Old Darwin Reserve Bank vault finally gives up its secrets after remaining locked for 21 years
A TEAM of locksmiths today finally unlocked the secrets hiding inside a mysterious vault which had remained unopened and untouched for 21 years in Darwin’s old Reserve Bank building
Northern Territory
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WHEN archaeologist Howard Carter first opened King Tutankhamun’s tomb after it lay largely undiscovered for more than 3000 years he discovered the Boy King’s solid gold funerary mask, a gilded statue of Anubis and untold items of priceless jewellery.
When lockmsiths first opened the armoured door of Darwin’s former Reserve Bank building today after it had stood locked for decades NT cultural officials discovered an old telephone, some light bulbs and two small, but empty, safes.
But treasure can often be in the eye of the beholder.
And the treasure hunters at Tourism Top End now at least, and finally, know what’s behind that mysterious, eternally locked door after their curiosity eventually reached breaking point.
NT Heritage Branch director Michael Wells was the first to walk into the vault when the door finally groaned open.
Inside the semi-darkness, he cast his blinking eyes over the phone and used light bulbs and modest-sized safes, also locked but small enough to be picked up, shaken and deemed empty.
There was also a dust-covered ledger that Mr Wells said he would contact Reserve Bank representatives about.
Maybe there’s a signature in it that could be worth a significant amount to an autograph hunter. All may not be lost yet.
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Top Lock NT owners Ed Brooke and Jarred Ford took almost five hours to crack the vault and said they had been faced with “significant security hurdles” to get the job done.
Frustratingly, a large pile of old keys had been left behind by previous bank staff.
But none would open the vault door. Or the two small safes.
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One final, distracting red herring.
The builders of Tutankhamun’s fabled, fake pasageways and secret chambers would have been proud.
READ more about this story in Thursday’s paper
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