A UNIQUE collection from the Titanic bought for just £102 last month is likely to fetch up to £50,000 at an auction.

The archive, which includes a White Star Line staff badge, a steward's leather memo pad case, a pocket watch and a postcard, originally belonged to third-class steward Thomas Mullen.

He was among more than 1,500 people who died when the Titanic struck an iceberg in the Atlantic four days after leaving Southampton on her maiden voyage.

One of Mr Mullen's descendants, believed to be a niece, sold his collection through a firm of Dumfries auctioneers and a local man, apparently unaware of its true value in today's market, left a successful speculative bid of £102. The man, who is in his 40s and recently retired though ill health, has put the archive up for sale with specialist Titanic auctioneers Aldridge's.

Auctioneer Alan Aldridge said: "It just goes to show that, even today, it is possible to stumble across a real bargain.

"The collection provides an evocative glimpse into the life of an ordinary Scottish seaman who was part of the most infamous shipping disaster of the 20th century.

"The vendor stands to make a stunning profit on an investment of £102."

Mr Mullen was issued with the steward's brass badge number 32 - the only one of its kind to survive. It was removed from his body - the last of 17 recovered by the search ship Minea - and returned to his family in Scotland.

It is estimated to fetch up to £25,000.

His memo pad case, which he would have used to take down orders in the third-class dining room, is estimated at £10,000 to £15,000, while a postcard is valued at about £6,000.

A judge was quoted as saying in a local newspaper in Scotland: "He was just as heroic as anyone, helping the women and children to get off the boat and was left to go down himself, meeting death in the icy water."

Mr Mullen made half a dozen transatlantic voyages and regularly sent money home to his grandmother before joining the Titanic on its maiden voyage from Southampton.

The fascinating collection will go under the hammer at the Hilton Hotel in Chilworth on Friday, April 2.

- Originally published March 2004.