Thieves target vintage post boxes in eBay racket

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THIEVES have been stealing iconic red post boxes in Wales to sell on to collectors for thousands of pounds.

The disturbing trend has seen crooks tear up the much loved British icons from lampposts and telegraph poles. They have even been chiselled from walls.

Many antique boxes are being sold over the internet as souvenirs to collectors abroad, especially in the US.

Wales on Sunday found more than 50 for sale on the web, including on auction site eBay, going for hundreds of pounds.




Three from King George’s era – bearing the GR legend – were on sale for more than £1,000. The ‘Buy it Now’ price on one was £1,550.

A Royal Mail insider said: “We had a spate where there were quite a number of boxes that were taken over a fairly short period of time.

“We don’t think it was for the mail. Although obviously we don’t know because we have not found where they are.

“A lot of them were pedestal boxes that are quite small and don’t hold a lot of mail so items in there would be few.

“It’s more than likely they were stolen for the metal themselves or people were selling them on.

“Some of them were quite old.”

Boxes have vanished from around Wales.

A number bearing ER in an old style typeface were stolen from Mold, Nercwys, and Treuddyn, in North Wales.

On internet forum Royal Mail Chat – for postal service employees – JohnSouthWales dismissed the idea they were being sold for scrap.

He said: “Either look on eBay (joke) or being taken to order.

“Nobody with an ounce of intelligence from Mold would dare use them as garden ornaments. They would get sussed straight away.

“Probably they’re in someone's garden 300 miles away, repainted.”

A distinctive George VI box at Llanbedr Dyffryn Clwyd, near Ruthin, disappeared after standing at the same spot for almost 70 years. That was said to be worth almost £2,000.

Local councillor David Smith was appalled by the thieves.

“I think it is disgusting, it really is,” he said.

“Why do people pinch things? They have got a lot of historical value – they are part of our heritage in a sense. I hope they get caught and that they are punished appropriately.”

In sleepy Ystradfellte. in Powys, a 100-year-old pillar box used by farmers and rural households vanished.

The last one taken was in Llangollen in December, according to North Wales Police. The force say the problem is not new. In 2001 it is understood 13 were taken from their patch.

Post box prices have boomed in recent years after Royal Mail stopped auctioning off old stock in 2003.

Experts say boxes dating back to Queen Victoria’s reign and bearing the VR mark can fetch up to £5,000 in America. George V boxes dating back to 1910 are normally worth around £1,000 while more modern ones can go for hundreds of pounds.

The thefts have also happened across the border.

Crooks stole 10 boxes from three villages near Hythe, Kent, in one recent incident. Other thefts have been reported in Sussex and Lincolnshire.

A spokeswoman said: “We would just ask people to be vigilant and report it because it is a criminal offence.”


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On internet forum Royal Mail Chat – for postal service employees – JohnSouthWales dismissed the idea they were being sold for scrap.

He said: “Either look on eBay (joke) or being taken to order.

“Nobody with an ounce of intelligence from Mold would dare use them as garden ornaments. They would get sussed straight away.

“Probably they’re in someone's garden 300 miles away, repainted.”