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Swiss authorities looking for owner of gold bars left on train

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Despite the best efforts of the authorities, the rightful owner could not be found. © Keystone / Christian Beutler

A packet of gold bars worth CHF182,000 ($191,743) was left behind on a train in October 2019. 

An announcement published in the gazetteExternal link of the central Swiss canton of Lucerne invites the owner of the gold bars to come forward and claim them. The precious package was found on a train heading from the northeastern Swiss city of St Gallen to Lucerne last October. 

Despite the best efforts of the authorities, the rightful owner could not be found. The gold bars were subsequently confiscated by the public prosecutor’s office in Lucerne. The owner has five years from the date of confiscation to assert claim on the gold bars. 

The Swiss Federal Railways’ centralised lost and found service receives around 300 objects a day that have been left behind on trains. The most valuable misplaced object remains a 1727 Stradivarius violin left behind in 2012. It was estimated to be worth €2.4 million (CHF2.6 million) at the time. 

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