Rare First Edition of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” Sells for Shocking Amount at Auction
Do you own a first edition of a Harry Potter book? As it turns out, it might make you very rich one day. A first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone sold for a grand (and quite unexpected) price at Chiswick Auctions this week.
The book was expected to sell for something between £15,000 ($18,535) and £20,000 ($24,713) but surprised everyone when it sold for a whopping £27,500 ($33,974). Yes, the previous owner of that book can now add a substantial amount of gold to their vault at Gringotts.
What’s really cool about this edition is that it features some errors that have since been corrected. For example, the school supplies list Harry receives with his Hogwarts acceptance letter has a small error – “1 wand” is listed twice.
This edition features an error on Harry’s list of school supplies.
What made the book even more appealing was the fact that it was still in a pretty good condition. Its original pictorial boards were restored and re-laminated to a high standard. It basically looked as good as new.
The person who now owns a great amount of money from one book is a private collector in the United Kingdom. This unknown Potterhead bought this edition many years ago when the Potter phenomenon just started taking off.
The rare first edition that sold for about $30,000 at Chiswick Auctions
This is not the first book to sell for a massive amount of money. In July, another first edition of Philosopher’s Stone sold for £28,500 ($35,225). In March, a first edition with signatures sold for $90,000 at an auction.
Those of us who own first editions might feel pretty good about the fact that a Harry Potter book could help us out of any future financial crisis, but most people would probably agree that selling a first edition is not really an option. Owning these books and knowing that you were one of the few people who got your hands on it all those years ago is kind of special, and certainly not something any Potter fan would give up easily.
Do you own a first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone? Let us know in the comments.
