Lewis Chessmen: a $ 1.2 million chess piece missing for nearly 200 years discovered in the family drawer

A 900-year-old chess piece was identified after nearly 200 years of disappearance. A family from Edinburgh, capital of Scotland, has kept this failure in a drawer since 1964, without giving details of the piece.

It was bought for a few books by the grandfather of the family, an antique dealer, without knowing its value at the time, according to the BBC. This artifact was carved in walrus ivory in the twelfth century and comes from the Viking era.

A total of 93 pieces were discovered in 1831 on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland. The incomplete series takes place at the British Museum in London and the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, where five plays are still missing, according to the Associated Press.

A spokesman for the family said in a statement: "My grandfather was an Edinburgh-based antique dealer.In 1964, he bought an ivory chess set from another dealer. Edinburgh, "according to the BBC. "It was stated in his register of purchases that he had purchased an" Antique Warrior Tusk Warrior Chessman "."

The room was kept in a drawer until the death of the grandfather and passed on to the mother of a family member, the Edinburgh family told the BBC. The Edingburgh family has adopted the coin for Sotheby's European sculpture after more than 55 years of its value.

According to Alexander Kader, an expert at Sotheby's, this discovery constitutes "one of the most exciting and personal rediscoveries ever made during my career," AP reported.

The auction house Sotheby's announced on Monday that it is expected to bring in between 600,000 ($ 670,000) and 1 million pounds ($ 1.26 million) at auction in July, according to AP.