Harry Potter first edition 'could fetch £50,000' at auction

Auctioneer Jim Spencer said he book is expected to fetch up £50,000 rather than 50p at a boot sale

A first edition Harry Potter book which was almost sold at a car boot sale could fetch up to £50,000 at auction.

Charlotte Rumsey came across the rare find while sorting through a box of unwanted things at her mother's house in Blackpool.

The hardback copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is one of only 500 printed.

Book expert Jim Spencer said it could reach £50,000 in an online sale held in Staffordshire on 11 December.

Ms Rumsey had initially discarded the book in a 50p box destined for a car boot sale in July.

After watching the TV programme Antiques Roadshow, Ms Rumsey had second thoughts and asked her mum to check the copy with Hansons Auctioneers.

On finding out the book was a genuine first edition, a "delighted" Ms Rumsey said she "couldn't stop hopping about".

Another first edition of the book sold in October for a hammer price of £60,000.

'We are still pinching ourselves'

Ms Rumsey said: "A friend of the family gave it to us for me and my brothers to read as they thought we might enjoy it.

"We are still pinching ourselves - things like this don't happen to normal families like us," she said.

Bride-to-be Ms Rumsey said she plans to split the money from the winning bid on her wedding and her mother's new home.

The hardback first edition is one of 500 to have ever been printed

It is the fifth hardback issue of the book that Mr Spencer of Hanson Auctioneers had discovered in under two years, he said.

He said he was "delighted" for the family.

Mr Spencer said: "Charlotte said she was hopping about when I called her confirming it was a first issue."

"Of the 500 copies printed, 300 went to schools and libraries - so this is a good example of one of the scarcer 200 that went to shops," he added.

The book will go under the hammer online on 11 December at Hansons' Library Auction in Staffordshire.