英国大爷床底发现2300年前希腊王冠！赚翻了

An elderly man from Somerset, England had perhaps just a bit of a surprise when he discovered that the crown shoved under his bed in a dirty cardboard box is actually worth about $150,000 to $300,000.

英格兰萨默塞特一位长者发现，他床底下一个脏兮兮的纸板箱里藏着一个价值约15万到30万美元的皇冠，这还真蛮令人惊讶的。

The wreath is about 2,300 years old and believed to be ancient Greek—dating from roughly to the Hellenistic period, the time following the death of Alexander the Great (300 BCE).

这枚花冠可以追溯到2300年前的古希腊，即亚历山大大帝离世不久后的希腊化时期(公元前300年）。

The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, possesses many items from his grandfather, who was a well-seasoned traveler. He decided to have appraisers from Duke’s of Dorchester—a nearby auction house—look at a few of the items he had inherited.One of the appraisers, Guy Schwinge, was present at the man rifled through a box filled with crumpled newspaper to bring out the delicate crown.

这名男子不愿透露姓名，其祖父是名资深旅人，他从祖父那儿继承了不少物品。他此番决定去附近一家名为“多切斯特公爵”的拍卖行找人看看他继承的几样物品。其中一名鉴赏家圭·斯文哲就亲眼目睹了这名男士从塞满报纸的盒子里拿出精巧的皇冠。

Despite its age and unusual method of storage (besides being stored under the bed, bits of dirt in the gold suggest it was once buried), the wreath is apparently in marvelous condition.

尽管有些年岁了，储藏方式也不同一般（除却放在床底下不说，从金冠上的尘埃可以看出皇冠一度被埋起来过），但皇冠显然一看就是质地绝佳。

Of course, being found in a cottage with no provenance to speak of makes it a challenge to know much about the wreath at all.

当然，皇冠在一间名不见经传的小屋里发现，也给人们进一步了解这枚花冠带来了困难。

Crowns made of real plants—like branches of laurel, myrtle, oak, and olive trees—that were given to victors in athletic and artistic contests worn in ancient Greece for religious ceremonies.However, the golden versions were so delicate, they were only worn rarely, for special occasions.

由月桂、橡树、桃金娘还有橄榄树等真实植物制成的皇冠在古希腊是颁给艺术运动竞技的王者的，在宗教场合佩戴。然而，金冠精密又脆弱，所以尽在特别场合戴。

As to how the owner’s grandfather got ahold of such a rare artifact, no one’s quite sure. The family believes he probably picked it up during his travels.

至于皇冠主人的祖父是从何获得这一稀世珍品的，无人能知晓，家人认为大约是旅行途中所得。