Egypt says stolen pharaoh's gold bracelet melted down, sold for 4,000 USD

CAIRO, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- A 3,000-year-old gold bracelet belonging to an ancient pharaoh, which disappeared from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (EMC) earlier this month, was stolen and melted down, Egypt's Interior Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

According to the ministry, a restoration specialist took the artifact and sold it to a silver jeweler she knew. The silver jeweler then sold it to a gold jeweler for 180,000 Egyptian pounds (about 3,735 U.S. dollars), who subsequently sold it for 194,000 Egyptian pounds to a gold smelter. The smelter melted the bracelet along with other jewelry before reshaping it.