Moomin mug sells for whopping €46,000 « Euro Weekly News

Cast your mind back to those little white hippo like TV characters from the 80’s, did you ever buy a mug with these with these on? Only ten of this pattern  were ever made, and most were given away to factory workers. Now, a fierce bidding war over an unreleased test version of Arabia’s summer mug has set a stunning new record for ceramic collectibles.

Tiny batch, huge price

A rare ‘Diving with Shells’ Moomin mug has sold for €46,023 at a private auction in Finland. The sale was reported by Muumimukit rahaksi, a Finnish online store specialising in discontinued Moomin products. Its name roughly translates as ‘Moomin Mugs for Money’.

Company chief executive Rasmus Rantanen said the sale was the highest known price ever paid for a single Moomin mug. He added that the company had been buying and selling the ceramics for 14 years, but could not completely rule out a higher private sale elsewhere. Five bidders reportedly offered more than €40,000 for the mug. An auction took place behind closed doors in December 2025, while the sale itself was completed in April 2026.

News of the deal was held back until September at the buyer’s request. All that is known publicly is that the new owner is a long-time Moomin collector from a Nordic country.

What makes this mug so special?

At first glance, the mug may look like a cheerful piece of tableware rather than a small fortune in ceramic form. ‘Diving with Shells’ was created as a test version of Arabia’s 2006 ‘Diving’ summer mug. Its extra shell and coral decorations were later removed, and the design was never put into full production.

A total of just ten mugs are believed to have been made. They were reportedly distributed among employees at the Arabia factory, making the design exceptionally difficult for collectors to find. The regular ‘Diving’ mug is far easier to obtain, while the test version can be identified by its additional underwater details.

Moomin mug values take a leap

Earlier sales show just how dramatically interest in the design has grown. One example sold through Muumimukit rahaksi for €8,999.90 in 2019. Another reached 236,478 Swedish kronor, or roughly €23,000 at the time, at a Swedish online auction in 2021.

Mukilaakso Oy, the company behind Muumimukit rahaksi, bought the latest mug for €27,000 from the same Swedish auction site before selling it for €46,023. The new price is almost double the previous publicly reported record. Rantanen said the five-year gap since the previous sale gave collectors plenty of time to become even more eager to find one.

Moomins were created by Finnish author and illustrator Tove Jansson. Her stories follow the gentle, hippo-like characters living in Moominvalley and explore themes including friendship, nature and inclusion.

Moomin mugs are everyday items with a nostalgic connection to Finland to most people. For a very small group of collectors, however, one particular mug now costs about as much as a family car. Time to clear out those cupboards.