Seuso Treasure

The sale was halted when documentation was thought to be false, and the governments of Hungary, Yugoslavia and Lebanon each made claims of ownership. Hungarian authorities claim that the treasure was discovered by a young soldier, József Sümegh, in around 1975–76 near the town of Polgárdi in central Hungary. Sümegh's body was found in a nearby cellar in 1980. The official investigation at the time determined that he had committed suicide, but later the police came to the conclusion that he had been killed.[8] As of 2012 the criminal investigation into his death is still ongoing.[9]

Yugoslavia's case was based on claims that the treasure had been originally found on 30 June 1960, in the village of Barbariga in Istria (present-day Croatia).[10] The village is some 20 kilometres north of the city of Pula, an important city in Roman times. According to local witnesses, the treasure had been discovered in old trenches in a nearby Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) compound.[10] In the 1980s the JNA gave permission to local archaeologists, led by Vesna Girardi-Jurkić, to further excavate the site. According to unconfirmed eyewitness reports of army excavations, the 14 known artefacts were only a small part of a much larger treasure trove as it took soldiers and police brought to the site six days to list all the items found at the site. However, very few details of the project were ever released to the public as the alleged site was entirely within a military area closed off to civilians.[10] Yugoslav archaeologists' efforts eventually failed to provide any conclusive evidence for the treasure's origin, although the soil residue found on the artefacts was proved to match the samples of soil from the area.[10] After the breakup of Yugoslavia the newly independent Croatia pressed on with the case and included the results of the soil analysis in its formal ownership claim to a New York court.[10]

The Hippolytus set

In November 1993, the New York Court of Appeals rejected the claims, and found no case for removing it from the possession of the Marquess of Northampton 1987 Settlement (a trust established by the Marquess of Northampton).[11] The silver was locked in a bank vault while further legal proceedings followed. The Marquess sued his solicitors Allen & Overy for damages in relation to advice given during the purchase of the silver, and that case was settled out of court in 1999 for a reported £15 million.[12] On 25 June 1999, in written answers to questions in the House of Lords, the British government confirmed that it had no further interest in the case and confirmed the decision not to prosecute.[13]

The Hungarian claim of possession is likely justified by the fact that on one of the main plates, the "Hunting Plate", an inscription is to be seen. It reads "Pelso", the Roman name for Lake Balaton in Hungary; the lake is just west of the alleged place of discovery.[14] Also near to the lake, in 1873 a presumed Roman tripod (later restored, upon which it was discovered that it is a quadripod) was discovered; according to scholars, this object featured similar decoration as the Seuso Treasure items, and is very likely a creation of the same hands. It is housed in the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest.[15]

In September 2006, London auctioneer Bonhams announced that it would exhibit the treasure privately, in a move seen as a prelude to a sale by private treaty or by auction at a future date.[7] A spokesman for the Ministry of Education and Culture of Hungary, which had still claimed it, said it had informed British authorities that it must not be sold.[16] On 12 October 2006, further written answers were given in the House of Lords to questions by Colin Renfrew, Baron Renfrew of Kaimsthorn, particularly relating to Hungary's possible revised claim to the treasure since its admission to the European Union in 2004.[17] Bonhams went ahead with its private exhibition on 17 October 2006.[18]

The "Hunting plate" in the Hungarian Parliament Building

In March 2007, The Art Newspaper reported that a further "187 silvergilt spoons, 37 silvergilt drinking cups, and 5 silver bowls", previously unknown, but part of the original hoard, were reputed to exist.[19] Research presented in February 2008 by the Hungarian archaeologist Zsolt Visy strengthened the view that the origin of the treasure may be the Lake Balaton region of Hungary.[20]

The Channel 4 archaeology programme Time Team aired a special on the treasure in December 2008.[21] The programme presented Hungary's evidence for the likely origin of the hoard being near the town of Polgárdi. The Marquess of Northampton withdrew from planned participation in the programme and Channel 4 was not given permission to film the treasure, held in Bonhams' vault in London.