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 . Forerunner of the television was manufactured in 1928 and cost around £26 . Television had tiny, poor quality picture - little bigger than a postage stamp .