Test Your Knowledge: Famous Found Treasures Quiz

Estimated Completion Time
3 min
Test Your Knowledge: Famous Found Treasures Quiz
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About This Quiz

Humans stash (or lose) their loot in all sorts of weird ways, leaving other people to speculate on those riches. How much do you know about these famous treasures?
In which country is the legendary city of Paititi, which is supposedly home to an entire civilization's gold?
Brazil
Peru
Venezuela
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

No one knows if the lost city is real, but if it is, a lucky adventurer could wind up with unimaginable riches.

How old was the Uluburun shipwreck, which was found in 1982?
about 300 years old
about 1,800 years old
about 3,300 years old
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It contained a variety of treasures , and it is one of the oldest wrecks ever found.

How many individual items were found in the Cuerdale Hoard?
nearly 9,000
nearly 900
nearly 90
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The huge haul of silver was found by construction workers in 1840.

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How much of the Cuerdale Hoard was given to the workers who unearthed it?
none of it
one piece each
all of it
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Most of the Viking treasure wound up in a British museum.

What treasure did a Bedouin shepherd find in 1947?
Holy Grail
Ark of Covenant
Dead Sea Scrolls
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The scrolls, and many other bits of text, were found in caves near Jericho.

How long did it take to find the San Jose, a Spanish galleon loaded with treasures that could be worth billions of dollars?
112 years
215 years
307 years
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The ship was sunk by the British; it was hauling treasures meant to fund Spain's war against England.

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Where was the Saddle Ridge Hoard found?
North Carolina
Western Montana
Northern California
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The Gold Rush-era stash was found by a couple walking their dog.

How many gold pieces were found in the Saddle Ridge Hoard?
about 400
about 1,400
about 100
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

One of the especially rare coins was worth $1 million.

What was farmer Peter Whatling looking for when he found the Hoxne Hoard in 1992?
a horse
a hammer
a child
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

His friend used a metal detector to find a hammer but instead they found buried treasure.

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In today's dollars, about how much would the Hoxne Hoard be worth?
$4.7 million
$9.2 million
$18.1 million
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The treasure consisted largely of silverware and gold jewelry from the Roman Empire.

How many ships were in the Spanish Treasure Fleet that sank in 1715 off the coast of Florida?
44
33
11
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Treasure still washes up on the shores, and four of the ships have never been found.

What is the approximate value of the treasures found in the Padmanabhaswamy Temple in India, even though there is still one unexplored vault?
about $13 million
about $39 million
about $22 billion
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The temple's riches were likely accumulated over thousands of years.

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Why has India's famed Vault B remained sealed even though it is thought to contain ancient treasure?
doing so would unleash a curse
It is guarded by dragons.
no one in India needs the money
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The door is painted with a cobra, and many people suspect that opening the vault would bring about horrible luck.

What happened to the Spanish Treasure Fleet after it set sail for Spain?
set on fire by the British
hit by a storm
attacked by pirates
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

They left for Spain during hurricane season … and paid a steep price.

In 1857, the S.S. Central America was loaded with gold. How did it sink?
hurricane
pirates
intentionally grounded
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It had so much gold on board that its loss contributed to the financial crisis called the Panic of 1857.

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What was the weight of the biggest gold ingot found in the shipwreck of the S.S. Central America?
30 pounds
80 pounds
120 pounds
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The wreck, which was found in 1988, had perhaps $150 million in gold onboard.

Why did the 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet leave Florida for Spain when captains knew hurricane season was brewing?
to trick pirates
the winds meant faster sailing
They hated Florida.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

They had to gamble between pirates or the weather, and they lost.

On the coast of which country was the famous Diamond Shipwreck found?
Namibia
Mali
Senegal
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It was found by accident after being buried on a beach for more than five centuries.

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The Diamond Shipwreck was loaded with 22 tons of ingots made of what material?
silver
copper
gold
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The treasure was found in 2008 by mining geologists working for De Beers, the well-known diamond company.

How long did treasure hunter Mel Fisher search for the Nuestra Senora de Atocha before locating the wrecked ship?
eight years
16 years
28 years
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

When he finally found it, the ship's load was worth more than $400 million.

How big is the largest diamond in the lost Patiala Necklace, which disappeared in 1948?
98 carats
428 carats
888 carats
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The diamond is one of the largest ever found.

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The SS Gairsoppa was loaded with silver when it was sunk by the navy of which country?
Germany
Spain
France
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A Nazi submarine blasted the ship with a torpedo; it was found in 2011 after a two-month search.

Why did mobster Arthur Flegenheimer bury much of his ill-gotten fortune in the Catskill mountains?
He gave up his life of crime.
He was on a hit list.
He was going to prison.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

He didn't want to lose his fortune while he was behind bars; the money has never been found.

The Whydah Gally was captured by which famous pirate?
Black Sam
Blackbeard
Black Caesar
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It sank shortly afterwards; its treasures buried under a beach for more than 260 years before being discovered.

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In 1216, how were King John's Crown Jewels lost?
fire
unexpected tide
ship sank
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A powerful tide snatched the cart transporting the jewels, and they were never seen again.

How did the 200-year-old Amber Room (made of amber and gold) become lost to history in the 1940s?
It never existed.
It was destroyed by fire.
Nazis took it.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Nazis stripped it down and shipped it, and it may have been destroyed by World War II bomb attacks.

In the 2000s, what was the name of a secret project to retrieve treasure from a wrecked 1804 Spanish frigate?
Goose head Project
Black Swan Project
Cormorant Project
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The team found silver and gold that was worth around half a billion dollars.

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What happened to the treasures found by the Black Swan Project?
sold at auction
confiscated
lost in an accident
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The Spanish government sued the American company and won; the team attempted to appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court and lost.

In the late 1980s, why did an art collector named Forrest Fenn bury treasure in the Rocky Mountains?
He was suicidal.
His child died.
He was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

But the doctors were wrong and he lived; rather than retrieve the goods he turned it into a game with online clues.

Where is the supposed location of the rumored "Lost Dutchman" gold mine from the 1840s?
Arizona
California
Nevada
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The Dutchman who said he knew the mine's location died before anyone could confirm its location; treasure hunters are still looking for it.

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