Objects Found In The Desert That Were Actually Worth A Ton Of Money
A few words come to mind when you think of the desert: hot, dry, and barren. It's usually full of nothingness, and those who do brave the sand and heat usually come back with just a sunburn and an empty water bottle — but sometimes, these explorers return with much more than they could've ever hoped for. For a lucky few, these valuable items found in the desert would be worth every sweaty step.
20. Ptolemaic Coin ($10,000)
Discovered in Israel in 2010, this coin was dubbed by researchers as the most valuable ever discovered. The 2,200-year-old coin is believed to have been worth a half-year's salary during its circulation.
19. Winchester Model 1873 ($15,000)
This rifle, manufactured in 1882 and pictured in this 1969 painting titled "The Homesteaders," was discovered resting against a tree in Nevada's Great Basin National Park, over a century ago. Its value is still astronomically greater than the $35-$50 it was worth back in the 19th century.
18. The James Ossuary ($50,000)
Said to have contained the body of James the Just, brother of Jesus of Nazareth, this religious artifact was discovered in a cave in the Silwan area of Jerusalem. Since its authenticity was never verified, it's valued at a shockingly low price.
17. The Atari Landfill ($108,000)
Following the video game crash of 1983, gaming company Atari decided to bury its unsold games in the New Mexico desert. When the landfill was excavated, the surviving cartridges were auctioned off.
16. Libyan Glass ($110,000)
Formed only by lightning strikes, volcanic activity, and meteor impacts, Libyan glass is considered one of the rarest minerals on Earth and can only be found in the deserts of Libya.
15. Prada Marfa ($120,000)
This art installation makes its permanent home just over a mile from Valentine, Texas. The lone store, which is inaccessible, is fully stocked with high-end Prada wares, shoes, and handbags. Even Beyoncé has visited!
14. The Gibeon Meteorite ($383,806)
This meteorite formed fragments after it struck the Earth during prehistoric times. Bits of it were used by natives to craft tools and weapons. and today it's worth a ton of money.
13. Death Valley Mother Lode ($500,000)
In true treasure-hunting fashion, a pair of archaeologists discovered a large wooden chest in California's Death Valley. The chest contained 80 coins, a hymnal, baby shoes, a pistol, pottery, and a letter from a lost pioneer.
12. The Fire of Australia ($675,000)
Considered one of Australia's greatest treasures, this otherworldly opal was found in 1946 in the small desert town of Coober Pedy, South Australia. The rough-cut gem weighs in at just under 5,000 carats and is roughly the size of two cricket balls.
11. The Ten Commandments Film Set ($1 million)
The set for the 1923 film was destroyed and buried shortly after production. However, in 2014, a large sphinx head emerged from the sand in Santa Barbara, prompting a recovery effort to completely excavate the "lost" city.
10. Ferrari Enzo ($1.1 million)
In a land of wealth like Dubai, million-dollar cars are about as expendable as Hot Wheels. This Ferrari Enzo was abandoned in the middle of the desert. Locals believe the vehicle's owner may have actually been on the run from the law.
9. The Boot of Cortez ($1.5 million)
This gold nugget was discovered in 1989 by a prospector using only a cheap RadioShack metal detector. Weighing in at 389.4 troy ounces, it remains the largest surviving gold nugget in the western hemisphere.
8. The Death Mask of Tutankhamun ($2 million)
The story of the young King Tut is one of the most well-known in history, and the treasure trove he left behind is no less legendary. Tut's mask and sarcophagus alone are worth more than any archaeological find in history.
7. Peg Leg's Black Gold ($3 million)
In 1965, an anonymous prospector claimed to have discovered Peg Leg Smith's stash of black gold. This prospector's find, valued at around $3 million today, has inspired countless other treasure hunters to search for Peg Leg's legendary lost mine.
6. The Bom Jesus ($13 million)
In a strange turn of events, a group of De Beers miners inadvertently found an even greater treasure at the bottom of a dried lagoon: a 500-year-old sunken ship. The ship, once belonging to the King of Portugal, was loaded with gold, tin, ivory tusks, and nearly 44,000 pounds of copper ingots.
5. Shell Documents ($60 million + Justice)
Following a 1992 pipeline oil spill in Midland, Texas, the Shell Company sold off the rights to that pipeline and quietly buried the proof in a nearby desert. The documents were discovered, however, and Shell was forced to pay some hefty litigation costs.
4. Delta Treasure ($100 million+)
In 2005, Scott Taylor discovered a massive fortune but was unwilling to reveal its location to the U.S. government. As a result, Taylor never cashed in on a find of 280 gold bricks, two Civil War-era rifles, a six-shooter, and a load of dynamite.
3. Iraqi Fighter Jets ($300 million+)
During a sweep for weapons of mass destruction in the Iraqi desert, American troops stumbled upon 30 Iraqi fighter jets buried in the sand. Evidently, they were ordered to be buried by Saddam Hussein so that he could hide them from U.S. forces. He planned to unbury them after the fighting, but, well...
2. The Copper Scroll (Priceless):
One of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Copper Scroll is said to be a treasure map to riches. This includes a trove of 65 tons of silver and 26 tons of gold hidden away by the Essenes during the Roman conquest of Jerusalem.
1. Chinese Aluminum Hoard ($2 billion)
Yes, in our hearts, $2 billion is greater than priceless, no matter how cool history is. A U.S. aluminum executive chartered a plane over the Mexican desert after hearing the country had a tremendous aluminum stash. So, what did this executive find? Nearly 6% of the world's aluminum supply, enough to make 77 billion beer cans. But how does this compare to the most valuable items found in abandoned places?
Found in Abandoned Places
Whether the owner didn't understand the true value of the item, misplaced it by mistake, or passed away without retrieving it, these 20 insanely valuable artifacts and objects somehow landed in abandoned buildings or bizarre hiding spots—and whoever found them cashed in big!
20. Rolls of cash ($6,800)
During a snowstorm, an urban explorer entered a home that had been abandoned 30 years prior undetected. He found decades-old photographs; retro trinkets; and $6,800 in rolled-up cash, which he was kind enough to return to the home's previous owner.
19. Ancient Mayan artifacts ($16,500)
Nick DiMola (left) of Queens, New York, was hired to clear clutter from a deceased artist's apartment in Manhattan. There, in a scuffed cardboard barrel, he found a Mayan artifact valued at $16,500! Makes you inspired to tidy up your attic, huh?
18. U.S. savings bonds ($22,000)
A recycling center worker named Mike Rogers found $22,000 in savings bonds at the bottom of a scrap metal barrel. Thankfully, he and his wife returned them to their rightful owner. "It was only the right thing to do," he told ABC News.
17. 1922 Rolls-Royce Goshawk prototype (about $33,000)
Amazingly enough, the world's oldest Rolls-Royce was just gathering dust in a barn until 2015. With its 20-horsepower engine, the unique prototype originally logged 20,000 miles before being retired in 1925.
16. An important laptop (Justice)
In 2011, an unsecured laptop found in a dumpster revealed compromising emails sent by former Goldman Sachs trader Fabrice Tourre. It helped the SEC win a lawsuit against the "face of mortgage-securities fraud." You can't put a price on justice!
15. Original Cracker Jack baseball poster ($61,000)
These posters hung on the walls of almost every candy and drug store in the 20th century. A Wisconsin police officer found one in a barn on his property and sold it to the Mile High Card Company!
14. Coins, silver, and jewels (estimated thousands)
When a Reddit user discovered a locked safe hidden in the closet of his deceased grandparents' Tennessee farmhouse, he hit the jackpot. It contained jewels, rare coins, and silver bars!
13. Action Comics No. 1 ($175,000)
During a home renovation, contractor David Gonzalez found an issue of this iconic comic, which featured the debut of Superman, inside the walls of a Minnesotan home. The back cover had been ripped off, so it only a fetched a portion of its true value.
12. Pablo Escobar's safe (Unknown)
Christian de Berdouare purchased the late drug lord's Miami mansion and found this safe buried in rubble. De Berdouare speculated that it had gold or diamonds inside; however, he hasn't revealed what was inside — we can only imagine it was a lot of moolah. Or drugs.
11. Century-old coins ($200,000)
For 20 years, a home sat unoccupied in Pennsylvania until the former homeowner's daughter hired appraiser Jeff Bidelman to comb through it for valuables. He found coins dating from 1793 through 1964 stuffed into a hole in a wall.
10. Original Frankenstein 1931 movie poster ($358,500)
Tucked away in a boarded-up projection booth of an abandoned Long Island movie theater, Steve Wilkin uncovered this vintage poster. It was "a true piece of Hollywood history," as the poster's buyer dubbed it.
9. Bronze Age sword (Ancient History)
"We never thought it to be that important to be honest," Maurice Owens said of the ancient sword he found in an old family barn. But an archeologist disagreed, believing it was owned by someone at "a high level in society" 2,600 years ago!
8. Gold and silver caché ($500,000)
A man from San Jose, California, bought an abandoned storage unit for $1,100. Inside, he found a blue Rubbermaid container stuffed with a half-million dollars' worth of rare coins and gold and silver bars.
7. Tres Personajes by Rufino Tamayo ($1 million)
On her morning walk through Manhattan, Elizabeth Gibson saw a painting discarded on the curb. She took it home and discovered it was a famous masterpiece! It sold at Sotheby's Latin American Art sale for a million bucks.
6. Winning lottery ticket ($1 million)
Eighty-three-year-old Edward St. John regularly dug through the local convenience store's trash looking for discarded lotto tickets, and in 2005, it paid off. He found a "Hold'em Poker" scratch-off ticket worth $1,000,000!
5. Edmé Bouchardon's Sir John Gordon bust ($1.8 million)
While the impressive bust of the Scottish Member of Parliament now rests proudly in the Louvre, officials originally discovered it propping open the door to an industrial estate in 1998.
4. 1980s and 1990s MLB, NHL, and NASCAR cards (estimated millions):
Urban explorers scouting an abandoned Detroit warehouse discovered crates packed with old Topps cards. While they found no individually valuable card, the whole lot was worth millions.
3. Unreleased Jackson 5 tracks (estimated millions):
When Howard Mann blindly bought contents from a memorabilia-stuffed warehouse, he inadvertently obtained 273 unreleased Jackson 5 songs. However, the find landed him in a legal battle over the rights to the music.
2. Nicholas Cage's Action Comics No. 1 ($2.16 million):
Cage's copy of this insanely valuable comic was stolen from his house in 2000 only to turn up in an abandoned storage unit a decade later. His pristine copy was the first comic ever to sell for over $2 million.
1. Portrait of Marthe de Florian by Giovanni Boldini ($2.5 million):
The painting of this French courtesan surfaced 71 years after her death in 2010. In all those years, it had never left the quaint Paris apartment the subject had passed on to her granddaughter. Still, this is a paltry sum compared to $2 billion in Chinese aluminum.
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