If the programming lineup of the History and Discovery channels show us anything, it’s that Americans love a good treasure hunt (almost as much as handfishing).
Wall Street windfalls come and go, but how often do we hear stories like the true-life tale of the S.S. Port Nicholson, a sunken World War II vessel recently found off Cape Cod. A group has spent $6 million finding and exploring the wreck, which they believe holds as much as $5 billion in platinum bars. They are so far mum on what, if anything, they’ve found.
So if you’re sick of the 9 to 5, there are plenty of lost fortunes to get armchair Indiana Joneses’ hearts pumping. Here, 10 treasures for which adventurers are still searching.
New York Post
The Rosebud egg sold as part of a set for $100 million in 2004. But eight Fabergé eggs are still missing.
The Lufthansa Heist
An infamous robbery took place at New York’s John F. Kennedy airport in 1978, netting its perpetrators $5 million in cash (more than $17 million in today’s dollars) and millions more in precious collectibles. Thanks to a tip-off from an airport worker, a crew partly comprised of Mafia operatives was able to make off with huge sums of cash from monetary exchanges in Germany used by servicemen.
The job marked the biggest heist in US history and inspired more than one screen treatment, including a plot thread in Martin Scorsese’s 1990 mobster classic “GoodFellas.”
When police identified one of the getaway vehicles, it was only a matter of time before arrests were made and fugitives started getting anxious. The subsequent killing of several men involved with the heist has been attributed to ringleader and Lucchese crime family figure Jimmy Burke. But despite the high-profile nature of the case and the litany of participants and informants, the princely haul of cash and jewelry was never recovered. There are theories that Burke buried at least some of it — but if so, the secret went to his grave. He died in prison in 1996.
Missing Fabergé Eggs
The ornate, bejeweled Fabergé eggs are recognized around the globe as an iconic symbol of opulence. By commission of Tsar Alexander III, they were created by French-descended Russian craftsmen Peter and Agathon Fabergé in the late 19th and early 20th century. When Russia’s historic House of Fabergé was raided by the Bolsheviks in 1918, the resulting chaos relegated some of these priceless artifacts to the Kremlin. Others were sold off to raise money for the new socialist regime.
Over time, the eggs have been scattered to various corners of Europe and beyond. Of the 52 eggs from the original Imperial collection, eight are still missing. Those yet to be recovered include the original Hen Egg, the Alexander III Commemorative Egg and the Cherub with Chariot Egg — each worth millions.
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