A retired shipping consultant has offered a $20,000 reward for the return of the 17th-century Goffriller violin he left at the train station on January 29.

Rob Napier said he didn't realize that he left the prized instrument - an original handiwork of Venetian master Matteo Goffriller dated 1698 - on the train's luggage rack until the train had actually rolled off the station.

The 67-year-old Napier recounts in an Associated Press report that he lost the violin, worth $390,000, while on his way home to Bedwyn. He said he called the train company, but by the time inspectors searched for the violin,it was already gone.

The antique violin belonged to Napier's mother, a professional violinist who died in 2006. Napier added that his late mum bought the Goffriller from a dealer in 1945 to be at par with her colleagues - who at that time, played for in the well-known Ebsworth String Quartet - an all-female group.

British Transport Police officials said they are still investigating the incident.