Valuable Rembrandt drawing lost in the post

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Published time: August 24, 2012 08:40
Edited time: August 24, 2012 12:40

Don't be penny wise and pound foolish, many thought when a Norwegian gallery's chief owned up to having lost a Rembrandt etching in the mail after trying to save money on courier and insurance costs.

­The Soli Brug Gallery in Greaaker, 80 kilometers south of Oslo, acquired a copy of Rembrandt's 'Lieven Willemsz, van Coppenol, Writing-Master' created in around 1658 from an unnamed British dealer. It was worth up to $8,600.

The gallery, which boasts works by Dürer, Rembrandt, Goya, Munch and Dali, received a notice to pick up the package at a post office, however when one of the managers went to collect it, it was nowhere to be found.

"Using a courier or special insurance is quite expensive so we have used regular mail until now," Ole Derje, the gallery's chairman told Reuters.

"We are sorry that this has happened; we have advised him to use a more appropriate form of mail when sending items that are worth as much as this, with the appropriate insurance connected," a spokesman for the postal service was quoted as saying.