A first-edition hardback copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone has sold for a whopping £68,000 in an auction. The book was among 500 hardback copies printed in 1997 before the JK Rowling-authored fantasy series became a global success, BBC reported. 

Another first-edition copy fetched £50,000 in an online auction at Hansons Auctioneers in Staffordshire on Friday. That copy was almost sold for 50 pence earlier. 

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A library copy, which featured date stamps from the late 90s and a fourth copy sold for £19,000 and £17,500 respectively. 

The copies are among the first 500 hardback copies, 300 of which were sent to schools and libraries, which sold for £10.99 a piece. 

Charlotte Rumsey had initially put up a copy, that she found in her mother’s box of unwanted things, for a car boot sale for 50 pence in July. She called her mother, a resident of Blackpool, to ask about the copy with Hansons Auctioneers after watching the Antiques Roadshow. 

Once she found out the book was an original first-edition, Rumney was “delighted” and “couldn’t stop hopping about”. 

The copy eventually sold for £50,000, which the bride-to-be said will be split between her mother’s new home and her wedding.