Why have all these treasures gone missing throughout the world?
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The religious order of the Knight's Templar was a powerful group of 12th Century warriors whose wealth enabled them to form the foundations of our modern banking system. They've been linked to all sorts of conspiracy theories from the protection of Christ's bloodline through to the stonemasons and illuminati, but whether or not the Templar's more fantastical tales are true, what we know for sure is that these guys took home some serious fat stacks.
The Concert by Johannes Vermeer is considered to be the most valuable stolen painting in the world, with an estimated worth of over two hundred million dollars. And with a paltry five million dollars offered as a reward for information regarding its whereabouts, it's understandable why this painting has been missing for nearly three decades.
The Dead Sea Scrolls were an incredibly significant find when they were discovered in a cave in the mid-20th Century, with these ancient manuscripts being the second-oldest surviving document mentioned in the Bible. However, while the scrolls are of utmost importance to religious folks and historians, the rest of us are more likely to be interested by their mentioning of treasure.
The modern Crown Jewels sported by the always on-fleek Queen Elizabeth the Second are approximately 350 years old, but there have been many different collections known as the Crown Jewels, and the ones we're referring to actually went missing in the 13th Century. Or did they?
This next entry is certainly an important piece of historical documentation, but it is probably one of the least treasured treasures you'll ever hear about. The National Archives of America hoards millions of significant papers, and among them were a set of maps drafted by the Army Air Corps.
Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, a.k.a. the grass cutting sword, is the name of a Japanese sword whose legend dates back almost a millennium. There is much folklore surrounding the sword's origin and what special properties it has, but its most important historical role was its ceremonial use to legitimise the rule of a new Japanese Emperor.
Peking Man was a member of the Homo erectus species who lived between 680,000 and 780,000 years ago. His remains were found in China between 1929 and 1937, and this discovery was of huge significance to human history, as it finally confirmed the existence of the Homo erectus. Before this discovery, the remains of other Homo erectus' were thought to be nothing more than deformed apes, but this proved otherwise.
The Patiala Necklace was designed by Cartier in 1928, and it comprised of the world's seventh largest diamond, the DeBeers Diamond, along with 2,930 other less-fancy rocks. This necklace belonged to the Indian Maharaja Sir Bhupinder Singh, who was one of the ritziest and kinkiest royals ever. He used a fleet of Rolls Royces to transport and sweep away garbage in the streets, fathered 88 kids, appeared naked in front of his subjects, took part in orgies and even had his concubines surgically altered to please him.