Sunday, October 28, 2007

Treasures Lost and Found





Today's post is all about treasure. Not the kind that was buried by pirates beneath a giant X mark on some remote desert island, but about the treasure that's hidden all around us--often in plain sight.

The first story concerns a New York woman named Elizabeth Gibson who happened to spot something unusual one morning on her way to get coffee. Leaning against a pair of garbage bags that had been set out on the street was a large, brightly-colored painting. Ms. Gibson, who's apparently no stranger to Dumpster diving, decided to take the artwork home. For years, Ms. Gibson wondered about the odd painting hanging on her living room wall. Finally, she decided to do a little detective work. Turns out the painting had been stolen from a wealthy art collector in the 1980s. Its value was recently assessed at around $1 million. Ms. Gibson had to give it back, of course, but she received a nice reward--and the satisfaction of knowing that she's got an excellent eye for art. (Read more here.)

The second story is even stranger. A family in Pennsylvania somehow heard a rumor that there might be coins hidden in one of the walls of the old house they had purchased. So they called in Jeff Bidelman to help them find out of the rumors were true. Sure enough, Mr. Biedelman discovered a hole that led to a hollow space behind one of the walls. When he kicked the wall in, thousands of coins poured out. Seems an old couple that had once owned the house had used the hollow space as a piggy bank. But they weren't just stashing pennies. Some of the coins were more than 300 years old. The "collection" is said to be worth more than $100,000. (More here.)

Still hungry for tales of treasure?

Here's a story about a Viking ship that was found under an English pub, and another about a Viking treasure, which was also discovered in Britain.

Time to go dig up the back yard, I think!

10 comments:

ginnyweasley007 said...

Wow that is soooooo awsomely cool I want to be an archiologist (sorry my spelling is terrible) so i can find tresure and inspire people

International Mastermind said...

When I was little I wanted to be a paleontologist, (person that digs up and researches dinosaurs.)

Spring said...

It would be so cool to find out something special (like coins in the walls...) in your house! I made up this "legend" about a trap door underneath our refrigerator that leads to a underground city. I never would have thought about a underground city without the help of Kiki Strike! SHE RULES!

ananka said...

Yeah, me too, International Mastermind. I'm not so big on the dinosaurs anymore, but like GW007, I would love to be an archaeologist.

Ariana said...

My mom loves to take old paitnings people are going to throw away. I wonder if any of the are worth alot...

Ananka said...

Hi Ariana,

What was your question? I've been looking for it in the old posts, but I can't find it.

chris. said...

Hey, have you seen this? Secret tunnels tell tale of gambling, prostitution I can't remember seeing it on the blog, but i could have just missed it.

annemarie said...

Those are some incredible stories! It shows that you don't have to have a degree in archaeology to find a treasure. I wouldn't mind finding a million dollar painting in the trash can. I'll have to keep my eyes open.

Ariana said...

It's Ok, I figured out the anwser to my question by myself.

Anonymous said...

I love pirates! Treasure is awesome! I love NYC! Archaelogy is the best! blah blah blah blah blah blah blah...
(sorry I'm a bit jet lagged and my mind isn't fully connected. I'll write something intelligent later:o