Violin Played on the Titanic Authenticated, Will Be Put Up for Auction

A violin played by Bandmaster Wallace Hartley on the sunken Titanic has been found and tests have proven that it is the real deal.

Hartley put it in a leather bag that had his initials on it and drowned with it strapped to his body. It was later returned to his fiancé Maria Robinson, it made its way to Bridlington Salvation Army band in East Yorks after her death and it eventually wound up in someone's attic.

According to the Sun, the authentication process took seven years to be completed, but experts believe it is genuine. The violin will be auctioned off, most likely for six figures but, until then, it is on display in Belfast.

“When we first saw it we had to keep a lid on our excitement. It was almost too good to be true,” says Andrew Aldridge, of Henry Aldridge & Son auction house in Wiltshire.