A rare copy of the first Harry Potter book just sold for nearly £60,000

Get checking your loft...

J.K. Rowling

by Emma Dodds |
Updated on

If you can believe it, the novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - AKA the first in the series - was released a whopping 22 years ago in 1997. Feeling old yet?

And whilst most Potter super-fans had the original copy of the book with that now-iconic illustration on the front of Harry at King's Cross on Platform 9-and-three-quarters, there was actually an incredibly rare hardback version of that... With only 500 copies made.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
©Getty Images

Today, a couple from Lancashire sold their first-edition copy of the book at an auction - and earned a huge £57,040 for their rare version. Choosing to remain anonymous, the couple decided to sell it - and it went for almost £30,000 more than they'd expected.

The couple revealed that they'd been hoping to keep the book as a family heirloom, and have kept the novel locked up in a coded briefcase along with a similar edition of the second novel in the series, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, for over 20 years - meaning it's in excellent condition.

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Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliffe

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Daniel Radcliffe

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Daniel Radcliffe

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Rupert Grint

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Rupert Grint

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Tom Felton

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Tom Felton

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Emma Watson

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Emma Watson

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Matthew Lewis

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Matthew Lewis

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They said, "It's been locked away in a briefcase along with a first edition of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets which is also up for auction. The plan was to keep them as family heirlooms, which is why my wife put them in a briefcase. It was to stop the pages turning yellow.

"It goes without saying that we’re absolutely delighted with the price achieved. The book was given to us as gift by an aunt when our children were small. She bought it at an independent book shop when it was first published."

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Author J.K. Rowling with her sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
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Hansons Auctioneers’ Jim Spencer said, "I’m absolutely thrilled the book did so well – it deserved to. I couldn't believe the condition of it – almost like the day it was made. I can’t imagine a better copy can be found.

"A 1997 first edition hardback of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is the holy grail for collectors as so few were printed.

"The owners took such great care of their precious cargo they brought it to me in a briefcase, which they unlocked with a secret code. It felt like we were dealing in smuggled diamonds."

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