A Harry Potter book bought for 30p has been sold for £10,500 by a Lichfield auctioneer.
One of only 500 first edition copies of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the item had originally been a library book.
It was then purchased for just 30p by a man who lived in Burntwood before his death earlier this year.
The Richard Winterton Auctioneers sale attracted international interest, with the winning bid placed over the internet from Los Angeles.
Auctioneer Richard Winterton said:
“We’re absolutely delighted with this result.
“The first in the original series of books by JK Rowling, this copy has clearly been well-read and still has its library identification sticker, spine sticker with the letter J, withdrawal stamp and 30p selling price.”
Richard Winterton
Auctioneers discovered the book after a search of hundreds of boxes of the owner’s belongings.
The man’s sister, who asked not to be named, said before the sale:
“My brother started dealing in books and memorabilia when he was still at school. He would go to jumble sales and church fairs and would come back with a pile of annuals or comics.
“He would then take them to a second-hand shop to sell or take them in to school to swap with friends.
“That was his passion from an early age onwards.”
The family knew that he had acquired a valuable Harry Potter book but feared it had gone astray.
“When he moved house four years ago he literally put everything into hundreds of boxes, many of which went into containers.
“We knew that he had got the book but if you asked him to pinpoint it he couldn’t.
“So for the last four years this book has been ‘lost’ and I think we had come to the conclusion that it had disappeared into the ether somewhere.”