First edition Beano expected to fetch between £6000 and £8000
A rare copy of the first ever issue of The Beano is to go up for auction in Jedburgh next month.
The first issue from 1938.
- By Stefan Morkis
- Published in the Courier : 25.06.11
- Published online : 25.06.11 @ 07.29am
The first edition cost just tuppence when it was published by D. C. Thomson & Co Ltd in 1938 — but is expected to fetch between £6000 and £8000 when it goes under the hammer on July 16 at Swan and Turner Auctioneers.
Only around 12 copies of the first issue of The Beano are thought to be in existence. Auctioneer Frank Forrest said, "It's a private sale but it belongs to an old lady who has kept it in a drawer for years."
Mr Forrest added that the comic — which features Big Eggo on the cover and strips featuring Lord Snooty and strongman Morgyn the Mighty — is in near perfect condition. "There is barely a mark on it."
In 2004 a first issue of The Beano sold for a world-record £12,100. The previous highest amount paid for a copy of the historic comic was £7500.
The Beano reproduced a copy of its very first edition to celebrate the comic's 65th anniversary in 2003.
Last year a rare copy of The Beano's first annual from 1939 was sold for more than £4200 at auction.
St Andrews man Matthew Harris was volunteering at his local Cancer Research UK shop when he spotted the book at the bottom of a big bag of donations. The charity had the book sold by a specialist comics auction house.
08.18am - 25.06.2011 Pat Lawrence - Invergowrie, Tayside Report This
Very interested in the story of the firdst edition of the Beano. I have one too. Found among my mother's effects when clearing out a shed three weeks ago. No idea how she got it or what to do with it. . A collector told me on phone that it is probably a fax?! my mother would have no access to this.
11.28pm - 08.07.2011 joyce low - insch, aberdeenshire Report This
Joyce Low Insch Aberdeenshire My mother thinks she has a first edition of the Beano too. How can you tell if it's an original?
09.13pm - 10.07.2011 Tony Stewart - Dublin , Ireland Report This
My aunt has a first edition Beano. She knows it is original because she was given it by her brother and she kept it since then. She now wants to sell it and has asked me to find out how to do this. Any ideas?
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