Cultural and historical artifacts are a crucial part of the story of human civilization, as they provide rare glimpses into different time periods and cultures from our shared history. Sadly, many of them now only exist in stories and legends, lost somewhere along the way to war, natural calamities, or other tragedies of history.
10. Honjo Masamune
Honjo Masamune was a famous sword made by Goro Nyudo Masamune – a renowned swordsmith in 13th-century Japan. It was named after the Honjo clan and was considered one of Masamune’s greatest masterpieces, largely due to its extraordinary sharpness and unique curvature.
The Honjo Masamune was owned by several notable figures throughout Japanese history, including the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. During the Edo period, the sword was passed down through many generations of the Tokugawa family, where it remained as a royal family treasure until the end of the Second World War.
According to the records, it was handed over to an Allied sergeant named Coldy Bimore as a part of the peace treaty, though the man has never been found. While some say that he was an American soldier who disappeared after the war, others think that the real Honjo Masamune was hidden away long before the war to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. Whatever its fate, the sword has since reached a mythical status due to the legend surrounding it, making it one of the most famous lost items we know of.
9. Maxberg Specimen
When it was first found in 1956, the Maxberg specimen was one of only eleven complete fossil remains of Archaeopteryx ever found. Believed to be a crucial step in the evolution of flying dinosaurs, the specimen was accidentally discovered by two unnamed quarrymen at the Solnhofen limestone quarry in Germany, bringing it directly under the ownership of the quarry owner, Eduard Opitsch.
Until it was lost, the specimen was lent to multiple parties for short periods of time, including the Maxberg Museum in Mornsheim in the 1970s. Despite various offers, however, Opitsch refused to sell it, at least until his death at the age of 91. According to some witnesses, he used to store it under his bed during his last days, though it was never found there. As it currently stands, the whereabouts of the Maxberg specimen remain unknown. According to one theory, Opitsch might have sold it to a private collector long before his death, though there’s little evidence to support it.
8. Jefferson Davis’s Gold
Jefferson Davis’s Gold refers to a legendary treasure believed to have been hidden by the short-lived Confederate president, Jefferson Davis, during the American Civil War. The treasure is rumored to consist of millions of dollars in gold, silver, and other precious items acquired by the Confederacy during the war. While rumors place it somewhere in Georgia or South Carolina, its exact location remains a mystery to this day.
During the Civil War, Jefferson Davis ordered the Confederate government to move its gold and silver reserves out of Richmond, Virginia, to prevent them from falling into Union hands. While we know that trains full of loot worth about $1 million left Richmond in April, 1865, we don’t know if they ever reached their intended destination. Davis only had a few dollars on him when he was finally captured by Union soldiers, leading some people to speculate that he had permanently hidden it in an unknown place before his arrest.
7. Irish Crown Jewels
The Irish Crown Jewels were a stunning collection of jewels that included a star, badge, and collars worn by the Grand Master of the Order of St. Patrick – the highest chivalric order in Ireland. The jewels were made of 394 diamonds and other precious stones, with the star being the most impressive piece of the collection.
The jewels – along with a few other treasures – were kept in a strongroom in the Dublin Castle until July 6, 1907, when they were reported missing by an office messenger. While it was initially thought that the theft was an inside job carried out by Arthur Vicars, the officer in charge of the jewels, a subsequent investigation failed to prove his involvement.
The high-profile heist caused a national scandal in Ireland, leading to one of the largest investigations in the country’s history. Despite the best efforts of the law enforcement agencies, however, the jewels were never recovered and remain missing to this day. While the exact value is difficult to calculate, the lost jewels may have been worth as much as $20 million today, making it one of the most valuable things ever stolen.
6. Romanov Easter Eggs
The Romanov Easter Eggs were a collection of jewel-encrusted eggs created by the renowned Russian jeweler, Peter Carl Fabergé, for the Russian royal family. The eggs were commissioned by Tsar Alexander III and then his son, Tsar Nicholas II, and were given as Easter gifts to members of the royal family every year. Each egg was unique and contained a surprise inside, like a miniature portrait or a clock. In total, 52 Fabergé eggs were created between 1885 and 1916, though only 46 of them are accounted for today.
The fate of the remaining six eggs is currently unknown, as they were lost in the chaos of the Russian Revolution. In 1918, the Romanov family was executed by the Bolshevik faction, with all of their possessions seized by the new Soviet government. The fate of all of the Easter Eggs was unknown until the 1920s, when it was discovered that a number of them had been smuggled out of Russia after the revolution.
5. Heirloom Seal Of The Realm
The Heirloom Seal of the Realm, also known as the Imperial Seal of China, was an artifact used in the Chinese imperial court. It was an important royal seal created for China’s first Emperor, Qin Shi Huang, in 221 BC, and was used to authorize important documents like royal edicts and decrees. Made with a piece of jade with a tragic story of its own, the seal was a symbol of the emperor’s authority throughout China’s imperial history.
Sadly, the Heirloom Seal of the Realm was lost to history some time during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, lasting from about 907 to 960 AD. It’s possible that the seal was destroyed during the chaos of that time, possibly when the last Tang emperor – Li Chu – burned himself and his family to death. According to another theory, the seal may have eventually fallen in the hands of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty some time in the 14th century.
4. Mayan Codices
The Mayan codices were a collection of pre-Columbian books written by scholars in the Yucatan Peninsula, Guatemala, and other parts of Central America. Made on a type of paper made from the bark of fig trees, these early books contained information about Mayan history, religion, astronomy, and medicine, along with writings on ritual and divinatory practices. The codices were extremely important to Mayan society, as they contained important knowledge passed down through the generations, and were also used in religious ceremonies and rituals.
Except for three or four surviving pieces created after the fall of the Maya civilization, all Mayan codices were destroyed by Spanish forces during their colonization of the Americas in the 16th century. The Spanish believed that the codices contained pagan beliefs and practices that posed a direct threat to their colonization effort. Most of the artifacts were burned outright, while others were eventually lost over time due to neglect.
3. Baghdad Museum’s Treasure
The infamous looting of the Baghdad museum began on April 10, 2003 and lasted for well over 36 hours, when the city was days away from being overrun by US-led coalition forces during the Iraq War. Many of the museum’s most valued possessions were lost, including priceless artifacts like cuneiform tablets, statues, and jewelry from the region’s long and diverse history.
The looting has been largely blamed on the lack of security due to the invasion, as the museum staff had fled a few days ago in the face of the rapid US advance. The museum was left unguarded during this time, resulting in the theft of over 15,000 objects. Thankfully, more than 8,000 of them had been moved to a safe space by the staff before the looting, and by 2018 about 7,000 had been recovered by collectors over the years. Still, as of the end of 2022, it’s estimated that approximately 4,000 items are still missing.
2. Amber Room
The Amber Room was a decorated chamber created in the early 18th century by German baroque sculptor Andreas Schlüter and Danish amber artist Gottfried Wolfram. Made with panels made of carved amber, gold leaves, and intricate mirrors, it was a gift from the Prussian king Frederick I to Tsar Peter the Great of Russia. The Amber Room was widely considered one of the world’s most stunning works of art, with an estimated value in today’s currency of over $290 million.
It was lost during the Second World War, when the Nazis invaded the Soviet Union and looted most of its cultural treasures. The Amber Room was reportedly transferred to the Königsberg Castle in East Prussia, where it was exhibited as a trophy until the location was heavily bombed by Allied forces at the end of the war. While some people say that the room was destroyed in the bombing, others suspect that it was captured and sold on the black market by Soviet soldiers during the final invasion of Germany.
1. Peking Man Fossils
Peking Man fossils were a collection of ancient human-like remains discovered in the Zhoukoudian cave system near Beijing, China. Dating back to anywhere between 770,000 to 230,000 years ago, they belonged to a group of hominids called the Homo erectus. Their discovery in the 1920s was a major event in archeology and science, as it provided crucial insights into the evolution of early humans in Asia.
In September 1941, as World War II raged on, the fossils were transported from China to the United States for safekeeping. However, they never reached their intended destination and have remained lost ever since. According to theories, they were stolen by Japanese soldiers during the occupation of China, lost during transit, or destroyed by Allied bombing raids.