A first edition copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone has fetched a staggering £68,000 at auction.
This exceedingly rare issue was one of just 500 hardback copies that were printed back in 1997 before the magical saga rose to its lofty heights.
Other such copies have fetched large amounts at auction recently, including one which sold for £50,000 in an online auction at Hansons Auctioneers on Friday.
These issues sold at their original time of printing for just £10.99, yet of those original 500 only 200 were ever sold in a store, the other 300 were all donated to various schools and libraries across the UK.
Two former library copies, complete with date stamps have also recently been sold at auction. One went for £19,000 with the other finished at bidding at £17,500.
Charlotte Rumsey initially put a copy found in her mother’s box of unwanted things in a 50p box for a car boot sale in July. Thankfully though she watched an episode of Antiques Roadshow and immediately asked her mother to check her copy with Hanson’s Auctioneers.
The copy turned out to be one of the rare 200 that were sent to shops and eventually sold for the aforementioned £50,000.
Ms Rumsey says she plans to split the money between her upcoming nuptials and her mother’s new home.
Booklytical 