Oregon museum hopes old violin is Stradivarius

CANYONVILLE, Ore. (AP) — Officials at the Pioneer-Indian Museum in Canyonville hope that an old violin found in the museum attic turns out to be a rare Stradivarius.

A violin by the famed Italian craftsman Antonio Stradivari made in the late 17th century can fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Those made during Stradivari’s so-called “golden period” in the early 18th century between 1700 and 1720 can be worth several million dollars.

The odds of discovering an authentic Stradivarius have been described as the same as winning the lottery two weeks in a row.

And there are plenty of cheap copies around, so experts will have to determine whether the Canyonville violin is the real thing.

Museum officials told The News-Review in Roseburg they’re keeping it locked away in a bank vault until then.

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Information from: The News-Review, http://www.nrtoday.com