LONDON, Dec 17 — A man’s spontaneous purchase of a “one-in-a-billion” spherical egg after a few pints turned out to be a worthwhile gamble, as the rare find fetched £200 (RM1,130) at auction.
Ed Pownell bought the unique egg for £150 and donated it to the Iuventas Foundation, a charity supporting young people in Oxfordshire with mentoring, life coaching, and mental health services, according to a report published in the MailOnline today.
Describing the unusual buy as “money well spent,” Pownell revealed the charity initially thought his donation was a joke before listing it for auction.
Rozz Rapp of the Iuventas Foundation told BBC local news, “We’re delighted and thrilled the egg sold as it means we can continue to do what we are doing.”
The egg was one of many items featured in the charity auction, which raised a total of £5,000.
Rapp said, “The money raised will help 13 to 25-year-olds struggling with their mental health. It will enable us to reach more youths who are needing support or are on long waiting lists.”
David Miller, from the Thomson Roddick Callan auction house where the egg was sold, noted that spherical eggs are considered a “one-in-a-billion” occurrence.
The egg’s journey began when it was discovered by a woman in Ayr, Scotland, who found it in a box of eggs from her local supermarket.
Ahead of the sale, auction manager David Miller said, “The chance of this happening is one in a billion. The lady who purchased the egg was curious when she came across it and phoned Thomson Roddick Callan for advice, and we put it into our next auction. Let’s hope that it brings an eggcellent price when it goes under the hammer!”
Similar rare finds have made headlines before.
In 2015, a “perfectly spherical” egg laid by a chicken in Latchingdon, Essex, was sold for £480 on eBay, with proceeds going to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.
