Man has spent 20 years and £80,000 on the world's biggest scratchcard collection - but refuses to find out if he's won anything

Dave Mannix has 100,000-strong hoard of National Lottery scratchcards



Collection accumulated since 1994 could be worth £5 million



On sale for £500,000 - hopes next owner discovers what he could have won



A man who collected almost every National Lottery scratchcard since they first went on sale in 1994 could have missed out on millions of pounds as he refuses to scratch off the silver films to find out if he has won.



Dave Mannix, 42, boasts the world's biggest scratchcard collection, but thousands of his 100,000-strong hoard remain unscratched, much to the annoyance of his partner Sue.

Dave, who has spent £80,000 over the last 20 years on buying both used and unscratched cards, has left 10,000 with the silver film still intact - and almost all of them have now expired.



Dave Mannix with some examples from his 100,000-strong collection of scratchcards

The hoarder has dedicated an entire room in his Cheshire home to storing the cards.

He said: 'I’ve got a designated room in my house where I keep them all in boxes so I know exactly which ones are where'.



Dave, whose severe arthritis prevents him from working, has an extensive collection which includes complete sets of special edition cards from Indiana Jones to James Bond, Lord of the Rings and Star Wars.

But the collector now plans to call time on his hoarding and is putting his cards up for sale for £500,000.



Dave Mannix and his partner Sue with one of Dave's special edition Star Wars scratchcards

He said: 'I want to give someone else the chance to own this unique gathering.



'It’s taken half my life to build up and I want it to go to a good home.'

Dave, who has always been an avid collector, began the hobby in the 1980s when he used to gather phone cards.

But this particular collection was brought to an end with the rise of mobile phones towards the end of the decade.

His obsession turned to scratchcards when a friend gave him a batch of 400 in 1994.

Dave (right) has an extensive collection which is only missing one card - the 1994 Christmas special edition



He said: 'I was given around 400 from a close friend when they were first released by the National Lottery in 1994.

'After that I went into a shop and I saw a container that was bulging with used scratch cards so I asked the woman behind the counter if I could have them.

'From there I asked a few different retailers if they could keep the used cards for me and all of a sudden my collection became enormous.

Dave bought around 90,000 of the cards in his collection after they had already been used.

But there are also 10,000 fresh cards which remain unscratched, much to the frustration of Dave's partner Sue, as the six-month limit on the cards means they are now all out of date.



Dave Mannix stands in front of his 100,000-strong collection of scratchcards, accumulated over 20 years

Despite his best efforts, the collection is incomplete, as, he said, there is one card that has evaded him - he has been unable to get hold of the first Christmas scratchcard from 1994.

'Apart from one I know of, I’m pretty sure I’ve managed to get hold of all of the cards ever made and I’ve spent around £80,000 in doing so.'

But Dave's partner Sue has had enough of his hobby, which has proved fruitless due to his refusal to tarnish the cards by scratching them.

Dave Mannix and his partner Sue, who has put up with his collection taking over an entire room in their Cheshire home

He said: 'Every so often Sue looks at me angrily and asks me when am I going to get rid of them but she knows I’ve had a lot of fun collecting them.

'I still have just under 10,000 that have not been touched - but sadly they wouldn’t be valid anymore even if they were winners because there’s a six-month expiry date on them.

'Now I won’t be sitting on a pile of money.'

Dave now plans to sell his collection intact, but hopes the next owner will scratch the cards so he can find out how much he could have won over the last 20 years.