This is a really fantastic story! I have to tell it to you.
In Somerset, England, a British pensioner who wishes to remain anonymous found a 2,300-year-old ancient Greek crown packed up in some crumpled up newspapers in an old cardboard box under his bed.
This gentleman said that he had many possessions left to him by his grandfather, who was a seasoned world traveler and collector. He said he had inherited many objects from his father and just put this to one side for almost a decade and didn’t really think anything of it.
He took the golden crown, along with some other items, to be appraised by a nearby auction house, Duke’s of Dorchester, about five years ago.
It was there that the crown was discovered by one of the appraisers, Guy Schwinge.
The handmade crown, made of pure gold, is approximately eight inches across and weighs about 100 grams (about 11 ounces, less than one pound). The rare find surprised both the owner as well as the appraiser.
“I knew my grandfather traveled extensively in the 1940s and 50s and he spent time in the northwest frontier area, where Alexander the Great was, so it’s possible he got it while he was there,” said the man. “But he never told me anything about this wreath.”
The Ancient crown is likely to be from Hellenistic Period
The perfectly preserved gold wreath, used in Ancient Greece to crown athletic and artistic competitions, as well as in religious ceremonies, could be worth more than $200,000, according to auctioneers who plan to put the item up for sale.
Crowns such as the one discovered usually depicted branches of laurel, myrtle, oak and olive trees, all symbolic of the ideals and morals held in ancient Greece such as wisdom, triumph, fertility, peace and virtue.
So, here’s a piece of advice: let’s open the boxes stored in the cupboards that we don’t know the contents of. Who knows what might be inside…
