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Heirlooms and treasure

Famous objects followed owner by owner through heirs, sales, thefts, wars and courts, to where they are now.

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What do the heirlooms and treasure estate cases show?

An estate inventory that lists each valuable item gives heirs the proof they need to reclaim it if it is stolen and resold years later. When the heirs of an intestate estate hold it through a family corporation, a board majority can vote to sell heirlooms over another heir's objection.

Stories
39
Years
30 BCE to 2010
Main regions
Europe, North America, Middle East
Legal traditions
Common law, Civil law
Updated
30 October 2026

Every case in heirlooms and treasure, best-known first

Best-known first: cases from 1900 on, then the United States, then Europe, and the people most read about on English Wikipedia each month. Fiction, scripture and legend come last.

John Lennon 1969 (cropped): Collectie / Archief : Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie : [ onbekend ] Beschrijving : John Lennon en echtgenote Yoko Ono vertrekken van Schiphol naa1980 · The Dakota, New York City, New York, USAJohn Lennon's diaries and watch were stolen from Yoko Ono's home and taken to Berlin; Switzerland's top court ruled the watch hers in 2024Mark David Chapman shot John Lennon outside the Dakota, his New York apartment building, on 8 December 1980. Lennon was 40.bger.ch and 10 moreMartin Luther King Jr.: Martin Luther King, Jr. and Lyndon Johnson (cropped)1968 · Memphis, Tennessee, USAMartin Luther King Jr.'s estate sued his daughter in 2014 to take his Nobel medal and Bible for sale, and a judge locked both in a bank boxMartin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, on 4 April 1968. He left no will, and his estate passed to his widow, Coretta Scott King, and their 4 children.law.resource.org and 12 moreHope Diamond, 45.52 Carats, South Africa (10436497285): Natural History Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Complete indexed photo collection at WorldHistoryPics.com.1839 · London, England; Paris, France; Washington, D.C., USAA banker's nephews fought ten years over his jewels, and the heir who got the Hope Diamond could sell it only with the court's permissionIn 1668 the gem merchant Jean-Baptiste Tavernier sold Louis XIV a blue diamond of 115 metric carats for 220,000 livres.gia.edu and 4 moreCodexLeicester: Ghezzi-Coke-Hammer-Gates Kodeks1990 · England; Los Angeles, California, USADeath duties forced an earl's family to sell Leonardo's notebook in 1980, and a widow's niece's lawsuit forced its next owner's museum to sell it againLeonardo da Vinci filled a notebook with studies of water and the moon in the years after 1508. Thomas Coke, later the first Earl of Leicester, bought it in 1717 and kept it at the family estate.history.com and 2 moreStatue of a Victorious Youth, front - Getty Museum (77.AB.30): Ancient Greek bronze sculpture in the Getty Villa1964 · Adriatic Sea off Pedaso and Fano, Italy; Malibu, California,Italian fishermen netted a Greek bronze in 1964, Italy's courts acquitted the sellers, and decades later ordered it confiscated from the GettyIn 1964 Italian fishermen pulled a Greek bronze of a victorious young athlete from the Adriatic and brought it to Fano. It was sold on.lagen.nu and 3 moreCrown, Sword and Globus Cruciger of Hungary-edit: Espada, cetro, orbe y corona de San Esteban de Hungría1945 · Mattsee, Austria; Fort Knox, Kentucky, USA; Budapest, HungarHungary's crown guard handed the Holy Crown to the US Army in 1945, it sat in Fort Knox for 33 years, and Carter gave it to a communist governmentThe Holy Crown of St Stephen is the crown of the Hungarian kings. In 1945 the Hungarian Crown Guard took the regalia west to keep them from the Soviet army.history.state.gov and 3 moreCrosby Garrett Helmet (BM): Crosby Garrett Helmet on display in the British Museum2010 · Crosby Garrett, Cumbria, EnglandA metal detectorist found a Roman cavalry helmet in a Cumbrian field, a private buyer paid £2.3 million after the local museum dropped out at £1.7 million, and Parliament changed the lawIn May 2010 a metal detectorist in his twenties found a Roman cavalry parade helmet with a face mask near Crosby Garrett, Cumbria. It was in about 67 fragments. The British Museum called it an outstandingly important find.assets.publishing.service.gov.uk and 3 moreChain (Staffordshire Hoard): A chain from the Staffordshire Hoard.2009 · near Brownhills, Staffordshire, EnglandThe Staffordshire Hoard paid a jobless detectorist and a farmer £3.285 million between them, and the farmer banned him from his landIn 2009 Terry Herbert, an unemployed metal detectorist, searched farmer Fred Johnson's field near Brownhills, Staffordshire, with an 18-year-old detector. He filled 244 bags, including more than 11 pounds of gold objects.historynewsnetwork.org and 2 moreBudapest, Hungarian National Museum, Seuso treasure, ewer: Budapest, Hungarian National Museum, Seuso treasure, ewer, 4th century1980 · Polgárdi, Fejér County, HungaryA Hungarian soldier was found hanged beside an empty pit in 1980, and the Roman silver he is believed to have dug up sold for €43 millionThe Sevso Treasure is 14 large Roman silver vessels of the 4th or 5th century. One plate is inscribed to a man named Sevso.plone.unige.ch and 3 moreDerrynaflan chalice: Derrynaflan chalice1980 · Derrynaflan, County Tipperary, IrelandA father and son found a medieval church hoard with metal detectors; the High Court gave them £5.5 million, and the Supreme Court gave the state the hoardOn 17 February 1980 Michael Webb and his son Michael used metal detectors on Derrynaflan, a monastic site in County Tipperary. Under a bronze basin they found a silver chalice, a paten and a strainer ladle.archivesearch.library.universityofgalway.ie and 2 moreGrand noeud de corsage de l'impératrice Eugénie - François Kramer - Musée du Louvre Objets d'art OA 12238: Grand noeud de corsage de l'impératrice Eugénie - François Kramer - Musée1661 · Musée du Louvre, Paris, FranceFrance sold its crown jewels in 1887 to stop a king returning; the Louvre bought one back for €6.72 million, and thieves took it in eight minutes in 2025Cardinal Mazarin died in 1661 and left 18 large diamonds to the French crown. In September 1792 thieves broke into the Garde-Meuble in Paris and took most of the crown jewels. Many were never recovered.gia.edu and 6 moreMildenhall Great Dish, Late Roman period, silver - British Museum - DSC01383: Mildenhall Great Dish, Late Roman period, silver - British Museum - DSC01383.1942 · West Row, near Mildenhall, Suffolk, EnglandA ploughman and his employer kept the Mildenhall Treasure at home for four years, used the dishes, and got a reduced rewardIn January 1942, during the war, the ploughman Gordon Butcher turned up a metal dish at West Row near Mildenhall.mildenhallmuseum.co.uk and 2 moreSilver ingots - HistoryMiami - IMG 8113: Silver ingots salvaged from the wreck of the Nuestra Senora de Atocha, sunk by storm in the Marquesas in 1622; silver primarily from (prese1622 · about 40 nautical miles west of Key West, Florida, USAMel Fisher lost his son and daughter-in-law hunting the Atocha, found its main treasure ten years to the day later, and beat Florida in the Supreme CourtThe Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha sank in a hurricane in 1622 about 40 nautical miles west of Key West. Mel Fisher's company, Treasure Salvors, searched for her for years.Cornell Law School, LII and 3 moreOffering from Sacred Cenote of Chichen Itza: Maya Gallery, INAH, National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City. Complete indexed photo collection at WorldHistoryPics.com.1935 · Chichén Itzá, Yucatán, MexicoA US consul bought Chichén Itzá for 200 pesos and shipped the Sacred Cenote's offerings to Harvard; his heirs won the land back in Mexico's Supreme CourtThe Maya threw gold, carved jade, pottery and people into the Sacred Cenote at Chichén Itzá. In 1894 Edward H. Thompson, US consul in Yucatán, bought the Hacienda Chichén, which included most of the ruins, for 200 pesos.research.cgu.edu and 4 moreFlorentine Diamond aigrette: Florentine Diamond as cap decoration. This foto was made between 1870 and 1900.1737 · Florence, Italy; Vienna, Austria; Quebec, CanadaThe last Medici left the Florentine Diamond to Tuscany, the Habsburgs took it to Vienna, and it surfaced in a Quebec bank vault in 2025The Florentine Diamond is a yellow stone of about 137 carats. The traveller Tavernier saw it among the Medici jewels in 1657.theglobeandmail.com and 4 moreThe 'Central America' engulphed by the ocean - 1857: The 'Central America' engulphed by the ocean - 1857 "About eight o'clock the ship began to settle badly, when she momentarily r1857 · Atlantic Ocean, about 160 miles off South Carolina, USA; ColInsurers paid for the SS Central America's gold in 1857 and claimed it again when it was found in 1988; the finder spent ten years jailed over 500 missing coinsOn 12 September 1857 the steamship Central America sank in a hurricane with $1,219,189 in California gold, 1857 value. About 425 people died and 153 were rescued. Her loss contributed to the Panic of 1857.law.resource.org and 2 moreMessiah Stradivarius ashmolean: Photo of the Messiah - Salabue Stradivarius violin1854 · Cremona, Italy; Fontaneto, Piedmont, Italy; Paris, France; OA violin dealer was found dead on a farm with 144 Italian instruments, and his heirs sold the unplayed "Messiah" StradivariAntonio Stradivari made a violin in Cremona in 1716 and kept it in his workshop until he died in 1737. Count Cozio di Salabue bought it, probably from one of his sons.ashmolean.org and 2 moreHunminjeongeum Haerye 03: Hunminjeongeum Haerye reprint2010 · Sangju, North Gyeongsang, South KoreaA man says he found the only other copy of the Korean alphabet's founding book while cleaning his house, and the state that owns it cannot find itThe Hunminjeongeum Haerye explains the Korean alphabet issued by King Sejong in 1446. In 2008 Bae Ik-gi of Sangju revealed a second copy, now called the Sangju copy, and said he found it while cleaning his house.The Korea Herald and 2 moreBroighter Boat: The Broighter Boat. from On Broighter, Limavady, County Londonderry, and on the Find of Gold Ornaments There in 1896 Robert Cochrane The Journal of the Royal Societ1896 · Broighter, near Limavady, County Londonderry, Northern IrelaThe British Museum bought the Broighter gold boat for £600, and the Crown sued the Museum in 1903 to send it to DublinIn February 1896 two ploughmen working for the farmer Joseph Gibson turned up gold objects in a field at Broighter, near Lough Foyle.Internet Archive and 2 moreThe Soviet Union 1971 CPA 4069 stamp (Shah Diamond, 16th Century): USSR stamp: The Shah Diamond, 16th Century. Series: Diamond Fund1829 · Tehran, Iran; St Petersburg and Moscow, RussiaA Tehran mob killed Russia's envoy in 1829, and the Shah paid for it with a diamond carved with the names of three kingsThe Shah Diamond weighs 88.7 carats.gemdat.org and 3 moreThe blowing up of the Spanish Frigate Mercedes at the Battle of Cape Santa Maria, 1804label QS:Len,"The blowing up of th: The blowing up of the Spanish Frigate Mercedes at the Batt1804 · off Cape Santa Maria, Portugal; coins now in Cartagena, SpaiA Spanish frigate blew up in 1804 with Captain Alvear's wife and seven children aboard, and in 2007 his descendants sued for its silverThe Spanish Navy frigate Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes left Lima on 31 March 1804 carrying about 900,000 silver pesos, 5,809 gold pesos and almost 2,000 copper and tin ingots.media.ca11.uscourts.gov and 4 moreCoronation Chair and Stone of Scone: The Stone of Scone in the Coronation Chair at Westminster Abbey. No attribution was published in the source or any other book known to contain 1296 · Scone, Perthshire, Scotland; Westminster Abbey, London, EnglEdward I took Scotland's coronation stone in 1296; four students took it back on Christmas Day 1950 and broke it in twoScottish kings were inaugurated on the Stone of Destiny at Scone. In 1296 Edward I of England invaded Scotland and took the stone to Westminster Abbey as spoils of war.perthmuseum.co.uk and 4 moreThe ahu ula (feathered cloak) of Kalaniopuu: The ahu ula (feathered cloak) that chief Kalaniopuu gave to captain James Cook, on long-term loan from Te Papa Tongarewa (the national 1779 · Kealakekua Bay, Hawaiʻi Island, USA; London, England; WellinHawaiʻi's ruling chief put his feather cloak on Captain Cook in 1779, and it took 237 years and a New Zealand museum to bring it homeIn January 1779 Kalaniʻōpuʻu, ruling chief of Hawaiʻi Island, gave Captain James Cook the ʻahu ʻula (feather cloak) and mahiole (feather helmet) he was wearing at Kealakekua Bay.Smithsonian Magazine and 2 moreReliquary of the Crown of Thorns Notre-Dame NDP68 Cat95: Reliquary of the Crown of Thorns Notre-Dame NDP68 Cat951238 · Constantinople; Venice, Italy; Paris, FranceA bankrupt emperor of Constantinople pawned the Crown of Thorns to Venetian lenders, and a fire chaplain carried it out of burning Notre-DameTradition holds that a crown kept in Constantinople was the crown of thorns placed on Jesus. After the Fourth Crusade the city was ruled by Latin emperors.newadvent.org and 4 moreArchimedes Palimpsest: One page of Archimedes Palimpsest, On Floating Bodies1229 · Constantinople; Jerusalem; Paris, France; New York, USAMonks scraped Archimedes off the page in 1229, a Paris family kept the book in a damp cellar, and a judge let them sell it hours before a church's claim could stop itA scribe in Constantinople copied works of Archimedes onto parchment in the 10th century. In 1229 the book was unbound, scraped and reused for a prayer book. The text underneath includes the only known copy of The Method.archive.archaeology.org and 4 moreDaria i Noor Dhaka 1851: Daria i Noor Dhaka 18511908 · Lahore, Pakistan; Kolkata, India; Dhaka, BangladeshA Nawab of Dhaka pledged the Daria-i-Noor to the British in 1908, and Bangladesh has not opened the vault to see if it is still thereThe Daria-i-Noor of Dhaka is a flat table-cut diamond, distinct from the Iranian stone of the same name. Ranjit Singh of the Punjab held it.en.banglapedia.org and 3 moreDa Ke ding: Da Ke ding1890 · Beijing; Suzhou, Jiangsu; Shanghai, ChinaA widow at 19 promised to guard her family's two great bronze cauldrons, hid them through seven Japanese raids, and gave them to the statePan Zuyin, a Qing official and collector, acquired two bronze cauldrons of the Western Zhou dynasty, the Da Yu ding and the Da Ke ding. The Da Ke ding was dug up at Famen in Shaanxi in 1890 and carries a 290-character inscription.touch.shio.gov.cn and 3 moreWager's Action off Cartagena, 28 May 1708 label QS:Len,"Wager's Action off Cartagena, 28 May 1708": The English painter Samuel Scott (1702-1772) specialised in marine painting and 1708 · off Cartagena, ColombiaThe galleon San José sank off Cartagena in 1708 with nearly 600 people, and Colombia, Spain, a US salvage company and a Bolivian people all claim its cargoThe galleon San José, built in 1698, carried gold, silver and gems from Spain's American colonies. On 8 June 1708 four Royal Navy warships attacked her off Cartagena.maritime-executive.com and 3 moreGutenberg Bible, New York Public Library, USA. Pic 01: Gutenberg Bible on display at the New York Public Library1455 · Mainz, Germany; Leipzig, Germany; Moscow, RussiaGutenberg's investor sued him in 1455 while the Bible was being printed, and Soviet officers carried one of the Bibles to Moscow in 1945Johannes Fust lent Johannes Gutenberg 800 gulden in 1449 and another 800 about four years later for their "work of books." Gutenberg printed the Bible between 1452 and 1454.gutenberg-gesellschaft.de and 2 moreImperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire front: Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire in "Schatzkammer" Vienna1423 · Nuremberg, Germany; Vienna, AustriaAn emperor gave Nuremberg the crown jewels "for permanent custody" in 1423; Vienna took them in 1800, Hitler took them back, and an American found them walled in a bunkerThe regalia of the Holy Roman Empire include the imperial crown, orb, sceptre, swords and a lance that tradition identifies as the Holy Lance.text-message.blogs.archives.gov and 3 moreMap of United Kingdom, marked on the globe879 · Eye, near Leominster, Herefordshire, EnglandTwo detectorists sold a Viking-age hoard with coins showing Alfred the Great beside Ceolwulf II of Mercia, and about 270 coins are still missingIn the late 9th century someone buried about 300 silver coins, a gold ring, a gold bracelet, a rock-crystal pendant and silver ingots near Leominster.thehistoryblog.com and 2 moreThe Banquet of Cleopatra title QS:P1476,en:"The Banquet of Cleopatra "label QS:Len,"The Banquet of Cleopatra "label QS:L: Cleopatra puts the pearl in the wine, family portrait feat30 BCE · Alexandria, Egypt; Rome, ItalyPliny says Cleopatra drank one of the two greatest pearls she inherited from eastern kings, and Rome cut the other in half for a statue of VenusPliny the Elder, writing in the 70s AD, says Cleopatra owned the two largest pearls of all time, left to her by eastern kings.University of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 moreImperial State Crown of Queen Victoria (2): Imperial State Crown of Queen Victoria, the state crown used by British monarchs from 1838 to 1937Legend · 1362 · Tablada, near Seville, Spain; London, EnglandTradition says Pedro the Cruel took the "Black Prince's Ruby" from a Granadan sultan he killed with his own lance; it is a spinel in the front of Britain's crownThe stone called the Black Prince's Ruby is a red spinel of about 170 carats, not a ruby. Muhammad VI of Granada, known to the Castilians as Abu Said, fled to Seville in April 1362 with most of Granada's royal treasury.gia.edu and 4 moreSun Jian and Yuan Shao quarrel over the Heirloom Seal: A Qing Dynasty illustration of a quarrel between Yuan Shao and Sun Jian over the Imperial Seal of China.937 · Luoyang, Henan, ChinaChina's Heirloom Seal passed to every usurper for 1,100 years, and the last Later Tang emperor carried it into the fireThe Heirloom Seal of the Realm was cut in jade for the First Emperor of Qin in 221 BC.zh.wikisource.org and 4 moreSri Lanka, Kandy, Temple of the Tooth, Sri Dalada Maligawa: Buddhist devotees pray towards the Buddha image in Kandy Buddhist temple. Sri Dalada Maligawa or the Temple of the Sacre1560 · Jaffna, Sri Lanka; Goa, India; Kandy, Sri LankaBurma's king offered a fortune for the Buddha's tooth, Goa's archbishop ground it to powder, and two new teeth appeared within six yearsBuddhists in Sri Lanka and Burma venerate the dalada, a tooth of the Buddha. In 1560 Portuguese forces under the viceroy, Constantino de Bragança, attacked Jaffna.manushi.in and 2 moreHebrew: כֶּתֶר אֲרָם צוֹבָא - Keter Aram TzovaAleppo Codextitle QS:P1476,he:"כֶּתֶר אֲרָם צוֹבָא"label QS:Lhe,"כֶּתֶר אֲ: The Aleppo Codex is a medieval manuscript of the Hebrew Bi930 · Tiberias; Jerusalem; Cairo; Aleppo, Syria; Jerusalem, IsraelAleppo's Jews were told their 1,000-year-old Bible was burned in 1947; it reached Israel in 1957, and the community sued for itThe Aleppo Codex is a 10th-century Hebrew Bible. Aaron ben Asher added the vowels and notes. It was given to the Karaite community of Jerusalem in the 11th century.mattifriedman.com and 3 moreKorea-Seosan-Buseoksa-Building-01: Buseoksa.1330 · Kannonji, Tsushima, Nagasaki, Japan; Buseoksa, Seosan, SouthKorean thieves stole a Buddha from a Japanese island temple, a Korean temple claimed pirates had stolen it first, and Korea's Supreme Court sent it backA gilt-bronze seated Bodhisattva stood for centuries in Kannonji temple on Tsushima. In October 2012 thieves from Korea took it and a second statue from the island and brought them to Korea by boat.culturalpropertynews.org and 2 moreThe Blackstone: A close up of the Blackstone on the corner of the Kaba944 · Mecca, Saudi Arabia; Hajar (al-Ahsa), Saudi ArabiaQarmatian raiders took the Black Stone from Mecca in 930 and held it for about 20 years before dropping it in a mosque in KufaOn 11 January 930, during the pilgrimage, Qarmatian forces from eastern Arabia under Abu Tahir al-Jannabi attacked Mecca. Many pilgrims were killed and left unburied, and some bodies were thrown into the Zamzam well.madainproject.com and 3 moreUthman Koran Taschkent a: A qur'an from the 9th century. It is an alleged 7th century original of the edition of the third caliph Uthman (see en:Uthman Qur'an) but this is disputedLegend · 656 · Samarkand and Tashkent, Uzbekistan; St Petersburg, Russia; UTradition says Caliph Uthman was killed while reading this Quran; Russia took it as a trophy, and Lenin gave it backTradition holds that Caliph Uthman ordered the standard text of the Quran and was killed in 656 while reading one of the copies. UNESCO's register repeats this tradition.cambridge.org and 3 more