The treasure of the San Jose. This is one of the most valuable treasures ever found, valued at $17 Billion. The Spanish ship was loaded with gold, silver and emeralds and was headed from Peru back to Spain to help fund the War of Spanish Succession. It was sunk during a battle with the English 1708. The wreck was found off the coast of Cartagena, Colombia in in the 80’s and the country has laid claim to the shipwreck, despite independent investors and salvage operators discovering it first. The whole thing is currently in a heated court battle as to who gets the rights to the haul. This one is considered the Holy Grail of Shipwrecks.

The Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes haul. This ship sunk off the coast of Portugal in 1804, and was carrying a horde of silver and gold for the Spanish, and again, got sunk by the British. The wreck, and over $500 Million worth of coins were found by an American salvage company and recovered. But in a landmark 2012 legal case, Spain recognized the coins and brought the company to court, and won, recovering their lost history.

The SS Gairsoppa made some salvagers incredibly rich. This British merchant ship was travelling from India, when it was hit by a German U-boat torpedo in 1941 and sank off the coast of Ireland. An American salvage company, under contract to the British government, found the ship and recovered thousands of silver bars, worth $37 Million. They split the take 80/20 with the British Treasury, with the salvage company keeping the lions share to fund future expeditions.

The Belitung shipwreck contained the largest amount of Tang Dynasty artifacts. This shipwreck goes by a number of names, but it’s generally agreed that it’s one of the most historically valuable shipwrecks out there. It was discovered off the cost of Indonesia in 1998, and was Arabian in origin. The ship was travelling between Oman and China, and was carrying thousands of ceramics that shed light on the craftsmanship and techniques of the times.

The Staten Island treasure. A couple was digging holes in their backyard to put in some trees, when they came across a rusted, rotting metal box. Inside, was a safe with over $52,000 worth of valuables – cash, diamonds, gold and jade. It was one hell of a haul for Matthew and Maria Emanuel. They didn’t get to keep it though. Inside one of the bags was an address, which the couple tracked to a neighbour, who had been robbed 7 years prior. So they returned the haul to grateful couple, but there’s no mention of whether or not there was a reward or finder’s fee.

The Caesarea National Park treasure. When amateur divers were swimming around in this lake in Israel, they didn’t expect to find gold. Initially thinking it was fake, they eventually found 2,000 coins. Instead of keeping it for themselves, they contacted the Israeli Antiquities Authority, and they took over the excavation. These coins had been under the water for over a Millenia, and yet, looked brand new. So far, no valuation of the haul has been released, but it’s estimated to be pretty priceless.

The renovations on a Nepalese palace revealed hidden treasures. In 2011, the Hanuman Dhaka was having some renovations, when workers found a treasure of coins and gold/silver ornaments hidden in the 16th Century palace. Over 660 pounds of treasure was pulled out, and was dated to be over 500 years old and valued at a few million.

The Saddle Ridge Hoard. While most valuable treasures are found by treasure hunters, salvage teams and dedicated hobbyists, sometimes a regular person just stumbles across a random find. This stash was found by a California couple, who found a can full of rare, near-mint coins from the Gold Rush Era. Estimated to be wroth over $10 Million, the couple decided to partner with a collectables store, to sell the coins and pay off their debts/donate to charity.

The Hoxne Hoard. This was also one of the largest treasure troves ever found, back in 1992. What makes it awesome, was that it was also an accident. A farmer lost his hammer, so he asked a buddy to borrow a metal detector. He didn’t find the hammer, but found an oak chest filled with valuables such as jewellery, coins and silver spoons. According to experts, the collection dates back to the 4th or 5th century, and has an estimated value of $3.8 million.

The Stafforshire Hoard. In another case of a metal detector finding a priceless collection, these artifacts were found in a field in Stafforshire, England. Over 3,500 pieces of Anglo-Saxon treasure were found, valued at $4.1 Million. This find was controversial, however, as there was a feud between the farmer who’s land it was found on, and the man who found it.

Secret gold in an old tank. Military vehicle enthusiast Nick Mead was excited to find a Russian T54/69 tank, left over from the Gulf War. He purchased the tank for $40K, to add to his collection (and he runs a company called Tanks-a-lot, where you can pay to drive one of these monsters across his property), when he pried open the fuel tank. Inside was over $2.5 Million of gold bullion that must have been looted by soldiers during the war. Understandably, there’s some discussion as to who gets to keep the gold.

A rare Ferrari was gathering dust in a Japanese barn. In 2017, a rare 1969 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona was found abandoned in a barn. This is exciting because it’s the only street version of the car with a full aluminum body. According to reports, the car had been shipped in 1971 to a Japanese dealership and was purchased in 1980, by the man who’s barn it was. Then it gathered dust until then. It was sold, in an unrestored condition, for $2.17 million.

One of the rarest coins in Britain. While most of the other things on this list are huge collections of coins and riches, this is just one piece, but it’s insanely valuable. A woman was using a metal detector on a field in England, and found a Richard III Half Angel piece, which must have belonged to a solider back in 1485. This piece is valuable, because the King was only on the throne for 2 years before passing, so not a lot of money still exists from his era. The coin ended up going for almost $44,000 at auction.

A valuable collection of baseball cards. Karl Kissner was cleaning out his grandfather’s house, when he found a box of 700 baseball cards. Doing the research, he found that they were E98 tobacco cards from 1910 and worth over $3 Million. Even more mind-blowing is that sports cards are rated on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being mint. The most expensive card ever sold prior to this find, was rated around a 7. The majority of these cards were 9-10s. Insane.