A Massachusetts pawn shop bought a violin for $50 (\5,550) and didn’t know it was worth about 5,000 times that.
A new employee at the LBC Boutique and Loan in Somerville paid for the violin, according to a report by Boston-based TV station WFXT-TV. Shortly after, police called the shop and asked if they had a rare violin, said shop manager Dylan McDermitt.
Police say the violin was stolen on July 20 during a wave of burglaries in the Somerville neighborhood, and they have returned the violin to its owner.
The violin was made by Ferdinando Gagliano in 1759, the police said. Gagliano came from a family of violin makers. Like his father, he was a master violin maker.
Experts said the violin could be worth $250,000 (\27.7 million).
Police say the person who sold the violin didn’t have a criminal record and they ’re still investigating the case. (AP)