Seuso Treasure

The Seuso Treasure or Sevso Treasure ( hu, Seuso-kincsek; hr, Seusovo blago), is a hoard of silver objects (14 items) from the late Roman Empire. The first pieces appeared on the market in London in 1980, and the treasure was acquired by a consortium headed by Spencer Compton, 7th Marquess of Northampton. Documentation was provided in which it was stated that it had been found in the Tyre and Sidon regions of Lebanon. It was put up for sale in New York City in 1990 by Sotheby's, but was halted when the documentation was found to be false, and the governments of Hungary, Yugoslavia (now Croatia) and Lebanon made claims of ownership. The claims of ownership by these countries were rejected by a US court, and the treasure remained in the possession of the Marquess of Northampton. Scotland Yard still has an open case on the matter.

The origin and provenance of the treasure are likely known, but not publicly acknowledged. There is much scientific evidence to indicate that the hoard was first acquired in the 1970s after the murder of a Hungarian soldier, who discovered the treasure during illicit digging at an established archaeological site in Hungary. On 26 March 2014 Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán announced that half of the Seuso Treasure (seven items) had been bought by Hungary. The Prime Minister described it as "Hungary's family silverware". In June 2017 the remaining seven artifacts also returned to Hungary, being bought for €28 million.

Contents

The treasure trove consists of fourteen large decorated silver vessels and the copper cauldron which contained them, and has been dated to the late-fourth or early-fifth century AD. Most notable is a large dish, 70 cm in diameter and weighing nearly 9 kg, which bears the inscription:

: ''Hec Seuso tibi durent per saecula multa''
: ''Posteris ut prosint vascula digna tuis''

: May these, O Seuso, yours for many ages be
: Small vessels fit to serve your offspring worthily.

Discovery

The hoard first came to attention in 1980, when a single piece in the possession of two antiquities dealers from Vienna was offered for sale in London. Further pieces reached the market, and what is believed to be the complete hoard was acquired by a consortium headed by Spencer Compton, 7th Marquess of Northampton.Antiques Trade Gazette
, 30 September 2006. Documentation supplied by the Lebanese embassy in Switzerland stated that the treasure had originally been found in the Tyre and Sidon regions of Lebanon, and on that basis the consortium negotiated to sell the collection to the Getty Museum in Los Angeles for $10 million. When that deal fell through, the treasure was put up for sale in New York in 1990 by Sotheby's, and was described as being from "what was once the province of Phoenicia in the Eastern Roman Empire".

Legal dispute

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 the police later concluded that he had been killed. As of 2012 the criminal investigation into his death is still ongoing.

Yugoslavia's case was based on claims that the treasure had been originally found on 30 June 1960 in the village of Barbariga