A violin from a band that played as the Titanic sank in April 1912 was found in an attic in England, said a British auction house Friday.

The instrument, made of rosewood, was thought to have disappeared under the ocean when its owner and the band leader Wallace Hartley drowned with others in what was thought of as the "unsinkable ship," according to Yahoo.

As hundreds of passengers aboard the Titanic ran frantically as it sank into the Atlantic Ocean, a band played Nearer, My God in an attempt to keep them calm.

Auction house Henry Aldridge and Son, a leading authority on Titanic memorabilia have been testing the violin for seven years. They have confirmed that the violin belonged to Hartley, who was 34.

They said there was no doubt the violin was authentic. It could be sold well-over a six-figure sum.

"The deposit on it and the corrosion on it were compatible with immersion in sea water," Aldridge told AFP. "We also employed a jewellery expert, who confirmed that the inscriptions on the plaque on the violin were contemporary."

Harley's fiancée Maria Robinson gave him the violin to mark their engagement in 1910. She had a silver plaque fixed to the instrument engraved with the words: "For Wallace, on the occasion of our engagement. From Maria."

"You can appreciate why he wanted to keep it with him," said Aldridge.

Hartley's body was recovered 10 days after the shipwreck, but the violin was not listed among his possessions.

According to Yahoo, The violin is scheduled to go on public display in Belfast, Ireland where the Titanic was built, at the end of this month.