A 65-year-old school teacher has sold a rare first edition of Harry Potter for £33,000 $40,300 after she found in lying in a skip.
The grandmother spotted the copy of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone lying in a skip after a school library had a clear-out in preparation for an inspection in 2008.
The woman - who has remained unnamed - also plucked four other first edition Harry Potter books from the bags of trash, unable to see them just be thrown away.
The books are peppered with misspellings and typos, making them incredibly valuable. However, unaware of this fact, the teacher kept hold of them for 12 years.
But after her son noticed another first edition selling for thousands of pounds, she decided to get her 1997 hardback edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (known as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the US) valued.
Watch the moment the hammer fell below:When she was told that hers was one of only 500 copies ever made and given a rough valuation, she decided to sell it to a private UK seller following an international bidding war at Hansons Auctioneers on May 21.
The final price? £33,000 - which is roughly $43,000!
The woman's two other Philosopher’s Stone paperback first editions fetched £3,400 and £3,000 (a total of $7,800).
The seller, who did not wish to be named, said: "To say I’m pleased is an understatement. Due to its condition, we thought £20,000 would be a good result. We watched the auction and the price just kept going up and up."
The finds would have been lost in landfills before she salvaged them from the school where she used to work in Buckinghamshire.
She added: "I love books and reading and it just seemed awful to throw them away, so I picked up about five Harry Potter books.
"I thought they might be useful for my children or grandchildren in the future. It was better than seeing them go to waste.
"At the time, I had no idea they were of any value, and neither did the school.
"They’d been well-read and the school always ensured its library was pristine for Ofsted inspections. There were lots of other things in the skip, too.
"I think the school originally had 10 Harry Potter hardback first editions. I don’t know what happened to the other nine.
"I took the books home and they ended up in the loft. Then about four years ago my son told me he thought the books might be valuable.
"He investigated and a London business offered £4,000 for one of the paperbacks there and then. But they just went back into the loft.
"Last year we were watching a TV interview with Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons Auctioneers, about the sale of a Harry Potter first edition which sold for thousands at auction and decided to get in touch.”
Jim Spencer, head of Hansons’ Library Auction, said: "I’m delighted for our vendors.
"It was marvelous to see the Harry Potter books do so well and spark such intense bidding.
"I always thought the Philosopher’s Stone hardback first edition might surprise us. I put on a humble estimate due to some damage to the binding.
"We had lots of interest, particularly from America, in what was a special Harry Potter-themed Library Auction.
"We sold a multitude of books for several clients, some signed by Rowling.
"Another highlight was a Philosopher’s Stone paperback first edition in pristine condition which made £6,500.
"We’ve had phenomenal success in both finding and selling Harry Potter books in the last 12 months.
"Hardback first editions of Philosopher’s Stone are as rare as hens’ teeth. They’re the holy grail for collectors."
Of the 500 hardback first editions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone printed in 1997, around 300 were sent to UK schools and libraries and some reached private book shops. They all contain various printing errors, corrected in later versions.
