Research archive
MX-001 · Designated
Caribbean Sea, off Cartagena · 1708 · Deep water
Est. market value
$17B
Spanish treasure galleon sunk in battle carrying gold, silver and emeralds. Wreck located; recovery tied up in sovereign claims.
Confidence 82%
MX-002 · Researching
Andes, Ecuador · 1533 · Cloud forest, mountain
Est. market value
$2B
Gold said to have been hidden by Rumiñahui after Atahualpa's execution. Valverde's derrotero describes the route.
Confidence 41%
MX-003 · Researching
Kaliningrad region · 1945 · Bunkers, mines
Est. market value
$500M
Crated and moved by retreating forces, then vanished. Candidate sites include tunnels, mines and Baltic wrecks.
Confidence 28%
MX-004 · Researching
Strait of Malacca · 1511 · Shallow strait, silt
Est. market value
$2.6B
Portuguese carrack lost with plunder from the conquest of Malacca. Never found.
Confidence 37%
MX-005 · Researching
Nova Scotia, Canada · Unknown · Island, flooded shaft
Est. market value
$10M–$100M (speculative)
Two centuries of digging with flood tunnels and strange finds. Origin and contents still disputed.
Confidence 19%
MX-006 · Expedition forming
Superstition Mountains, Arizona · 1890s · Desert mountain
Est. market value
$200M
A rich gold vein tied to Jacob Waltz. Clues from his deathbed and several maps point to the Weaver's Needle area.
Confidence 24%
MX-007 · Researching
Khentii, Mongolia · 1227 · Steppe, sacred mountain
Est. market value
Priceless; contents est. $1B+
Burial said to be hidden under ground trampled by horses. Satellite surveys flagged mounds near Burkhan Khaldun.
Confidence 33%
MX-008 · Researching
Mpumalanga, South Africa · 1900 · Lowveld bush
Est. market value
$500M
Boer republic gold moved during the British advance and never accounted for.
Confidence 22%
MX-009 · Researching
Luzon, Philippines · 1945 · Mountain tunnels, caves
Est. market value
$1B–$100B (disputed)
War loot said to have been hidden by Japanese forces in caves and tunnels across the Philippines. Rumors are many; very little has been confirmed.
Confidence 26%
MX-010 · Researching
Cocos Island, Costa Rica · 1820 · Jungle island, coves
Est. market value
$50M+
Church gold and jewels sent away from Lima for safety, said to have been stolen by Captain Thompson and buried on Cocos Island.
Confidence 21%
MX-011 · Expedition forming
Treasure Coast, Florida · 1715 · Shallow surf, sandbars
Est. market value
$400M (remaining)
Eleven Spanish ships wrecked in a hurricane. Gold coins still wash up today, and much of the cargo has never been found.
Confidence 71%
MX-012 · Researching
The Wash, England · 1216 · Tidal marsh, farmland
Est. market value
$70M+
The king's baggage train was said to have been swallowed by the tides crossing the Wash, weeks before he died.
Confidence 18%
MX-013 · Researching
Styrian Alps, Austria · 1945 · Deep alpine lake
Est. market value
$100M+
Crates were sunk in the final days of WWII. Fake British banknotes were recovered; rumors of gold and archives remain.
Confidence 30%
MX-014 · Researching
White Sands, New Mexico · 1937 · Desert peak, collapsed cave
Est. market value
$2B (claimed)
Doc Noss claimed he found a cave full of gold bars and then sealed it off by accident with dynamite. It is now inside a military range.
Confidence 15%
MX-015 · Researching
Long Island Sound & Caribbean · 1699 · Islands, coves
Est. market value
$10M+
Part was dug up on Gardiners Island. The rest of the plunder from the Quedagh Merchant is still believed hidden.
Confidence 23%
MX-016 · Researching
Aksum, Ethiopia (claimed) · c. 587 BC · Highland sanctuary
Est. market value
Priceless
Lost when Babylon sacked Jerusalem. Ethiopian tradition says it rests in Aksum; other theories point to tunnels under the Temple Mount.
Confidence 9%
MX-017 · Researching
Judean Desert · 1st c. AD · Desert caves, wadis
Est. market value
$1B+ (if real)
A scroll from Qumran made of copper lists 64 hiding places of gold and silver. None has been found for certain.
Confidence 20%
MX-018 · Researching
Punjab / Europe · 1948 · Private collections
Est. market value
$30M+
The famous Cartier necklace went missing. The frame turned up in 1998 but the large diamonds and rubies were gone.
Confidence 35%
MX-019 · Researching
Russia / worldwide · 1917 · Private collections
Est. market value
$33M each
Of 50 eggs made for the tsars, 7 are still missing. One was found at a US flea market in 2012.
Confidence 40%
MX-020 · Researching
Madre de Dios, Peru · 16th c. · Deep rainforest
Est. market value
$5B+
A legendary Inca refuge city where gold was said to be carried after the Spanish conquest. Satellite images have flagged unexplained shapes.
Confidence 17%
MX-021 · Researching
Cundinamarca, Colombia · Pre-1537 · Crater lake
Est. market value
$1B+
The source of the El Dorado legend. Muisca rulers offered gold here, and attempts to drain the lake found only a small part.
Confidence 32%
MX-022 · Researching
Off Land's End, England · 1641 · Deep water
Est. market value
$1.5B
An English ship that sank carrying about 100,000 lbs of gold and silver. Known as the 'El Dorado of the seas.'
Confidence 38%
MX-023 · Researching
Missouri & Ozarks · 1870s · Hills, caves
Est. market value
$5M+
Money from robberies said to be buried across the Ozarks. Many local stories, few confirmed finds.
Confidence 14%
MX-024 · Researching
Utah / Northern Mexico · 1520 · Canyon, lake
Est. market value
$1B+
Aztec gold carried north after La Noche Triste. Theories range from Kanab, Utah to lakes in Mexico.
Confidence 16%
MX-025 · Researching
Bermuda · 1955 / 1975 · Museum theft
Est. market value
$200K+
A gold and emerald cross recovered from a wreck, then swapped for a fake and stolen. Where it is now is unknown.
Confidence 27%
MX-026 · Researching
Alexandria, Egypt · 323 BC · Buried city, harbor
Est. market value
Priceless
Once a famous site that emperors visited, it disappeared in late Roman times. It may lie beneath modern Alexandria.
Confidence 19%
MX-027 · Designated
Florida Keys, Florida · 1622 · Shallow sand, debris field
Est. market value
$500M+ (remaining est.)
The main Atocha deposit was found in 1985, but the sterncastle and its expected gold and Muzo emeralds remain missing. Salvors continue to search the scattered wreck trail.
Confidence 74%
MX-028 · Researching
Strait of Gibraltar · 1694 · Deep Mediterranean basin
Est. market value
$500M–$4B (disputed)
The warship sank with coin intended to fund the Duke of Savoy. A deep wreck candidate has been surveyed, but its identity and the widely quoted cargo valuations remain disputed.
Confidence 48%
MX-029 · Designated
Mid-Atlantic, west of Cabo Verde · 1944 · Abyssal plain, 5,200 m
Est. market value
$100M+ (2t gold)
A Japanese cargo submarine located upright in 1995 with a manifest listing two metric tons of gold. The cargo is believed intact, but extreme depth and war-grave status constrain recovery.
Confidence 88%
MX-030 · Researching
Campeche Sound, Gulf of Mexico · 1631 · Deep water, buried hull
Est. market value
$50M–$150M (speculative)
The Spanish flagship sank during a storm with more than one million registered pesos in silver. Its general loss area is recorded, but no wreck has been securely identified.
Confidence 43%
MX-031 · Designated
Wadden Sea, Netherlands · 1799 · Shifting sandbank, shallow water
Est. market value
$95M+ (remaining est.)
A frigate lost between Terschelling and Vlieland with roughly £1.2 million in gold and silver. Salvage recovered some bullion and the famous bell; shifting sands still bury the remainder.
Confidence 58%
MX-032 · Researching
Bedford County, Virginia · c. 1821 · Foothills, buried vault
Est. market value
$60M–$100M (if authentic)
One solved cipher inventories gold, silver and jewels allegedly buried near Buford's; the location cipher remains unsolved. The story may be a hoax, so any valuation is conditional.
Confidence 12%
MX-033 · Researching
Taposiris Magna, Egypt · 30 BC · Temple tunnels, limestone
Est. market value
Priceless; goods unknown
Excavations at Taposiris Magna have revealed a long rock-cut tunnel, shafts and coins bearing Cleopatra's image. The royal tomb itself has not been found or attributed.
Confidence 30%
MX-034 · Researching
Cosenza, Calabria, Italy · 410 · Riverbed, diverted channel
Est. market value
$100M+ (legendary goods)
Later accounts say the Visigothic king was buried beneath the temporarily diverted Busento with grave goods. The story and treasure scale are uncertain, and searches have been inconclusive.
Confidence 18%
MX-035 · Researching
Beijing / Qinhuangdao corridor, China · 1941 · Military stores, transport route
Est. market value
Priceless (scientific)
Crated Homo erectus fossils vanished while being prepared for evacuation during the Japanese invasion. Conflicting accounts place the loss on a train, at a port, in storage or at sea.
Confidence 10%
MX-036 · Researching
Tokyo / United States (unknown) · 1945 · Occupation-era collection points
Est. market value
$1M+ (if extant)
The Tokugawa family's celebrated Masamune blade was surrendered to occupation authorities after WWII and never returned. It may have entered a US collection, been misidentified or been destroyed.
Confidence 14%
MX-037 · Researching
Switzerland / Austria (last traced) · 1918–1924 · Bank vaults, private collections
Est. market value
$20M+ (if intact)
The 137-carat yellow Habsburg diamond disappeared after Charles I fled into exile and entrusted jewels to an Austrian lawyer. It may survive unrecognized or have been recut.
Confidence 16%
MX-038 · Researching
Boston / New England (unknown) · 1990 · Private collections, hidden storage
Est. market value
$500M+ (13 works)
Thirteen works by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Degas and others were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. None has been recovered; a $10 million reward remains offered.
Confidence 38%
MX-039 · Researching
Schliersee, Bavaria (last seen) · 1939–1945 · Chalets, caches, collections
Est. market value
$100M+ (if extant)
Looted from Kraków's Czartoryski collection, the painting was last reliably reported at Hans Frank's chalet in January 1945. Its later route and survival are unknown.
Confidence 22%
MX-040 · Researching
Dublin, Ireland (theft center) · 1907 · Private collections, hidden storage
Est. market value
$20M+ (if intact)
The jeweled star and brooch of the Order of St Patrick, plus associated collars, vanished from a Dublin Castle safe. Despite investigations and theories, no pieces have been recovered.
Confidence 20%
MX-041 · Researching
Ghent, Belgium (probable) · 1934 · Urban hiding places
Est. market value
Priceless (if extant)
The lower-left panel of the Ghent Altarpiece was stolen for ransom and never returned. Ransom letters and a deathbed admission sustain local theories, but the original may have been destroyed.
Confidence 24%
MX-042 · Researching
Palermo, Sicily (theft center) · 1969 · Private collections, hidden storage
Est. market value
$20M+ (published est.)
Nativity with St Francis and St Lawrence was cut from its frame in the Oratory of San Lorenzo. Decades of conflicting accounts have produced no verified recovery.
Confidence 20%
MX-043 · Researching
Cairo, Egypt (theft center) · 2010 · Private collections, hidden storage
Est. market value
$50M–$55M (published est.)
The small Van Gogh painting was stolen from Cairo's Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum for a second time. Initial recovery claims proved false, and its location remains unknown.
Confidence 24%
MX-044 · Researching
Palazzo Vecchio, Florence · 1563 · Palace wall, sealed cavity
Est. market value
Priceless (if preserved)
Leonardo's unfinished mural disappeared during Vasari's renovation of the Hall of the Five Hundred. Limited tests suggested pigment behind a later wall, but its survival remains disputed.
Confidence 27%
