Britain's oldest working television set has sold at auction for a whopping £16,800 ($28,407 US dollars) - more than three times the estimate.
The Marconi machine was bought new for almost £100 in 1936 - just three weeks after transmissions began - and incredibly it still works today.
It was snapped up after furious bidding at Bonhams auction house, London, by an American buyer.
Bonhams specialist Laurence Fisher said: 'I've handled 38 pre-war tellys and this is the finest and even comes with the original invoice.
'It cost a huge amount and the owner must have had wealth and means.'
The TV came with a bill of sale for Mr. G. B. Davis of Dulwich, south London. The set cost Mr Davis £99 15 shillings. 0d - over half the annual average wage of the day and equivalent to almost £4,000 today.
But a twist of fate meant the original owner would have only been able to watch a maximum of 180 minutes of TV on it.
The Crystal Palace and its transmitter burned down just three days after Mr Davis bought the Marconi type-702 set on 26 November.
His area could not receive pictures again until 1946 and, because there was then only one hour of programmes a day, even then Mr Davis's television viewing time was limited.
'But at least people who visited him would know he had one, even if he couldn't use it,' said Mr Fisher.
The 75-year-old set has a 12-inch screen. It sits in a walnut and mahogany case and the picture is reflected onto a mirror that opens from the top.
There are more 18th century Stradivarius violins still in circulation than pre-war TVs, and this set has only had two owners prior to the sale.
TV pioneer John Logie Baird and the Marconi company were responsible for the set which was created using Britain's secret radar research.
'Logie Baird and Marconi had separate companies but used the same people to make the sets, but Marconi became the most popular maker,' said Mr Fisher.
'Baird made the first mechanical television in 1926 and this was the first electronic version.' Incredibly only 30 per cent of the components in this set have been replaced - all with identical parts.
But watching television in the first half of the 20th century would have been a far cry from the fast-paced multi-channel entertainment overload we have at our fingertips these days.
'Programmes at the time would have all be live and there were plays which were grand productions like you would have at the theatre,' said Mr Fisher.
'It was the first time people could see the faces of those whose voices they knew so well from the radio.'
dailymail.uk