Rare Violin Worth $200,000 Sold For, Wait For It, $50. Here's The Catch

When a woman brought a violin to the LBC Boutique in Somerville in Massachusetts, USA, the owner of the shop did not hesitate to buy it from her for $50 (approximately Rs 3,400). However, a phone call from a police officer later informed him that the instrument was actually an extremely rare violin, worth over $200,000 - or well over Rs 1 crore! Why was it sold to him for so little? Because it was stolen from a local family and sold to the pawn shop.

According to local reports, Dylan McDermitt, the owner of LBC Boutique, had unintentionally bought a  one-of-a-kind, handcrafted Ferdinando Gagliano instrument dating to 1759. Talking to NDTV, he says it was sold to them by a woman who said her daughter was done with violin lessons.

Mr McDermitt says the bows of the violin alone are worth $16,000 to $18,000.

The violin has now been returned to its rightful owners. According to the New York Post, it was stolen on July 20 from the home of a Somerville couple while they were sleeping.

In April this year, a painting found in an Iowa art gallery turned out to be an original work by Dutch painter Otto van Veen, valued at millions of dollars.