A Stradivarius that thieves once tried to sell for £100 may fetch more than £2m when it goes for auction in December, ending its long association with an internationally acclaimed violinist.

The violin, then valued at a mere £1.2m, was snatched at a Pret a Manger cafe at Euston station, London, in November 2010. It had been played by the Korean-born, London-based musician Min-Jin Kym since she was a teenager. Its discovery this year after a long police investigation left her "on cloud nine" and "with an incredible feeling of elation", she said.

Kym spoke at the time of her "difficult journey" and sense of responsibility for the loss. After the theft she acquired another Stradivarius.

"The violin was a faithful friend for many years and I was devastated by the loss," she said on Monday. "Its recovery is an absolute relief and I am eager to hear the violin once more and I wish its next owner all the best of luck and success."

The instrument, found at an unnamed property in the West Midlands, was returned to insurers in the summer. Jason Price, director of the Tarisio auction house, said he was not at liberty to say who was the present owner. "Min-Jin has replaced it with something else, she had no other option. It is a 1705 Stradivarius, nine years later than this one but it is similar and also a great instrument."

Made in Cremona, Italy, Kym's former violin is one of about 600 surviving instruments made by Antonio Stradivari. Price said that although the instrument was not from Stradivari's golden period of around 1710-20, it was very similarly striking. "Pre-1700, Stradivari was quite experimental and innovative," he said. "He made some instruments of slightly longer body length and varied proportions of his violins, violas and cellos.

The 1696 Stradivarius violin. Photograph: PA

"This 1696 violin is, however, of normal proportions and is more or less the model Stradivari settled upon to use for the rest of his career. Interestingly, instruments from this pre-1700 period probably have more of Stradivari himself in them. In the later periods Stradivari was in his 70s and, although he was active and working, it is clear he had a very productive workshop, with his sons and others assisting in the output."

Price added: "The beauty of this violin is the wood used for the back. It is sensational maple. It is really glamorous, gorgeous stuff. The bridge was removed but that's of no consequence. The bridge is held in place by the tension of the strings and it is frequently changed over the lifetime of an instrument.

"This is an instrument very much designed to be a player's instrument. It deserves to be played on. It will probably go someone like Min-Jin, an emerging soloist or professional orchestra player or a chamber musician. It's rather amazing that these instruments survive for 300 years – when you think that a professional violinist has one under their chin for four hours a day and carries it with them by all means of transportation.

"It shows the care that musicians give their instruments that more of them don't go missing or get irreparably damaged. It is an extremely attractive violin and the sound is first-class."

Online bidding will start at £1m but the instrument could fetch more than £2m. "The reason I can imagine it going for much more than the more conservative price we have is that it is an extremely usable violin," said Price.

Min-Jin bought it in around 2000. Its history before that is unknown, but it has a certificate from the English expert Charles Beare and bears its original label.

Price put the top three Stradivarius violins as the £9.8m Lady Blunt once owned by Lord Byron's granddaughter, sold by the Nippon Music Foundation to an anonymous owner via a Tarisio auction in 2011; the 1716 Messiah (or Messie) at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; and the 1716 Medici, exhibited in the Accademia galleries, Florence.

In 2011 John Maughan was jailed for four and a half years at Blackfriars crown court in London for the theft of Kym's violin. He and accomplices had tried to sell it in an internet cafe not far from Euston. Two teenagers were sentenced for their involvement.

British Transport police chased leads across Europe – one false trail involved an instrument in Bulgaria that turned out to be a replica made no more than a century ago – but are still investigating how it ended up where it did. They always believed the violin was so rare and distinctive that established dealers would recognise it as stolen property.

"The police used to call Min-Jin every Friday afternoon, which just shows the amount of care they showed. Their efforts to recover the violin went well beyond the call of duty," said Price, explaining why a portion of the proceeds and sales commission would go to authorities who helped recover it.

On the subject of the desirability of Kym's old violin, Price added: "Is it worth more as a result of being stolen? Probably not, but is sure adds colour and intrigue to the history of the instrument."