Dear Listener

I am not sure which I would prefer. A first edition of On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin, published in London by John Murray in 1859 in its original green diagonal-wave-grain cloth. Or a first edition of Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus written by Mary Shelley and published in London for Lockington, Hughes, Harding, Mayor, & Jones in 1811, three volumes bound in contemporary calf. I suppose the price might decide it. If I only had £135,000 it would have to be the Frankenstein. But if I could stretch to £150,000 I might be tempted by the Darwin.

Both are on sale at those prices at the Antiquarian Book Fair at Olympia in London this week. It seemed that money really was no object for the serious and dedicated collectors examining first editions of Harry Potter novels in their original wrappers, medieval Books of Hours written an illustrated by hand before printing was invented, Charles Dickens novels in their original monthly parts, or travel books with pull out maps contemporary with many of the great expeditions of the past.

The dealers on the 140 stands had come from all over the world – I saw Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Australia, Italy, the USA, and Sweden – though most were of course from the UK and most of those it seemed from London. Buyers, judging by appearance, had come from many different parts of the world, glad to be in London to meet the fabled dealers who miraculously sourced these rare and precious objects. Many sat down with excitement as they examined a sought after treasure wrapped in paper and kept for them to hold, admire, and, ultimately, to bargain over.

I left the Olympia National Hall and re-entered the real world where you can buy a perfectly decent home for the price of the Darwin or Shelley first editions. The average cost on the Land Registry database of sales in England and Wales is £160,000. But you could buy an average semi or flat for the price of the Darwin. And the average terraced home for less than the price of the Shelley.

Whether you would get a mortgage to do so is another matter. But sourcing the funds did not seem to concern the crowds at the Antiquarian Book Fair in Olympia. Perhaps that is why house prices are falling. But the price of rare books keeps on going up.

***IN MONEY BOX THIS WEEK***

Pay-day loan companies this week escaped controls on the interest rates they charge – often in the thousands of percent APR – when the Government defeated an attempt to add new powers to do so to the Financial Services Bill. But they did agree with the Government to make some changes in the penalties they charged customers who could not repay their debts. We talk to the mother of a 16-year-old who slipped through the net and borrowed £180 which she felt obliged to repay.

More than 800 people who invested their retirement savings in what turned out to be a risky hybrid annuity are still waiting to hear if they will get any money back especially since the broker who sold it to them, Rockingham Retirement, went into liquidation.

We hear from a woman whose whole pension fund disappeared in charges – and another who is on course for the same. How can you protect those little funds you may have accumulated in different jobs over the years?

HSBC has stopped making home buyers use one of its own limited – and reportedly inefficient and expensive – panel of conveyancers. Two months ago the Head of Lending at HSBC told Money Box he would make no changes despite widespread criticism. But now he as agreed to the deal offered on the programme by the Law Society so customers can use any of the registered Law Society conveyancing firms.

You can Have Your Say on one of these topics through our website www.bbc.co.uk/moneybox.

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I am back on Wednesday with Money Box Live at 3pm taking questions on paying for care.

Best wishes,

Paul

PS. I am on Breakfast on BBC One on Saturday trailing one of the items from Money Box. And I will be back on Breakfast on Thursday morning with another money story, probably at 0640 and 0820. But times can and do change at short notice.

e-mail Paul Lewis