The item went under the hammer at NLB Auctions in Paignton on Saturday with bidders in the room, on the phone and online.

Daniel Pearce, who runs the auction house, found it among the possessions of a deceased man from Brixham that had been earmarked for the bin.

He said the price was “an absolutely great result for a first edition hardback.”

He said the book was from the first print run of 500 copies and was among the 300 distributed to public libraries.

The misspelling of ‘philosopher’s’ on the back of the copy was among the things that helped Mr Pearce identify it as a first edition.

“It is missing the o at the end,” he said.

The auction house scheduled the lot for about 16:00 GMT to accommodate the time difference for interested parties on the west coast of the USA.

Mr Pearce said: “It’s made its way overseas and it’s a really good result.

“The owner will be delighted as well with the money.”

The full-sized replicas of Godric Gryffindor’s sword – which measure 86cm (34 inches) and are affixed to a wooden display plaque – were sold by Warner Bros. Studio Japan LLC from May 2023 to late April of this year.

But it was only in November that authorities told the company those pieces were sharp enough to be categorised as an actual sword.

More than 350 replicas of Godric Gryffindor’s sword were sold, reports add, with each one going for 30,000 yen ($200; £158).

The sword was sold at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo: The Making of Harry Potter, which opened in 2023 in Tokyo. It is billed as the first such studio tour in Asia and the largest indoor Harry Potter attraction in the world.

Warner Bros. Studios Japan LLC has published a recall notice for the sword on its site, citing “a distribution issue in Japan” and requesting people who bought it to get in contact for “necessary action including logistics and refund”.

Under Japan’s strict weapons law, carrying knives over 6cm (2 inches) is banned, with violators facing up to two years in prison.

Replicas that are sharp enough to be classified as swords under the Firearms and Swords control law must be registered with authorities – unless the swords are meant for training or decoration and cannot be sharpened.

Japan has very low levels of violence, though crimes involving weapons do occasionally take place.

Last year, a 78-year-old man was arrested in Yokohama after attacking his neighbour with a ceremonial samurai sword during an dispute. In 2017, a samurai sword was found along with other knives in a Tokyo shrine after an attack that left three people dead.

During the 2011-2012 tax year, Grint received £4.5m from a company that managed his business, and of which he was the only shareholder.This payment was described as being for “likely residual income and bonuses” resulting from the Harry Potter films.He argued he could pay capital gains tax on it at a rate of 10% rather than income tax and national insurance at a top rate of 52%.In the ruling, tribunal judge Harriet Morgan dismissed Grint’s appeal and said the money “derived substantially the whole of its value from the activities of Mr Grint”, which was “otherwise realised” as income.He previously lost another, separate court case in 2019 that involved a £1m tax refund.Grint appeared in all eight Harry Potter films from 2001 until 2011.Since then, he has appeared in the films Into the White and Knock at the Cabin, and also appeared on TV and in theatre.He has starred in Apple TV series Servant for the last four years.