Priam’s Treasure in Boston?

On at least two occasions, the famous Trojan gold nearly found a home in the United States.

On May 31, 1873, Schliemann uncovered what he later described as Priam’s Treasure. Within days he had smuggled the entire lot out of Turkey to Athens—where he set the finds on shelves, had them photographed and welcomed visitors to his house to view the “treasure of Priam.” That Christmas, he had his Greek wife, Sophia, photographed wearing the headdress and earrings (see this issue’s cover); he then distributed the photo to family and friends.

For a year and a half, controversy raged over the ownership of Priam’s Treasure. While fending off a lawsuit from the Ottoman government, Schliemann strung along various governments of Europe and the United States, giving each the impression that it might one day be home to Priam’s gold.