Coals to Newcastle

Selling, carrying, bringing, or taking coal(s) to Newcastle is an idiom of British origin describing a pointless action.

Timothy Dexter, an American entrepreneur, purportedly succeeded in defying the idiom in the 18th century by shipping coal to Newcastle.

Renowned for his eccentricity and regarded as a buffoon, he was persuaded to sail a shipment of coal to Newcastle by rival merchants plotting to ruin him.

[7] With the increasing onset of globalisation, parallels in other industries occur, and the idiom is now frequently used by the media when reporting business ventures whose success may initially appear just as unlikely.

It has been referred to in coverage of the export to India of saffron from Saudi Arabia and chicken tikka masala from the United Kingdom,[8][9] the sale of Scottish pizzas to Italy,[10] and the production of manga versions of William Shakespeare from Cambridge for Japan.