Mickey Mouse money box sells for £5,800 at Scarborough auction
- Published
A rare Mickey Mouse money box has sold for more than £5,000 at a toy auction in North Yorkshire.
The mechanical item, described by experts as a "fabulously rare, early piece of Disney memorabilia", was made for just a brief period in the 1930s.
Toy specialist Graham Paddison, from Scarborough auctioneers David Duggleby, said it was the first one he had seen in his career.
The box, which sold for £5,800, had an estimated price of up to £10,000.
"It's really early Disneyana," Mr Paddison said.
"Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse in 1928, and after introducing him to the world in Steamboat Willie, Mickey became an international star overnight."
According to Mr Paddison, makers Saalheimer and Strauss of Nuremberg secured permission to produce four different versions featuring the character.
However, he said: "None of them were produced in large numbers before the firm was sold in 1936.
"They are all incredibly rare today. This is the first I've seen in my entire career."
He said the money box, which was in full working order, was gifted to "film-loving" Nottingham schoolboy, Victor Swain, in the early 1930s.
Mr Swain's family said he treasured the item until his death, in Whitby, two years ago, aged 97.
It then passed into the possession of his son, Richard Swain, from Matlock, in Derbyshire, and was put on top of a display cabinet.
After another family member working in America spotted a similar item had sold for about £15,000 the tin box was put up for auction.
Mr Paddison said he believed the sale was a first for the UK, as the handful of previous examples had all gone under the hammer in the United States, with sale prices ranging from £6,000 to £26,000.
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