The Hope diamond is a 45.5-carat stone estimated to be worth $350 million and reputed to be cursed with bad luck. In 1958 New York jeweler Harry Winston donated it to the Smithsonian Institute, paying $2.44 in postage (and $142.85 for insurance) to send it via the U.S. Postal Service. Within a year of delivering the package, the mail carrier who dropped off the diamond had a run of bad luck: He broke his leg in a car accident, his wife died of a heart attack, and his house caught fire.