Century-old teddy bear bought at car boot sale in Monmouth sells for nearly £4,000

  • Moment a woman from Cwmbran sold her 1905 Steiff teddy at an auction

A rare teddy bear which was bought at a car boot sale has been auctioned for thousands of pounds today.

Jeanette Davies, 60, bought the 1905 Steiff teddy at a car boot sale in Monmouth for £130 back in June.

At the time, she said she had at a "gut feeling" when she spotted it.

The 118-year-old bear has a rare cinnamon shade of fur, earning the name Mr Cinnamon. Credit: Kyle Johns

Ms Davies and her son Kyle Johns, 29, bought it and a second bear for a total of £130.

Despite being valued between £4,000 and £6,000, it was sold for £3,800 at Derbyshire-based Hansons Auctioneers.

Speaking earlier this month, Ms Davies said: “I just had a feeling – a gut feeling."

“I thought he looked like a Steiff bear, a make which can be valuable.

It also has original boot-button eyes, with Hansons stating that one ear has been sewn back on “slightly in the wrong direction”. Credit: Kyle Johns

“Sometimes you just take a gamble and I’m glad we did.”

The hunch was strong enough for the pair to part with the largest amount of cash they had ever spent at a car boot.

Mr Johns said: “We’ve been going to the Monmouth car boot sale every Saturday for years but we’ve never found anything as valuable as this.

“Mum was convinced the bear might be special but I wasn’t too sure. In fact, I was reluctant to spend £130 – she had to persuade me.

“The teddy bears were being sold by a woman in her 70s. She told us she was clearing everything ahead of a move to Australia.

“The bear my mum thought might be valuable belonged to her grandfather for 60 years.

The 118-year-old bear has a rare cinnamon shade of fur, earning the name Mr Cinnamon.

It also has original boot-button eyes, with Hansons stating that one ear has been sewn back on “slightly in the wrong direction”.

The auctioneers also estimated that the paw pads were replaced in the 1920s.

Janet Rawnsley, a teddy bear consultant for the auctioneers, said it was an “amazing chance discovery” and that the bear was in “good condition for its age” and “retained its original beauty”, despite some age variation to the fur.

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