A civic guard group from Limburg, which traces its origins back to 1617, has doubled the reward for the return of precious silver medallions, which were thrown out by a bank worker by mistake.

The Sint Sebastianus civic guard from Kerkrade is now offering €10,000 for the return of the silver, which was apparently put out with other rubbish during a clear-out of a local Rabobank branch. Rabobank already offered a €10,000 reward.

The guild hopes to have the silver medallions back by Sunday morning, when its members take part in an annual procession through the Limburg town.

Repairs

The silver was thrown away by a bank worker who thought it was worthless old Carnaval medals while a strong room was being cleared out.

‘This should never have happened,’ Joop Sprenger, chief of the Rabobank Parkstad Limburg branch said in a statement at the time. The bank has launched an inquiry to try to establish why the silver was not in its usual secure place.

The silver, which consists of 220 hand-engraved silver shields, is insured for €250,000.

The guild’s king will, by chance, be wearing one medallion during Sunday’s parade. It was damaged during a funeral several weeks ago and was sent away for repairs.