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There are many impressive historic things that we know existed due to various records and reliable witnesses and yet, aren’t able to track them down. The reasons for it may vary from the thing being destroyed, scattered at the bottom of the sea to it being stolen or purposely hidden during times of trouble.

Either way, even hidden from people's eyes ancient treasures remain an important part of the world’s history and these people listed things of the sort that are still missing, answering one Redditor’s question: “What treasures that we 100% know existed still haven’t been found?”

More info: Reddit

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#1

30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down The tomb of the First Qin Emperor of China exists and we know exactly where it is. The only part of the site that's been extensively excavated for artifacts is the famous Terracotta Army.

The main tomb itself is still completely sealed and no attempts have been made to open it since legend states that it was filled not only with mountains of treasure inside, but also mechanically operated rivers of flowing mercury made to resemble the major rivers and bodies of water in China and booby traps to protect the massive subterranean complex, which has been measured to be around 1/4th the size of the Forbidden City using ground-penetrating radar and other non-invasive techniques.

Apparently archeologists and scientists have found disturbingly high levels of mercury in the ground around the tomb giving some air of legitimacy to the legends which also raises concerns about the legend of booby traps. There's also concern that we do not currently have the technology and knowledge to protect artifacts we'd excavate from outside air and contamination, just like how earlier excavations of the Terracotta Army led to their original colorful paint being destroyed shortly after being unearthed.

EDIT: Since this comment got so popular, I'll add on the "Heirloom Seal of the Realm" also known as the "Imperial Seal of China". Physical possession of the object basically legitimized a claim to the Mandate of Heaven and thus rule over China. It was created in 221 BC, passing along through various emperors and factions until sometime between around 1500-1000 years ago. There's several theories on how, when, and where it was lost but we'll probably never get an answer unless some farmer happens to stumble on a fairly big square hunk of intricately carved jade in some field and realizes what it is.

_BMS , Wikipedia Report

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lemonfluffy2001 avatar
Bubs (he/they)
Bubs (he/they)
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11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wow, this has gotta be one of the coolest things I've ever read! I hope someday we can safely and respectfully excavate the rest of the site.

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    #2

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down A large part of Pompei. What they have excavated so far takes an hour to walk through, but a huge part of it remains hidden. This is because they've found that being discovered is causing more damage to the remains than 2,000 years of being hidden beneath the pumice and they're waiting for new technology to preserve it.

    HeartCrafty2961 , Mathilde Ro Report

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    #3

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down The missing Faberge eggs. There are about seven still missing, and only an old black and white photo remains of some of them, along with their descriptions.

    CanAhJustSay , Pedro Szekely Report

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    #4

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down Several have mentioned Genghis Khan’s tomb, but I’m more interested in his Black Spirit Banner which survived up until the 1960’s or so before disappearing under Soviet control of Mongolia.

    The Black Spirit banner was made from black horse hair and carried by the Khan into battle and displayed during times of war. Similar to the mythos surrounding the Spear of Destiny, it was said the warriors of Mongolia would always be victorious in battle so long as they had the banner. After the Soviet Union took de facto control over the country in the 1950’s, the banner was held in a government office until it went missing sometime in the 70’s.

    The book “Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World” by Jack Weatherford is a great read if you’re interested in learning more about the history of the Khans and their impact on our world today.

    Rocketsponge , hslo Report

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    octageno2 avatar
    Xitxarel•lo Panda
    Xitxarel•lo Panda
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Yeah , and thank you. Awesome biography the Genghis Khan one . Awesome and awful live ......

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    #5

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down "The Amber Room (Russian: Янтарная комната, tr. Yantarnaya Komnata, German: Bernsteinzimmer) was a chamber decorated in amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors, located in the Catherine Palace of Tsarskoye Selo near Saint Petersburg" 

    People are still looking, mostly in Poland

    tacopony_789 , Wikipedia Report

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    #6

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down The enormous golden menorah from the 2nd temple.

    The Romans took it after sacking Jerusalem. Some people think it’s being hidden by the Vatican, but I think more likely it was melted down and will never be found.

    gbbmiler , Wikipedia Report

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    davidh_1 avatar
    David
    David
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    We know the Romans took it, because it is depicted on the Arch of Titus, and the Romans took thousands of gold bowls and utensils from the Temple as well. Considering the original inscription of the Colosseum said it was made with the profits from the loot of the Jewish Temple, it may have been melted down or some rich roman made it an lamp in their house. But we have no clue, but the Romans did a lot of looting in 70CE, and you can even find in the tunnel tours of the Old City of Jerusalem old roman gaffiti from the 10th Legion they marked after their conquest.

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    #7

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down Tomb of Alexander the Great. Cleopatra and Marc Antony. Funny thing is, there are all probably buried in Alexandria beneath the modern city.

    Sighconut23 , NEOM Report

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    luigi_soyyo avatar
    Luis Hernandez Dauajare
    Luis Hernandez Dauajare
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Totally plausible. Wasn't the tomb of Richard III found under a parking lot?

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    #8

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down Not that it isn't found, but the Forbidden Vault (Vault B) in the Padmanabhaswamy Temple in India remains unopened and is thought to contain treasure to a wealth of US$ one trillion. Other vaults opened there were found to contain 18' gold chains, a solid gold sheaf weighing 500kg and a three-and-a-half feet tall solid pure golden idol of Mahavishnu, studded with hundreds of diamonds and rubies and other precious stones.

    The reason they don't open Vault B? It's said to be cursed. 

    GNRevolution , Navaf Muhammed Report

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    aswathimahesh89 avatar
    Anxiousguest
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It's not said to be cursed. According to legend, a great famine is predicted , and once when the famine becomes so severe , so that there is not even enough food to offer to deity ( very small amount ), it is supposed to be opened to save the country. Source. I'm from the same place

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    #9

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down I went to college beside that museum in Boston that got robbed. They never found the thieves or the paintings. The famous Gardner museum theft. No one knows what happened to the paintings still.

    Gladysfartz , Hanyang Zhang Report

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    #10

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down Almost all Homo Erectus Pekinensis remains. They were packed up during WWII with the intention of shipping them from China to the US for safekeeping, but the ship supposedly carrying the fossils was attacked and ran aground. Photographs and drawings of the originals still exist but the actual fossils were never found.

    limaechohoteldelta , Wikipedia Report

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    johannazamora_1 avatar
    Pyla
    Pyla
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Wow, I never heard of this one. I think it's amazing how many species of Homo emerged out of Africa before H. sapien trotted out of the continent.

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    #11

    This one really isn’t talked about as much as it should. In 1996, billionaire couple Marvin and Kaye Lichtman who collected tons upon tons of priceless items art, chess sets, Faberge eggs, etc were murdered by a glass installer that they hired. Before burning the house down, the glass installer made off with as much of the couple’s riches as he could haul away. Shortly after he tried to flee to avoid prosecution and before he was caught, 3 men involved with the salvage operation at the scene were arrested for peddling items that were salvaged and they stole. Most of the lichtman’s collection including the items stolen by the glass installer who murdered them have never been found.

    KXARABD Report

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    #12

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down King Johns Crown Jewels. Lost while crossing the Wash on the east coast of England. Over 800 years ago

    Signguyqld49 , János Venczák Report

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    atomschloss avatar
    martymcmatrix
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    ...and only some photographs survived...🤭📸📿👑💎💍

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    #13

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down The shipwreck of Flor de la Mar. Sunk with the equivalent of $2 billion in todays money.

    Horriblealien , Adventures ofmaldives Report

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    #14

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down The horde of Aztec gold stolen and lost by Hernan Cortez and the Spanish conquistadors during the night of sorrows.

    While trying to escape from Tenochitlan in the night with the gold, the conquistadors were set upon by the Aztecs. During the fighting and confusion it's thought the gold fell into lake Texcoco. Hernan Cortez escaped with only a small number of his soldiers and the gold has never been found. 

    EnsignGorn , Jingming Pan Report

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    #15

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down $190 million worth of bitcoin on a hard drive in a particular landfill. 

    mattlistener , Vincent Botta Report

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    kaleidoscope-cove888 avatar
    PeepPeep the duck
    PeepPeep the duck
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It will be one of the most useless treasures to find in the future 😂

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    #16

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down Portrait of a Young Man by Raphael. Missing since the end of ww2, all signs point to it having been sold for traveling money by Hans Frank.

    wyattkelly , Wikipedia Report

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    michaellargey avatar
    Michael Largey
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    If so, that traveling money didn't take Frank far enough. He was executed as a war criminal in October of 1946.

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    #17

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down No one mentioned the Ark of the Covenant.

    The Honjo Masamune samurai sword.

    Darkforeboding , Wikipedia Report

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    #18

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down Irish Crown Jewels.

    thejoms , Gary Yost Report

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    #19

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down Tomb of Genghis Khan

    Wolvercote , MBVisign Report

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    WindySwede
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    everyone at the funeral were killed to not reveal it's location. is that true?

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    #20

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down Olavsskrinet; The sarcophagus of Olav Haraldsson.

    Remember the christian viking from Vikings: Valhalla? Yeah, he was real. After his death, he became a saint and a bridge between old Norse faith and Christianity.
    He was eventually laid to rest in a jewel adorned sarcophagus in the Nidaros cathedral. It was Northern Europes biggest destination for pilgrims until the reformation.

    When Norwegians broke with the catholic church, Olavsskrinet - maybe with Olav still in it - disappeared. Buried under the cathedral? Sent to Denmark? Nobody knows.

    stianh22 , Miguel Á. Padriñán Report

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    #21

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down The entirety of DB Cooper's loot.

    Yhaqtera , Blogging Guide Report

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    leigh_2 avatar
    Leigh
    Leigh
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is not correct. Some of the money was recovered at Tina's bar on the Columbia River. The interesting question is was the money placed there, or did it end up there naturally? The river was dredged by the army core in between the hijacking and the discovery of the money. It was still bundled together oddly enough.

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    #22

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down Apparently Oak Island 😂

    SuperSpeederCarl , Marek Okon Report

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    #23

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down When Alexander the Great was returning from India laden with uncountable riches plundered he decided to lead his troops through the Gedosian desert, emulating some ancient queen who did the journey and barely survived, it is a brutal environment. The army was reduced to a slog through hell, moving on average only 5-7 miles a day amidst endless harsh dunes and dire heat, the ~130 mile trek took them nearly a month. At least a third of his army perished and conditions got so bad that Alexander turned a blind eye and even eventually ordered the slaughter of the baggage train animals so their blood could be drank. Who knows how much treasure lie forever buried in those dunes

    modernsoviet , Francesco Ungaro Report

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    tucker_cahooter avatar
    Tucker Cahooter
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Doesn't sound a great thing to do, maybe we should change his moniker to Alexander the Foolhardy

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    #24

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down About 83% of the caches from Byron Preiss' "The Secret."

    doubtfurious , Denise Jans Report

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    LonelyLittleLeafSheep
    LonelyLittleLeafSheep
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Got the book after seeing an episode of Josh Gates' Expedition Unknown. The images in the book are of such poor quality and so dark it's virtually impossible to see all the details. When they revealed one of the original paintings on the show it looked so much better. I don't understand how anyone has been able to find any of the boxes.

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    #25

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down Lost Dutchman Mine ? I think it was somewhere in Death Valley maybe ? been a long time since I heard it mentioned.

    skaote , Adrien Daurenjou Report

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    Powerful Katrinka
    Powerful Katrinka
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Arizona. Specifically, in the Superstition Mountains. Quite a few people have died trying to find it.

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    #26

    The last panel of "The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb", the central altarpiece of the Saint Bavo Cathedral in Ghent. It was painted in 1492, but has been lost for quite a while. A replica now hangs in its place.

    freakytapir Report

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    David Paterson
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    11 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    According to "museum of the missing", painted in 1432, and snatched by the Nazis in 1942. There's quite a story behind it because it was taken from Germany by the Treaty of Versailles and grabbing it back was Hitler's way of thumbing his nose at that treaty.

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    #27

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down The imperial treasures of Japan (Kusangi, the mirror, and the magatama jewel) were supposedly lost beneath the waves during WWII.

    Lost Prospector’s Gold Mine, DB Cooper.

    Supposedly a ton of gold that Uday Hussain withdrew from the national bank of Iraq right before the US invasion. The US was able to find/seize some of it.

    Eledridan , Bjorn Pierre Report

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    Donkeywheel
    Donkeywheel
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    11 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    « The US was able to find/seize some of it » *steal some of it. There, I fixed it for you

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    #28

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down The 1715 Spanish treasure fleet wreck will almost certainly never be 100% recovered, meaning there’s still some out there.

    MrLanesLament , Dick Scholten Report

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    #29

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down Mansa Musa's gold.

    Not_a_Courier , Zlaťáky.cz Report

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    m_michaelis57 avatar
    Awkward lady
    Awkward lady
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It would be nice if we could have more details in the lists, we don't know who some of these people are. And no, I don't want to have to look up every time on Google!

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    #30

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down The three brothers

    An absolutely beautiful set of jewels that simply vanished from record, which is very surprising as they are beautiful and large!

    Lil-Lanata , Samar Ahmad Report

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    Michael None
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I thought the three brothers had a cloak of invisibility, the elder wand and the resurrection stone?

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    #31

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down Great Golden Bell of Dhammazedi

    Good chance it's still at the bottom of the river, under feet and feet of silt and mud. Lots of people looked for it, even to this day, but so far have been unsuccessful.

    Kuuzie , Swastik Arora Report

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    #32

    The stolen works from Isabella Stewart Gardner museum. Awesome documentary on that!

    Lastcoast Report

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    #33

    Heirloom Seal of the Realm or the imperial Chinese seal.

    Supposedly worth billions.

    chenyu768 Report

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    #34

    Yamashistas gold. There have been some finds but between alleged booby traps and impossible to decode maps they are lost in jungle of the Philippines.

    Cleets11 Report

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    Zaphod
    Zaphod
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I think Neal Stephenson based part of *Cryptonomicon* on this.

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    #35

    The Atari video game series, Swordquest had a contest for the real life treasures: the Crown of Life, Philosopher's Stone and Sword of Ultimate Sorcery. You can find pictures of them so we know they existed.
    There are three theories about what happened to them. The first is they were all melted down after the competition was cancelled. The second, Atari CEO Jack Tramiel kept them for himself. Lately, they are gathering dust somewhere, forgotten.

    SteamDecked Report

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    #36

    30 Historic Treasures We 100% Know Exist But Haven’t Tracked Them Down There's this one necklace these guys were looking for and this old lady gave them this whole long story about how she found it but didn't tell them she had it this whole time. Then she just drops it into the middle of the ocean without telling anyone.

    ocelot08 , Andres Vera Report

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