Buzz
Remarkably, these accounts tell of individuals uncovering extraordinary artifacts without the aid of metal detectors, maps, or extensive research. Was it a desire for reorganization or perhaps a thorough spring cleaning? Regardless, luck was undoubtedly in their favor.
This compilation reveals ten historical relics discovered by everyday people, prompting the question—what better motivation to thoroughly explore your attic or basement?
10. Ancient Greek Crown—Hellenistic Era
A man from Somerset, England, who prefers to remain unnamed, experienced a stroke of luck. He inherited numerous items from his grandfather, a globetrotting collector. Among these was a cardboard box, long forgotten under his bed for over a decade. When he finally opened it, beneath old newspapers, he found a golden crown. Uncertain of its value, he sought expert advice.
Guy Schwinge, an appraiser from Duke’s of Dorchester in Dorset, visited the man’s home. He was astounded by the golden laurel wreath, which weighed less than half a kilogram (1 pound) and measured 20 centimeters (8 inches) in diameter. Schwinge identified it as an Ancient Greek artifact, likely 2300 years old, dating back to the Hellenistic period.
The Hellenistic era began with Alexander the Great’s death in 323 BC and concluded with Augustus’s rise in 31 BC. Golden laurel wreaths from Ancient Greece were awarded to athletes and artists, used in ceremonies, and often buried with elite families as symbols of honor.
After thorough evaluation, the pure gold crown was valued at over $130,000. Duke’s of Dorchester scheduled an auction for June 9, 2016, where it was expected to sell for up to $200,000.
All originating from a box tucked beneath a bed.
9. Lost Caravaggio Masterpiece
In 2014, a family in Toulouse, France, ventured into their attic to fix a water leak. Hidden behind an old mattress leaning against a wall, they stumbled upon a dusty, water-damaged painting. The family, choosing to remain anonymous, contacted an auctioneer for evaluation. Marc Labarbe, the auctioneer, examined the 1.4-meter by 1.8-meter (5-foot by 6-foot) artwork and concluded it warranted expert analysis. He photographed the piece and sent it to Eric Turquin, a renowned art appraiser in Paris.
Five years passed before Turquin could inspect the painting in person. The wait proved worthwhile. After meticulous restoration, the canvas was identified as Caravaggio’s >em>Judith and Holofernes, painted in 1607. The artwork portrays a scene from the Old Testament, where Judith of Bethulia beheads the Assyrian general Holofernes. Turquin confirmed it was indeed a long-lost Caravaggio, missing for over 400 years, and valued it at up to $170 million.
Skepticism arose regarding the painting’s authenticity, as a similar but less elaborate version hangs in Rome’s National Gallery of Ancient Art. However, X-rays and tests revealed underlying brushstroke alterations, a hallmark of genuine works. Once authenticated and restored, the masterpiece was prepared for auction.
A private buyer acquired the painting before it could go to auction, with the purchase price remaining undisclosed.
8. Diamond Ring
A woman from Isleworth, West London, visited a car boot sale and browsed through a collection of costume jewelry. In 1987, she purchased a large, cloudy “diamond” ring for £10 ($13). The ring appeared unimpressive, but she wore it for over 20 years until a jeweler suggested she have it evaluated. To her astonishment, the stone was a genuine 26-carat diamond from the 19th century.
Sotheby’s in London confirmed the authenticity of the gem, which later sold for an astounding £656,750 ($850,000).
7. Gold Lacquer Chest
In 1970, a French shell engineer purchased a 1.5-meter-long (5-foot) lacquer chest for £100 ($130), equivalent to about £1300 ($1600) today. He lived in South Kensington for 16 years, using the chest as a TV stand. After retiring to the Loire Valley, he repurposed it as a bar. The chest remained there until his death, when appraisers discovered it was a long-lost treasure missing since the 1940s.
The Victoria and Albert Museum had sought the chest for 50 years, checking with collectors and auction houses. Remarkably, it was found less than a mile from the museum. The cedar and gold lacquer chest, crafted in the 1600s by Kyoto master Kaomi Nagashige, was originally with the Dutch East India Company’s Japanese office before being sold in 1658.
The chest was first acquired by French Cardinal Mazarin, who passed it down through his family. It later moved to England, purchased by novelist William Beckford. In 1882, it was sold to Sir Trevor Lawrence, a surgeon and art collector, and then to Welsh coal mine owner Sir Clifford Cory. After Cory’s death in 1941, the chest disappeared until it was bought by a Polish doctor, Zaniewski, who sold it to the French engineer in 1970. It remained hidden until auctioneers Phillippe and Aymeric Rouillac identified it in 1986.
Nagashige’s masterpiece was auctioned on July 9, 2013, and acquired by Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum for £6.3 million ($7.75 million).
6. Shakespeare’s Final Play?
John Stone, a scholar from the University of Barcelona, was exploring the Royal Scots College’s library in Salamanca when he stumbled upon a book of English plays. Among them was William Shakespeare’s The Two Noble Kinsmen. Published in 1634 and co-written with John Fletcher between 1613 and 1614, the play was likely Shakespeare’s final work before his death in 1616.
The Two Noble Kinsmen is one of Shakespeare’s less celebrated works. The edition, bound in original 17th-century leather, is a rare find. Scholars debate whether Shakespeare authored Acts I and V. While this specific book hasn’t been sold, Shakespeare’s First Folio fetched over £7.33 million ($9 million) at Christie’s in New York in 2020.
5. Kitchen Discovery: Cimabue’s Masterpiece
Cimabue, also known as Cenni di Pepo, was a 14th-century Italian Renaissance artist from Florence. He left behind only eleven known works on wood, none of which he signed. One of these, a small 26cm x 20cm (10″ x 8″) painting titled Christ Mocked, was discovered in a home in Compiègne, France. Despite its size, it was a remarkable piece of art.
The painting had hung in the kitchen for decades, dismissed by its elderly owner as religious kitsch with no value. The family had no idea of its origin or significance.
In 2019, the homeowner decided to sell the property and relocate. They contacted auctioneers from Acteon in Senlis, France. Philomène Wolf arrived to assess the house’s contents within a week. She rescued the seemingly “worthless” painting from being discarded and sent it to Cabinet Turquin in Paris for further evaluation.
Turquin’s experts identified the artwork as a Cimabue creation. The small painting, dating back to 1280, was part of a diptych—a set of wooden panels depicting eight scenes from the “passion and crucifixion of Christ.”
Philomène Wolf initially estimated the painting’s value at around $400,000. Turquin’s experts, however, predicted it could fetch nearly $7 million at auction. To everyone’s astonishment and delight, the piece sold for approximately $27 million.
4. Chess Piece Hidden in a Drawer
A worn and faded walrus-ivory chess piece was discovered in a Scottish family’s kitchen drawer. Their grandfather, an antique dealer, had bought it for £5 ($6) in 1964 in Edinburgh. The family admitted that neither their grandfather nor anyone else had realized its true worth. The grandchildren later took it to Sotheby’s in London for appraisal.
Experts at Sotheby’s recognized the rook as part of the renowned Lewis Chessmen collection. It was one of 93 pieces, with five Viking-era artifacts still unaccounted for after 900 years. Originally discovered on Scotland’s Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, the rook had been missing for nearly two centuries.
The auction house valued the piece at approximately £1 million ($1.3 million).
3. Ancient City Beneath a Basement
During a basement renovation in Turkey in 1963, a man knocked down a wall and stumbled upon an extraordinary find. Located in Cappadocia, the wall collapse revealed a hidden room leading to a tunnel. This tunnel descended nearly 61 meters (200 feet) underground, uncovering an entire ancient city from the Byzantine era. Scholars speculate its origins, dating it to 2000 BC for the Hittites, 700 BC for the Phrygians, or AD 780–1180 for Christians. The city may have served as a refuge until the 1920s.
The city, named Derinkuyu, featured 18 levels of livable space, each securable with massive stone doors. Derinkuyu connected to other subterranean cities via extensive tunnels with over 600 entrances. It could support 20,000 or more inhabitants, complete with food storage, livestock areas, stables, schools, kitchens, chapels, wineries, wells, tombs, and even a dungeon.
Derinkuyu opened to the public as a tourist attraction in 1969.
2. The Garden Planter
In 1982, a family in Northumberland purchased a home near Hadrian’s Wall in Newcastle, England. They faced a dilemma: what to do with a 2.1-meter (6′ 9″) “trough” in their backyard. They used it as a planter for 30 years until they noticed a similar item at an auction. Upon closer inspection, they found a copper plate on the back inscribed, “Bought from Rome in 1902.” The front featured a carving of the Three Graces from Greek mythology, symbolizing charm, beauty, and creativity.
Specialists, including Guy Schwinge from Duke’s auction house in Dorset, England, were consulted for an evaluation. The family learned their planter was actually a 2,000-year-old Carrara marble sarcophagus from the 1st or 2nd century AD. It likely originated from a mausoleum belonging to a wealthy Roman.
The sarcophagus was removed from the property and transported to Dorchester for auction. While the final sale price remains undisclosed, a comparable sarcophagus previously sold for over $130,000.
1. Another Attic Discovery: Van Gogh’s Masterpiece
In 1910, Norwegian industrialist Christian Mustad purchased Sunset at Montmajour, believing it to be a Van Gogh original. However, a French ambassador to Sweden persuaded him it was a fake. The painting was relegated to Mustad’s attic in Norway, where it stayed until 1991. The heirs later took it to Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum, where it was initially dismissed as a forgery due to the lack of a signature. Van Gogh typically signed his works “Vincent,” sometimes concealing it within the artwork.
In 2011, the Van Gogh Museum re-examined the painting. After two years of analysis, Sunset at Montmajour was authenticated as a genuine Van Gogh. Painted near his home in Arles, France, on July 4, 1888, it was created just two years before his death. A letter to his brother Theo revealed Van Gogh’s dissatisfaction with the piece, explaining why it was unsigned. This correspondence ultimately confirmed its authenticity.
The Van Gogh Museum conducted a chemical analysis of the pigments in the Sunset painting, confirming they matched those used by Van Gogh. Scans of the canvas aligned with other works from the same period—Van Gogh created 2,100 pieces in his lifetime. He frequently wrote to his brother Theo about his art, who managed its sale. Despite his prolific output, Van Gogh sold only one painting during his lifetime, Red Vineyard, for 400 Belgian francs ($400).
An undisclosed buyer acquired Sunset at Montmajour, with its sale price remaining confidential. For context, Van Gogh’s Vase With Fifteen Sunflowers sold for nearly $33 million in 1987, while his most iconic work, Starry Night, is valued in the hundreds of millions.
