Gold bar sold at online auction for 1p

A bar of gold bullion worth more than £1,000 (A$2,400) has been sold at Humraz Auctions for just 1p.

The auction winner, 36 year-old Paul Myring, a retail manager from Bishop Stortford, could not believe his luck when he won the gold bar with the lowest unique bid.

"It is incredible that no-one else bid 1p. Every other bidder must have thought it was too obvious," he said.

Humraz Auctions deals only in assets, such as gold bullion or property, and all bidders pay a service charge of £3 per bid.

Auctions are closed once a set number of bids have been made, or it reaches its deadline.

Asmat Monaghan, founder of Humraz Auctions, admitted that he had not anticipated a 1p winner.

"We think that Paul's success is unprecedented in lowest unique bid auction history," he said. "Normally several people submit penny bids; it is bizarre that, on this occasion, no one else did."

Recent Humraz gold bar auctions have closed at 52p and £1.85.

Myring intends to keep the gold for its value as an asset. He also plans to bid for a Woking property currently up for auction on the site, for which the current lowest unique bid lies in the range £12.01 to £13.