King Tutankhamen, more commonly called King Tut, went unnoticed for thousands of years. His tomb was met with shock and awe when it was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter and George Herbert.
King Tut's tomb was left almost completely untouched, as its modest appearance likely deterred looters. The only evident break-ins appear to have taken place shortly after his burial, and the majority of the treasures still remained inside at the time of it's 20th century discovery.
Upon opening the sarcophagus, excavators found a gold-plated coffin. The layer of gold varied in thickness and color. It was thick and heavy on the face and hands, while a fine gold leaf made up the head-dress. At the bottom of the coffin, a picture of the goddess Isis is kneeling over the hieroglyph for gold.
The second gold-plated coffin was even more decadent than the first, though it showed some water damage. It was secured shut with 10 gold-headed silver nails to protect the third and final solid-gold coffin that held the mummy of King Tutankhamen.
The last coffin was just shy of 2 meters in length and was made entirely from gold that had been beaten from a heavy sheet. This coffin alone is valued at about $1.7 million. More gold was located inside the coffin, including the foil patches that covered King Tut's pierced ears and two necklaces made of red and yellow gold disk beads.
Though he died when he was only about 18 years old, his intact tomb made King Tut one of the most well-known of the Ancient Egyptian rulers.
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byUnited States Gold Bureau