Postcard fetches $45,000

Theodore Hook's postcard, that he mailed in 1840, has fetched a record price

LONDON, England -- A Victorian picture postcard believed to be the world's oldest has been sold for a record £30,000 ($45,000).

The caricature postcard, mailed by Victorian eccentric Theodore Hook to himself as a practical joke in 1840, was snapped up at an auction held in the London Stamp Exchange on Friday.

The printed, hand-coloured card was stamped with a "Penny Black" and posted in the same year that Britain started the world's first pre-paid postal system.

Sold by postal historian Edward Proud, the card is believed to be 20 years older than rival claimants from Germany, the U.S. and Austria, which all date from the 1860s.

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Proud discovered the postcard in February after it was brought to his attention by a private collector.

He had earlier hailed the postcard as an important find. "It proves that Hook was behind one of the greatest Victorian inventions," he said.

It was sold for £27,000 but with commission fees and tax the final price was £31,750 ($45,210) -- a record for a postcard, Proud said.

The "Penny Black" on Hook's card, bought by private collector Eugene Gomberg from Latvia, was authenticated by the British Philatelic Association.