$19,500 Late Fee: Australian Library Receives Long-Overdue Book

An Australian public library has received a book that was overdue for an estimated 150 years. The book, 'Antiquities of Athens,' published in 1858, was returned to the Kiama Library in the seaside town of Kiama after being found in a tea crate bricked into a fireplace during home renovations.

The book's finder did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The library manager, Michelle Hudson, said that they have 'never had anything that old come back to us.'

The late return fine would be around 28,000 Australian dollars ($19,500), calculated on the British three pence-a-week overdue fee printed on the inside cover of the book.

Unfortunately, there is no way to track down the final borrower who accrued the debt. The library journal from the 1870s that recorded borrowers and their due dates has been lost.