I snapped up a Harry Potter book for 25p – it sold for a life-changing sum for a very lucky reason
A HARRY Potter book bought for 25p sold at auction for a life-changing sum of money for a very lucky reason.
Bargain Hunt fans were left stunned when an ultra-rare edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - the first book in the series - appeared on the show.
The book was originally published by Bloomsbury in June 1997, with just 500 hardback copies produced.
The Mirror reports that 300 of those were given to local libraries, and one of them eventually wound up at a jumble sale.
An office worker picked it up for 25p before leaving it to gather dust on a shelf for 20 years.
By this point, J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter franchise of books and subsequent films had become a global phenomenon, and so they decided to have the book valued.
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It was sold at auction for a whopping £28,000 in Staffordshire in summer 2019, with the incredible scenes airing on Bargain Hunt in 2020.
The owner said: "I can't believe it, it's what I'd hoped for but I never really believed my book would make that price."
Bargain Hunt regular Charles Hanson knew the owner was on to a winner with the rare book, which features a number of typos and mistakes.
For example, the world "philosopher" is misspelt on the back cover, and a list of equipment required for Hogwarts lists "1 wand" twice.
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Following the auction, Mr Hanson told Bargain Hunt presenter Natasha Raskin Sharp: "All our client wants to do with [the money] is buy a new bathroom.
"Even now the softback publications, which were first editions, are fetching thousands of pounds.
"But this is a hardback and one of only 500. It's so important in that great history of Harry Potter."