Keep Calm and Carry On posters sell for over £9,000 at Newcastle auction

A full set of original "Keep Calm and Carry On" posters have sold for over £9,000 at auction.

It is believed to be the first time that a complete set of the posters, in the original three sizes, have gone under the hammer.

Including fees, the smaller poster sold for £2,210, the mid-sized poster for £3,250 and the largest of the three for £3,640.

They reached £1,700, £2,500 and £2,800 respectively when the hammer went down at the auction in Newcastle on Thursday 4 July.

The poster was one of three motivational designs created by the government's Ministry of Information before the outbreak of the Second World War.

It was held in reserve for the most severe crises but despite the Blitz it was never displayed publicly. Eventually, nearly all of the 2.5million posters produced were pulped down to be reused.

The slogan went unnoticed before one of the original posters was discovered by the owners of Barter Books, in Alnwick.

Copies of the posters were widely sold by the shop, going on to become a national and international hit however original copies are still incredibly rare.

They were formerly the property of a Suffolk-based policeman. He had kept them in a pristine condition in his attic after the war ended making them a highly sought after artefact for collectors.

Fred Wyrley-Birch, director at Anderson & Garland said: “The three 'Keep Calm' posters, which to the best of our knowledge have never before appeared as a complete set at auction, encapsulate a pivotal moment in British history and stand as an inspiring message from the past.

"We are so pleased to have been able to sell these for well above their top estimates.”

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