How To Tell If Your Harry Potter Book Is Worth £20,000

If you’ve got an old copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone knocking around, you could be sitting on a potential goldmine.

The 1997 novel, which kicked off the magical franchise and saw us begin a lifelong obsession with the wizarding world, originally sold for £4.50 in book shops.

However, a handful of copies are worth a substantial sum – and it’s all due to one small detail.

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Some copies have a spelling error in JK Rowling’s name on the title page, touting the author as J.A Rowling.

But there are a very small number of this version of The Philosopher’s Stone knocking around - It is one of 200 published proof copies of the world's first-ever Harry Potter book.

Now, one of the ultra rare copies is being expected to sell at an auction later this week.

The 224-page book is simply presented in white with a horizontal yellow strip.

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It is one of 200 published proof copies of the world's first-ever Harry Potter book.

On the back, the text reads: "This is an uncorrected proof copy and is not for sale.

"It should not be quoted without comparison to the finally revised text.

"It does not reflect the quality, page size or thickness of the finished text."

The book will be auctioned with a guide price of £10,000-20,000 at Laidlaw Auctioneers in Carlisle on 4th-5th February.

Auctioneer Paul Laidlaw said: "It’s well known how rare Harry Potter first editions are, this unassuming Uncorrected Proof Copy is rarer still.

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"There has been a lot of interest already reflecting a strong collector’s market.”

We’re going to have to root through our cupboards to see if we miraculously have one of these lying about.

First edition version of the Harry Potter books can also fetch you a pretty penny, with some selling for as much as $6,500 (£5,400).

Could our bookshelves be lined with gold?

Topics: Harry Potter, Books