A 16th-century Hebrew Bible is missing after an eBay transaction went wrong last month.
An artifacts dealer in Virginia sold and shipped the eight-volume Bible for $7,000, but the buyer claims he never received the package.
Gene Albert shipped the valuable item from Lynchburg to Monsey, NY using the US Postal Service, and did not indicate that a signature was required for delivery. Albert also neglected to indicate that the package was valuable, and did not purchase insurance for the Bible. He told the Journal News that such measures would have increased the likelihood of package theft.
Tracking data showed that the Bible was delivered on October 10, but the buyer – Jacob Gestetner – messaged Albert a day later informing him that he never received the delivery. Albert responded on October 12, and urged Gestetner to investigate the matter with his local post office. According to Albert, it took Gestetner another week to let him know that he still didn't have the package.
"So much time went by, I figured he had found it," Albert explained. "Why did he wait so long?"
A Monsey post office representative told the Journal News that the Bible was left outside of Gestetner's home.
Per eBay policy, the $7,000 will be returned to Gestetner, who said that the situation was a personal matter, and declined further media comment.
The rare Bible was from 17th-century Scottish politician Andrew Fletcher's private collection, and Albert has notified the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America of its disappearance. He also alerted Monsey synagogues, and filed a claim with the postal service.
"Either [Gestetner] has it or it was stolen from his mailbox," Albert said. "Either way it's gone and I'm out the money."
Albert was the owner of the now-defunct Christian Heritage Museum in Hagerstown, MD, which displayed 20,000 Bibles, religious books and artifacts. Many of the items were sold to Hobby Lobby President Steven Green in preparation for his planned Bible museum.
