a record of it. Makes a nice framed piece with a copy of the check :D

Now that was a one of a kind find... but it shows what is out there.  With the internet as a search tool you can get the value of almost anything in a few minutes.

So get out to those yard sales, church sales and country auctions  You never know what you can pick up

Turning 10.00 into 24,000 is rare, but turning it into $100 to $1,000 is very doable (if you stop procrastinating like I am known to do :P )
« Last Edit: July 30, 2015, 03:55:08 pm by zorgon »

Offline Lunica

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Re: Treasure - Treasure Everywhere..
« Reply #6 on: July 31, 2015, 02:07:15 am »
Amen!

Thats a real good story :)

Offline zorgon

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Re: Treasure - Treasure Everywhere..
« Reply #7 on: November 23, 2016, 11:26:22 pm »
Miners in Namibia discovered a ship carrying $9 million worth of Gold



Quote
Perplexed diamond miners working off the coast of Africa stumbled upon a treasure; a 500 year old shipwreck loaded with gold worth a whopping $9 million.

The ship is appropriately named Bom Jesus; meaning Good Jesus, as it is nothing less than a miracle from the supreme up above as described by the miners who made the monumental discovery.

The ship was first identified and discovered by the geologists working for the mining company De Beers; the geologists discovered the ship off the coast of Namibia near Oranjemund in April 2008.


Dr Dieter Noli at the site.Source: Dieter Noli

The ship belongs to the Golden era of Portuguese sailors and explorers who set sail in all directions in search of new lands to colonize and capitalize from. The Bom Jesus left Lisbon sometime in 1533 under the supervision of Sir Francisco de Noronha, but on its way to India the ship simply vanished without any trace and with its precious cargo was lost.

This was not the only wreckage discovered by the miners from the site; a number of others discoveries were also made near the region. The miners were conducting a challenging task to drain an artificial salt lake and as the lake dried out many lost ships were found lying at the lake bed.

However Bom Jesus was the oldest. The discovery was not a sudden event; the miners first found many strange pieces of the ships and other old artifacts lying on the beach. The actual treasure was found once miners dug the sand and unearthed the remaining part of the ship buried under tons of sand.

From the day the miners found the initial signs of shipwreck scattered along the beach, it took them a whole week to put their hands on the gold coins and ivory tusks; six long days of digging and unearthing finally paid off in the form of a massive treasure trove.


Gold coins and a cannon Dieter Noli

The discovery of Bom Jesus is hailed as the most significant shipwreck of all times due to its age and the plethora of gold it contained on board. The site has earned a position on UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage.

The treasure of Bom Jesus contains a whole variety of different items from many countries and places around the world. The cargo on board Bom Jesus contains Ivory from West Africa, Copper ingots of German origin, gold coins from Portugal, Spain, and Venice.

A plethora of silver coins, weaponry including knives and high-quality swords also form the treasure along with personal belongings of the crew and some skeletons of the perished men. Other items found among the ruins include some astrological tools, musket compasses, some bronze bowls and long metal poles that were used in the ship’s structures.


Some of the gold coins found amidst the wreckage of the ship – most of which are in mint condition. Dieter Noli

According to the reports from the archaeologist Dr. Dieter Noli, the Namibian government is going to keep the gold as the treasure was discovered technically within its borders; it is a standard process if a shipwreck or a treasure is discovered near the beach i.e. the spoils go the country which owns the beach.

A twist in the rule is that if the ship containing the treasure is identified to carry the flag of a certain nation at the time it sank; then the remains automatically go to the country whose flag it was bearing in its last moments. However, Portugal authorities showed immense generosity and stood down from its right over the treasure and allowed the Namibian government to keep it.

http://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/08/03/miners-namibia-discovered-ship-carrying-9million-worth-gold/

Offline robomont

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Re: Treasure - Treasure Everywhere..
« Reply #8 on: November 24, 2016, 03:43:27 am »
Thats really classy of portugal! 5 gold stars to them.
Thats armap world isnt it?
ive never been much for rules.
being me has its priviledges.

Dumbledore

Offline zorgon

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Re: Treasure - Treasure Everywhere..
« Reply #9 on: July 24, 2018, 04:30:40 am »
Thats really classy of portugal! 5 gold stars to them.
Thats armap world isnt it?

yes it is :D


Another interesting find that recently went to auction.  Unfortunately, except for the scans made by the Auctioneer to sell the item, it was never scanned before a private collector bought it for $110,000 and it has not been seen since. This is one of the biggest issues with private collectors... squirreling away real history and no one else gets to see it. If they would have at least scanned it...

Diary of George Hodge--Sailor in Nelson's Navy

Quote
This story is somewhat old, but I stumbled across it while researching some other stuff on the web. The diary sold at auction for $110,000 to a private collector and that's the last anyone knows of it. Unfortunately, the diary was never scanned or transcribed for the edification of future students, historians or researchers. Over 500 pages with 200 watercolor drawings!! What was shared via the auction catalog and some press coverage is awesome. It sounds like some individuals are trying to track the diary down, but that's likely to be a lost cause until the owner steps forward, if ever?

SOURCE

Diary of 18th century sailor provides fascinating insight into life below decks in Nelson's navy
14 August 2008


Quote
A unique record of the British navy between 1790 and 1833 that was compiled by a sailor has emerged in the US.

The diary of George Hodge shows the "below decks" view of life at sea during a crucial time for Britain's senior service.

The self-educated seaman begins the journal with the words: "George Hodge, his Book Consisting of Difrint ports & ships that I have sailed in since the year 1790. Aged 13 years."



Quote
A unique account of life below decks in Nelson's navy has come up for auction

He recorded the ladies of leisure with whom he associated, painted stunning pictures of ships and flags as well as a self portrait.

Images of ordinary seamen from the time of Nelson's navy are very rare.

Hodge lists one or two skirmishes, but many entries cover the mundane activities of life on board vessels from this era. There are also words to sea shanties that the men sang.

The journal is about 500 pages long and includes lists of ships and how many guns they have, lists of crew, and a list of flag formations that number 192.

These include: "1. An enemy is in sight. 2. Prepare for battle. 3. Sail by divisions... 5. Engage the enemy (If red penant shown engage more closely) ... 10. Enemy retreating at full speed."  It also shows that danger was ever present for crews, even when the ships were not in battle.


George Hodge's self-portrait, who spent 43 years at sea from 1790 to 1833

Quote
On December 26, 1812, an entry reads: "A fresh breeze a strange sail in sight. Empl painting quarterdeck. Fell from the for top mast Mathew Donelson and was drownded." 

Another entry reads: "July 19 light breeze at 5am picked up body of John Carter and buried him on the Isle of White." 

On Christmas Day in 1806 he writes: "Employ'd in wartering ship and seting up the riger ... fish for dinner."

He began his career at sea as a cabin boy in coaling vessels between  Northumberland and London.

In 1794 he travelled to a Russian Baltic port and on the way back was captured by the French, but was then sent home in a cartel sloop.

He was captured again in 1797, but was returned home and then spent months on the run from press gangs.


One of Hodge's sea shanties that forms part of the 500 page account of all his adventures

Quote
But in 1798 he was caught and joined HMS Lancaster, which had 64 guns.   For the next nine years he served mainly along the west African coast. But he also went to Ceylon and the East Indies.

In 1808 he joined HMS Marlborough, 74 guns, and spent the years until 1812 mostly on blockade duty around Europe.

At Cadiz in 1812 news of the war with America reached his ship and she sailed to Bermuda. The Lancaster then served in the blockade of the Chesapeake and raided several towns.

Hodge was then sent to serve on the lakes in north America and was assigned to a gunboat.

In 1814 he took part in raids on Oswego, New York and blockaded the US Naval base at Sackets Harbour.


Hodge's account of dismasted HMS Tremendous

Quote
Finally, in 1815 he returned to Britain and at Greenwich was paid for 17 years, four months, two weeks and two days service with the Royal Navy.

After that he rejoined the merchant navy where he had started and finally ended his career at sea in 1833.

An addition made after his death shows that he did have children.

Hodge writes that he was born "In the Parish of Tinmouth in the County of Northumberland" and that his career began under "Capt Edger" who commanded the "brig Margerey." 


The opening page of Hodge's diary

Quote
Peter Coccoluto, from Northeast Auctions in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, US, is selling the item which has an estimate of 30,000 pounds.

He said: "It is very unusual because the man appears to be self-educated which is why he spells as the words sound.

"You do get Midshipmen's diaries that they had to keep and show sextant readings, weather conditions and diagrams of ports.

"But this is much different because it is from below decks and it is never clear what rank George Hodge had.


HMS Mary at South Shields

Quote
Diary of 18th century sailor provides fascinating insight into life below decks in Nelson's navy
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
UPDATED: 08:35 EDT, 14 August 2008

   
View comments
A unique record of the British navy between 1790 and 1833 that was compiled by a sailor has emerged in the US.

The diary of George Hodge shows the "below decks" view of life at sea during a crucial time for Britain's senior service.

The self-educated seaman begins the journal with the words: "George Hodge, his Book Consisting of Difrint ports & ships that I have sailed in since the year 1790. Aged 13 years."

Enlarge   Nelson
A unique account of life below decks in Nelson's navy has come up for auction


He recorded the ladies of leisure with whom he associated, painted stunning pictures of ships and flags as well as a self portrait.

Images of ordinary seamen from the time of Nelson's navy are very rare.

Hodge lists one or two skirmishes, but many entries cover the mundane activities of life on board vessels from this era. There are also words to sea shanties that the men sang.

The journal is about 500 pages long and includes lists of ships and how many guns they have, lists of crew, and a list of flag formations that number 192.

These include: "1. An enemy is in sight. 2. Prepare for battle. 3. Sail by divisions... 5. Engage the enemy (If red penant shown engage more closely) ... 10. Enemy retreating at full speed."  It also shows that danger was ever present for crews, even when the ships were not in battle.

George Hodge
George Hodge's self-portrait, who spent 43 years at sea from 1790 to 1833

On December 26, 1812, an entry reads: "A fresh breeze a strange sail in sight. Empl painting quarterdeck. Fell from the for top mast Mathew Donelson and was drownded." 

Another entry reads: "July 19 light breeze at 5am picked up body of John Carter and buried him on the Isle of White." 

On Christmas Day in 1806 he writes: "Employ'd in wartering ship and seting up the riger ... fish for dinner."

He began his career at sea as a cabin boy in coaling vessels between  Northumberland and London.

In 1794 he travelled to a Russian Baltic port and on the way back was captured by the French, but was then sent home in a cartel sloop.

He was captured again in 1797, but was returned home and then spent months on the run from press gangs.

Enlarge   nelson
One of Hodge's sea shanties that forms part of the 500 page account of all his adventures

But in 1798 he was caught and joined HMS Lancaster, which had 64 guns.   For the next nine years he served mainly along the west African coast. But he also went to Ceylon and the East Indies.

In 1808 he joined HMS Marlborough, 74 guns, and spent the years until 1812 mostly on blockade duty around Europe.

At Cadiz in 1812 news of the war with America reached his ship and she sailed to Bermuda. The Lancaster then served in the blockade of the Chesapeake and raided several towns.

Hodge was then sent to serve on the lakes in north America and was assigned to a gunboat.

In 1814 he took part in raids on Oswego, New York and blockaded the US Naval base at Sackets Harbour.

Enlarge   hodge
Hodge's account of dismasted HMS Tremendous

Finally, in 1815 he returned to Britain and at Greenwich was paid for 17 years, four months, two weeks and two days service with the Royal Navy.

After that he rejoined the merchant navy where he had started and finally ended his career at sea in 1833.

An addition made after his death shows that he did have children.

Hodge writes that he was born "In the Parish of Tinmouth in the County of Northumberland" and that his career began under "Capt Edger" who commanded the "brig Margerey." 

Nelson
The opening page of Hodge's diary

Peter Coccoluto, from Northeast Auctions in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, US, is selling the item which has an estimate of 30,000 pounds.

He said: "It is very unusual because the man appears to be self-educated which is why he spells as the words sound.

"You do get Midshipmen's diaries that they had to keep and show sextant readings, weather conditions and diagrams of ports.

"But this is much different because it is from below decks and it is never clear what rank George Hodge had.

nelson
HMS Mary at South Shields

"The diary does not cover every day and there are bits missing and other pages go in reverse order.

"There are wonderful water colour paintings of ships and flags and various other subjects are depicted.

"It runs to about 500 pages and covers his career from 1790 to 1833. But there is some information added afterwards and shows he had a family.

"Some of it is now hard to read, but the owner who had it managed to compile details of Hodge's career.

"It belonged to the J. Welles Henderson collection and he died last year and we are selling it in 600 lots." 

The diary goes under the hammer on August 16.

SOURCE: Daily Mail

Diary from ordinary seaman takes $110,000
26 August 2008 Written by ATG Reporter


A DIARY kept by a sailor in Nelson’s navy was offered for sale in a US auction earlier this month. Given that diaries kept by ordinary sailors are exceptionally rare, there was huge interest in this visually striking document from both sides of the Atlantic with institutions, the trade and private collectors vying for the journal.

SOURCE: Retrieved from Wayback Machine Archive

Diary entries of sailor George Hodge
The diary entries of seaman George Hodge
1:47PM BST 14 Aug 2008


Dec 25, 1806, Employ'd in watering ship and seting up the riger - fish for dinner.

July 15, 1807, On shore at Point [in Portsmouth] at 3pm returnd onboard from liberty brot a girl onboard MAK [initials of girl] at 5pm the girls orderd of the ship.

July 19, 1807, Light breeze at 5am picked up body of John Carter and buried him on the Isle of White.

July 20, 1807, I receved prize money from the brige Ben Sprance taking of the Isle of [obscured] 13..6

July 24, 1807, The Donnegal mand the yards and fired a Salute the Donnegal saild clear or lighter of wine and bread.

Dec 26, 1812, A fresh breeze a strange sail in sight. Empl painting quarterdeck. Fell from the for top mast Mathew Donelson and was drownded.

SOURCE: The Telegraph

Diary of 19th Century British Navy life 'below decks' for sale
Hodge was a lowly sailor, whose rank is unknown Photo: BNPS



Quote
A rare record of life "below decks" in the British Navy between 1790 and 1833 penned by a sailor who served under Lord Nelson has been unearthed.

By Richard Savill 1:43PM BST 14 Aug 2008
The diary of George Hodge, a lowly sailor, whose rank is unknown, contains colour paintings and the words to sea shanties that the men sang.

The self-educated seaman, who spells words as they sound, begins the journal: "George Hodge his Book Consisting of Difrint ports & ships that I have sailed in since the year 1790. Aged 13 years."

He recorded details of the ladies of leisure with whom he associated, and painted pictures of ships and flags as well as a self portrait. Images of ordinary seamen from the time of Nelson's Navy are rare.

Hodge lists one or two skirmishes, but many entries cover the mundane activities of life on board vessels.

He began his career at sea as a cabin boy in coaling vessels between Northumberland and London.

SOURCE: The Telegraph
« Last Edit: July 24, 2018, 04:47:45 am by zorgon »

 


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