Hidden treasures: From gold nuggets, to medieval chess piece
- Published
The chess piece had been in the Scottish family's drawer for around 55 years!
A family has discovered a medieval chess piece in their drawer, which had been missing for almost 200 years!
The chess piece, which has been valued at around 拢1 million, belonged to a very rare chess set called the Lewis Chessmen.
The chessmen were found on the Isle of Lewis in 1831. They are now on display in the British Museum and the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.
The figures have even been the inspiration behind things like wizard's chess in the Harry Potter series. There's still not a complete set though as five pieces are still missing.
Here are some more incredible finds...
A golden nugget Down Under
A family in Australia quite literally stumbled across a fortune whilst on a family dog walk.
The dad and his two daughters were on a walk in Bendigo, Victoria when one of the girls kicked something hard on the ground.
What they thought was a rock, actually turned out to be a real gold nugget!
The piece of gold weighs 624 grams and has an estimated value of 35,000 Australian dollars (拢20,000).
Gold bar found in a lake
The gold bar weighs half a kilogram
In August 2016, a teenager found a gold bar while she was swimming in a lake in Germany.
The 16-year-old found the gold bar, worth over 拢11,500, two metres under water in Lake Koenigssee.
Police said that, as nobody had come forward in six months to claim the gold, the finder gets to keep it.
Gold hair tress from 2,300 BC found by school kids
It is hoped the hair tress will be reunited with one found in 1935
Back in August 2016, a group of schoolboys unearthed a rare 4,000-year-old ornament during a dig in Northumberland.
The children from Cumbria were taking part in an excavation at Kirkhaugh when they saw a glint of gold in the soil.
The object, which was found in a burial mound, is believed to be a decorated hair tress from about 2,300 BC.
One of the boys called Joseph, 7, said when he saw the gold in the ground he started "dancing with joy".
Gold coins worth 拢100,000
In 2012, a novice treasure hunter discovered the country's finest ever collection of late Roman gold coins.
The amateur bought a basic metal detector costing 拢135, described as being "ideal for children to use for a hobby".
But the hoard that was discovered near Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire was thought to be worth more 拢100,000.
Local experts classed the coins as Gold Soldi, which would have been used by Romans for big purchases like areas of land or shiploads of goods.
Experts described the discovery as "a nationally significant find".
- Published19 May 2022
- Published14 February 2019
