The inventor called it the Baird Televisor and , although most people scoffed , he believed it had potential . And , notwithstanding a few improvements to the original down the years , it seems Scotsman John Logie Baird was on to something . Now one of the earliest 'Televisors ' – dating from a time when few could see any possible use for the machine – is expected to fetch up to £22,000 at auction . Early model : The picture appeared in the opening on the right - the TV is now being sold at an auction . It was manufactured in 1928 - two years after Logie Baird ( pictured ) first demonstrated a working TV system . This forerunner of the television was manufactured in 1928 – two years after Logie Baird first demonstrated a working TV system – and has the serial number 258 . The wooden set has a spiral punched scanning disc which has been fully restored and still has its original tube . That is not to say it is capable of picking up Sky or BBC channels – even with a set-top box . However , the television , built as an item of furniture for well-to-do families with deep pockets , represents a key milestone in the birth of modern mass media . It is being auctioned off as part of a speciality telecommunications sale by Auction Team Breker in Cologne , Germany . The lot is one of the highlights of the Milestones of Telecommunication sale on Saturday – and , fittingly , it uses the type of technology pioneered by men like Logie Baird that will allow bidders to take part in the auction live from anywhere in the world . Smart TV : The Televisor has been restored - it was built as an item of furniture for well-to-do families . The Televisor was the first receiver sold in Britain . Around 1,000 were made by English company Plessey and cost about £26 – a four-figure sum today . The poor quality picture was tiny – little bigger than a postage stamp – and it was impossible for more than one person to see it at a time . A rotating aluminium disk with square pinholes 'scanned ' light from a neon lamp , which varied in brightness depending on the information transmitted by the TV station . Also going under the hammer are the first fax machine and a prototype colour television set . In January 1926 , Helensburgh-born Logie Baird demonstrated a viable television system before 50 scientists using mechanical picture scanning with electronic amplification at the transmitter and receiver . The image could be sent by radio or over ordinary telephone lines , leading to the historic transatlantic transmissions of television from London to New York in February 1928 . That year he also achieved the first television transmission to a ship in mid-Atlantic . In 2011 , a 1936 set by Logie Baird – bought for almost £100 three weeks after transmissions began – sold at Bonhams for £16,800 . The machine had a 12-inch screen contained in a walnut and mahogany case , with the picture being reflected onto a mirror that opened from the top .
One of the earliest Televisors is expected to fetch up to £22k at auction . Auction Team Breker of the television was manufactured in 1928 and cost around £26 . Television had tiny , poor quality picture - little bigger than a postage stamp .