Norway: Rembrandt etching lost by postal service

A Rembrandt etching worth more than $8,000 has been lost in the mail after a Norwegian Gallery tried to save costs by using regular mail.

The Soli Brug Gallery in Greaaker, Norway, had purchased a copy of the etching from a British dealer, Reuters reported. When Ole Derje went to pick it up from the post office, he was told it wasn't there, though according to Norway's postal service, the shelf number on which it was sitting had been recorded.

“Using a courier or special insurance is quite expensive so we have used regular mail until now,” Ole Derje, the gallery’s chairman said to Reuters.

There's a small chance that the etching had been returned to the sender, but if it's not, the gallery is set to lose quite a bit of money– though the painting is worth somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000 crowns, Norway's postal service is offering only about 500 to a 1,000 crowns in compensation, BBC reported.

They do suggest that the gallery use a less stingy form of mail for such expensive items.  

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