The rarely-read Harry Potter books you have at home could actually be worth a fortune.
An Antiques Roadshow guest was recently floored to discover their edition was worth thousands. Meanwhile, a JK Rowling novel that survived a flat fire was also valued very highly.
So how can you see if the books you own are actually very lucrative? According to the experts at Sotheby’s, you need to look for four key details.
An antiques expert, who works for the company, shared their top tips in an informational YouTube video that’s garnered 683,000 views. They held up a rare book and stated: “Is your book of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone worth $100,000? Here’s four ways to tell.” So here’s what to do…
1) Look at the edition
First editions books that go on to hit the big time can be worth a pretty penny. The Sotheby’s expert showed one example of this happening, and added: “This is JK Rowling’s first book and the first in the Harry Potter series. Because she was a completely unknown author, they only issued 500 copies of this first edition.”
If you don’t have a first edition, all hope is not lost. There are other factors that make books valuable – including limited editions, signed copies and special printings.
2) Check how many were made available
The fewer editions out there, the more likely collectors will be keen to get their hands on them.
The example shown in the Sotheby’s video is deemed very valuable as just 200 were released to sellers. The expert added: “The initial print run of 500 copies, 300 were sent to libraries and 200 to bookstores. This is from a bookstore.”
3) Be mindful of printing codes
Turn to the novel’s copyright page and take a look at the number line. If you see numbers going down from 10 to 1, you’re probably in luck.
The Sotheby’s expert explained: “This is a first edition, first printing of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. And we know this by going to the publisher’s imprint page because this is a first printing, this number line will go down from 10 to 1.
“In later printings, this will change. For example, for a third printing it would go down from 10 to 3.”
4) Search for mistakes
To some, printing errors may seem like an annoying inconvenience. However, collectors enjoy buying novels that are as unique as possible.
Sotheby’s said: “Mistakes are often prized when collecting rare books. In later editions, they’re corrected. For example, on page 53 listing Harry’s school equipment, 1 wand is on there twice.”
This post was originally published on here
