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Whatever Happened to the Infamous Hope Diamond?
by Karl Needan
http://www.flavadiamond.com
Evalyn Walsh MacLean was the last private owner of the Hope
Diamond. She died in 1947 at the age of 60, and she left
behind one of the most beautiful and well-known pieces of
jewelry known to man. This diamond had a tragic history
that appealed to the public and made headlines for many
years. It was a massive diamond of incredible
beauty and unimaginable value, but today is like any other
old lady, leading a rather uneventful existence.
Ms. MacLean's staff were unsure about how to deal with
the Hope Diamond after she died, since the diamond had such
a remarkable history and a superb value. They turned to a
friend of Ms. MacLean's, Frank Murphy, who they thought
would give them the best advice. This Mr. Murphy, in
addition to being a long-time friend of the MacLeans,
was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
Judge Murphysecured the jewels in the MacLean
collection, very quickly, as soon as he came to the house
the night Ms. MacLean died. He couldn't think of a safe
place to put the the diamond at twelve o'clock at night, so
he thought about it in the cab as he left. He decided to
ride in the cab until the banks opened in the morning.
When he approached the Riggs National Bank the following
morning, Murphy asked to have the collection deposited.
Quite naturally, bank officials wanted to know what was in
the sack, at which point he mentioned that one of the items
was the notorious Hope Diamond. Not believing him at
first, these same officials wanted proof that the diamond
was, in fact, among the other pieces in the collection.
They soon conceded, though, when they decided that if a
U.S. Supreme Court official had gone to pick up the package
in the middle of the night from the MacLean mansion, then
it must surely be the Hope Diamond.
Finally accepting the responsibility of securing such a
gem, the bankers agreed to store the diamond, which was
soon procured by Murphy, himself, in a sealed bid to
purchase it, since no-one else wanted to take it into their
possession. There it sat for several years, until he
decided to donate it to the Smithsonian Museum in
Washington, D.C. How did he transport it to its new home?
By placing it in a regular mailing package with a number
of other gems which were of low quality and sending it by
way of the U.S. Postal Service.
Any tourist who strolls into the Smithsonian in Washington,
D.C. today can view the beautiful Hope Diamond resting in
its case of velvet at the museum. This seems an ignoble end
for a gem with a history is steeped in insanity, greed,
corruption and tragedy. Poor Ms. MacClean even died an
untimely death at only 60 years of age. In addition, the
mail carrier who delivered the diamond to the Smithsonian
was in two car accidents at different times, both resulting
in serious injury. The great Hope Diamond continued
to hold its tragic power to the end.
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