Antique bracelet with Hand of  Fatima, Private Collection

PORTABLE TREASURIES: SILVER JEWELRY FROM THE NADLER COLLECTION, PART II

There is still time to catch this exhibition at the Museum of Arts and Design, 2 Columbus Circle, NY, NY, before it's September 26 closing.

At the Portable Treasuries exhibition, I came away impressed by the massive size and weight of many of the pieces. This was also an opportunity for an overview of jewelry from three large geographic areas, and a chance to study tribal iconography and motifs. There is also a talismanic element to this jewelry, which is additionally intriguing.

The best example of weighty jewelry is the described Mien or Yao wedding cape, worn by brides, which can weigh 15 to 20 pounds and cost a year's wages. Among the beautiful motifs, one will see the repetition of fish and butterflies, representing fertility and reincarnation. Bats and dragons are commonly Asian. Arabic tribal jewelry is typically symmetrical and geometric, with repeating patterns. This jewelry might be accented by colored beads or enamels. The Hand of Fatima, employed as a protection from evil, is an example of a talisman commonly seen in North African jewelry. Sometimes there is a mixture in meaning of devices, such as Tuareg crosses, signifying Christianity, but also more ancient beliefs.

Don't miss this rare opportunity! The Museum will also host a gala preview of their contemporary art jewelry selling exhibition, LOOT! 2010, on October 20, 2010. (D.H.)

Ground Zero
Courtesy of NOAA, Wikimedia Commons

TREASURE UNDER THE TWIN TOWERS

On November 1, 2001 the Mayor of New York, Rudolph Guliani, announced that "more than $230 million" in silver and gold had been recovered from the Twin Towers World Trade Center site. The precious metals belonged to the Bank of Nova Scotia.

The destruction of the Towers created a 30' deep pit of collapsed buildings. However 70' underground remained a partially collapsed 16 acre basement, which housed, among other tenants, holdings of the Bank of Nova Scotia. On November 1, 2001, many news articles were still covering the terrible event. In The New York Times, the Bank of Nova Scotia was reported to have holdings of 379,036 ounces of gold, and 29,942,619 ounces of silver, with a total value of $200 million in an underground vault.

The Times Online, on the same day, stated that the owner of this vault was the New York Mercantile Exchange Trading Division (COMEX), which kept an additional 730 million in metals, including
-$100 million in gold--3,800 bars--12 tons,
-$430 million in silver--102 million ounces
-$220 million in gold--800,000 ounces held for others (Chase Manhattan and, Bank of New York, and Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking).

The New York Times also reported an attempted break-in at the vault door, security guards having noted scorch and crowbar marks in mid-October. Close-circuit TV monitoring was immediately installed, with the New York Port Authority patroling until the stated removal of metals.

The mystery is in the math. However it is difficult to imagine thieves with blowtorches and crowbars moving an overwhelming weight in metal. Each gold ingot weighs 70 pounds. It is estimated that 50 tractor trailers would be required to move 30,000 1,000-ounce silver bars. No substantive information is available on the platinum or palladium also stored in the vault. Best that the mystery remains. Rest in peace. (D.H.)