Time in Ireland
Following the October Revolution the new Russian Republic, which was seriously low on funds, sought a loan from the Irish Republic, whose finance minister, Michael Collins, had become internationally famous for his fundraising for the unofficial Irish state.
The Crown Jewels were used as collateral by the Soviet Republic for a loan of $25,000 from the Irish Republic. The transfer was made in New York City between the head of the Soviet Bureau' the de facto Soviet Ambassador to America Ludwig Martens, and the Irish envoy in the United States, Teachta Dála Harry Boland. When Boland returned to Ireland the jewels were kept in the house of his mother, Catherine Boland, in Dublin City during the Irish War of Independence. Before Boland died, during the Battle of Dublin, he instructed his mother to keep the jewels hidden from the Free State until the Irish Republicans returned to power. Mrs Boland returned the jewels to the Irish Government under Éamon de Valera in 1938. The jewels were placed in a safe in Government Buildings and were forgotten about.
On their discovery in 1948, by the new government led by John A. Costello, it was originally intended that the set of Crown Jewels would be sold by public auction in London. However, after consultations as to their legal status, and negotiations with the Soviet ambassador, it was arranged for them to be returned to the Soviet Union in exchange for the sum of $25,000 originally loaned in 1920. The jewels would ultimately return to Moscow in 1950.
Read more about this topic: Imperial Crown Of Russia
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