A pair of Friends scripts present in a bin 25 years in the past have bought at public sale for £22,000, regardless of their worth beforehand estimated to face at not more than £800.
Auctioneers at Hanson Ross in Hertfordshire stated they had been "flabbergasted" by the "phenomenal global interest" within the scripts of The One With Ross' Wedding, season 4's well-known two-part finale.
The saleroom's head of operations, Amanda Butler, told Sky News their phonelines were swamped with bids far exceeding the preliminary valuation on Thursday, the day earlier than the public sale.
But bidders "went crazy" for the scripts - which had been meant to be destroyed after filming for the episodes in 1998 - and went past expectations.
"I just can't believe the result and the impact this find has had," she stated on Friday. "The global interest was phenomenal, we've all been flabbergasted."
A complete of 219 bids had been made prematurely of the sale on Friday afternoon, with curiosity from all around the world, together with the US, Germany, Spain, Australia, Ukraine, Dubai and Switzerland.
While it's not clear who the scripts belonged to, they've the identify John Lanzer on them, who was a British set designer.
Both episodes had been filmed and set in London and the scripts had been discovered a few weeks after all of the scenes had been wrapped up at Fountain Studios in Wembley by a now-retired Londoner.
"It was part of my job to ensure everything was tidy and no rubbish was left around," stated the 60-year-old, who labored in admin assist and helped to distribute tickets for the studio viewers.
"I wasn't sure what to do with them so just put them in my office drawer. I remember wondering which member of the cast they might have belonged to."
The vendor left her job in 1999 and "swept everything into a big cardboard box" when clearing her desk, admitting she forgot the scripts had been among the many pile of paperwork.
They had remained in her bedside drawer ever since.
"I could have quite easily thrown them out," she stated.
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"Recently I've been clearing my house ahead of a move and I came across them again."
The unnamed 60-year-old discoverer stated the scripts "deserve to be owned by a huge Friends fan", as she admitted she's not loopy in regards to the present as American humour is "different to ours".
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