1. Antique Babe Ruth Discovered In The Piano
Location: USA (Maryland)
Discovered in: 1992
Estimated worth: $130,000*
When Ellen Kelly sat down to play the piano that her late aunt Nora had forbidden her from playing during her life, she was in for a surprise. She tried to play the heirloom, which she had purchased for only $25, in an attempt to maximize her earnings.
Old Babe Ruth Discovered on the Piano ©JJs/Alamy
It took her more than 25 years to figure out why the piano made an odd sound every time she played a note: more than 110 old baseball cards had been piled inside of it. After determining that the antiques had been placed there by her aunt’s brothers decades earlier, Kelly went on to auction the Babe Ruth card for an incredible $130,000.
2. WWII Banknotes Discovered Beneath An English Retail Establishment
Place: Brighton, United Kingdom
Year Found: 2018
Estimated Value: $2 million*
Shopfitter R. Davis saw that Brighton’s Cotswold Outdoor Store was in dire need of renovation and decided to take issues into his own hands. When he tore up a section of rotting flooring and tiles, he discovered something more than dirt: a substantial wad of £5 and £1 notes that England had printed during World War II.
World War II Bills Discovered at Atlas Obscura.com Under An English Retail Store
Presumably, the shop’s Jewish proprietors had hidden the money there in case of a Nazi raid, but they were never able to spend it. However, as the true narrative has not yet been discovered, these are merely conjectures.
3.The Ceremonial Shop Mosaic That Was Inadvertently Transformed Into A Coffee Table
Location: USA’s Manhattan
Year Found: 2017
Estimated Value: Not Known
The antique coffee table that Helen Fioratti paid thousands of dollars for as a family relic didn’t make headlines until the Italian military police’s Art Recovery Unit showed up and claimed ownership of the object, saying it belonged to a cruel and despotic Roman Emperor.
Atlas Obscura: Caligula’s Ceremonial Shop Mosiac Inadvertently Converted Into A Coffee Table
Fioratti was unaware that her coffee table had its roots in Caligula and that, for forty-five years, a masterpiece taken from the opulent “pleasure boats” of the Roman emperor had been kept in her Upper East Side apartment. Although the antique is currently being restored to Italy, Caligula continues to get people into trouble even after his passing.
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