In anticipation of the arrival of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune on PlayStation 3, here's a look at the ten greatest real life treasure hoards in the world.
This year, a 400-year-old clue in the coffin of Sir Francis Drake will set a modern-day fortune hunter on an exploration for the fabled treasure of El Dorado in Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune for PS3. But treasure doesn’t only exist in games; there are shipwrecks and buried hoards of coin the world over. It’s just a case of knowing where to look. Here are ten treasure troves that could really make your fortune.
Oak Island
Where: Nova Scotia
Status: Rumoured
People have been digging for 200 years at the Money Pit – an underground network of elaborate shafts and tunnels believed to hide an immense pirate fortune - after a coded plaque thought to read "forty feet below, two million pounds are buried" was found there in 1804. Excavations have turned up old pickaxes, various wooden beams and a few links of gold chain. Several high-profile digs have taken place at the Money Pit; the area is now littered with new shafts and the site has claimed the lives of six people in accidents.
SS Central America
Where: Carolina coast
Status: Found
Known as the Ship of Gold, the SS Central America was an 85-metre ocean steamer that picked up Californian gold from Panama and carried it to the financial centres on the east coast of the USA. In 1857, loaded with 15 tons of gold and hundreds of passengers, she sank in a hurricane off the coast of the Carolinas. Four hundred lives were lost and a financial panic was triggered by the loss of the gold. In 1987, the Central America was located and gold worth 100-150 million USD was recovered by remotely operated submarine.
Nuestra Señora de Atocha
Where: Florida coast
Status: Partially discovered
This Spanish galleon was carrying gold, jewels and 24 tons of silver back to Europe from the New World when it ran onto coral reefs during a fierce hurricane in 1622. A further hurricane scattered the wreck across the seabed, where its cargo remained lost for over 350 years until its discovery by legendary treasure hunter Mel Fisher after a 16-year search. However, the stern section of the ship – believed to have contained the richest portions of the Atocha’s gold and Muzo emeralds - remains missing.
1715 Treasure Fleet, Florida coast
Where: Florida coast
Status: Partially discovered
In 1715, one of the worst shipping disasters ever occurred when Spain’s entire New World treasure fleet ran into a hurricane off the eastern coast of Florida. Twelve ships sank with three years’ worth of South American gold, silver and jewels on board – one ship alone was carrying three million silver coins. The Spanish managed to recover around half the treasure over several years – going as far as to build a small fort on the shore nearby – but could only salvage the treasure that lay in shallow water. Much of the fleet’s cargo remains undiscovered and pieces of eight, the Spanish dollar that became the first world currency in the 18th century, can often be found on the shore after stormy weather.
Robinson Crusoe Island
Where: South Pacific
Status: Believed discovered
This island – famous as the setting for the book Robinson Crusoe - is believed to be home to a treasure hoard worth 13 billion US Dollars. Supposedly buried by Spanish sailor Juan Esteban Ubillay in 1715 and dug up and reburied by an English sea captain later, the haul is said to consist of 600 barrels of gold, several papal rings and innumerable jewels. A salvage company claimed to have discovered its location in 2005, using a sonar-equipped robot - but negotiations as to ownership of the treasure are said to be delaying excavation.
HMS Merchant Royal
Where: Scilly Isles
Status: Believed discovered
A shipwreck so rich it’s known as the El Dorado of the Sea, the Merchant Royal sank with 50 tons of gold, 150 tons of silver and many tons of jewels on board in 1641. The English ship had been on a trading voyage to the Caribbean and was also carrying the payroll for a Spanish army fighting in Flanders; unfortunately, the ship had been leaking for some time before it ran into heavy weather on its home stretch 40 miles from England. An American salvage company recovered 17 tons of silver from a wreck in the North Atlantic in 2007, leading to speculation that the Merchant Royal had finally been discovered – however, the company has yet to confirm whether or not this is the case.
Loch Arkaig Treasure
Where: Scottish Highlands
Status: Still lost
In 1745, Spain sent a large quantity of gold to finance the Jacobite Rebellion in Scotland. When the Jacobites were defeated and fled to France, the money was passed secretly from place to place and six chests of gold are believed to have been buried at Loch Arkaig. A Jacobite emissary was sent back to Loch Arkaig in 1753 to retrieve the gold but was captured and executed – leaving the trail to go cold. In 1850, several gold coins from the period were uncovered in the woods surrounding Loch Arkaig, but the whereabouts of the bulk of the treasure remains a mystery.
Zbiroh Castle
Where: Pilsen, Czech Republic
Status: Rumoured
At the end of World War 2, local residents reported seeing German helicopters unloading heavily guarded crates into this picturesque castle – which was serving as a makeshift SS headquarters at the time. Speculation about Nazi gold centres on the castle’s 500-foot well. Divers have since explored the well on several occasions, recovering a stash of antique weapons and SS documents and finding what appears to be a false concrete floor located 163 metres down. One problem though – the floor is reported to have been booby-trapped with hand grenades…
HMS Sussex
Where: Gibraltar
Status: Believed discovered
The pride and joy of the English Royal Navy when it sank in 1693, this 80-gun ship was carrying a ten-ton cargo of gold coins destined for Italy, which was to be used to bribe the Duke of Savoy into attacking England’s then enemy France. However, the convoy that the Sussex was leading ran into a violent storm off Gibraltar and 13 ships went down with the loss of 1,200 lives in total. American salvage company Odyssey Marine Exploration believes that it has located the wreck; excavation is due to begin this year, with any recovered treasure split between Odyssey and the British government.
Lijia
Where: north-west Thailand
Status: Rumoured
The village of Lijia in Thailand is a magnet for treasure hunters seeking crates of looted gold stashed by retreating Japanese soldiers at the end of World War 2. According to local lore, an elderly monk once stumbled upon a cave network that contained 50 chests of gold, the remains of several Japanese soldiers and a steam train (Lijia is close to the route of the infamous wartime Thai-Burma railway). Although several treasure hunters have lost their lives while searching the caverns and mines surrounding the village, the treasure – if it exists – remains undiscovered.
Have you caught the treasure-hunting bug yet? The place to start is with Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune – a next generation action blockbuster with treasure galore exclusive to PlayStation 3.
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