MANY of us have old and unwanted items stored away gathering dust – but as these collectors found, sometimes our ‘junk’ can be worth a fortune.
This week an Antiques Roadshow guest broke down in tears after an expert revealed her old ‘print’ was actually an original painting by prominent artist Henry Francois Farn, which could sell for up to £234,000 at auction.
The woman was overcome when told her ‘old print’ was worth a life-changing sum
One Welsh woman was gobsmacked after an old ring was worth a fortune
She’s not the first person to discover she was sitting on a treasure trove after going on the hit BBC show.
In 2019 one lucky lady, from Erddig, north Wales, was stunned after discovering an old ring she’d found in the attic had a very famous owner.
She found the pretty piece of jewellery inside a locked box in her recently-deceased father-in-law’s loft.
The ring was inscribed ‘C. Brontë’ – referring to historic Jayne Eyre author Charlotte Brontë – along with the date of her death in 1855.
But a hidden detail saw jewellery expert Geoffrey Munn’s valuation skyrocket from £25 to a whopping £20,000.
Inside the ring was a lock of finely worked, plaited hair, which Geoffrey suspected belonged to the writer.
The woman said she “got goosebumps” thinking about it, as Munn told her there was “very little reason to doubt” it was Brontë’s.
“It was a convention to make jewellery out of hair in the 19th century.
This ring, which belonged to Charlotte Bronte, was found in an attic inside a locked box
It’s because the historic ring hid plaited hair from Charlotte Brontë
The owner couldn’t believe her luck after discovering how much it was worth
“There was a terror of not being able to remember the face and character of the person who had died.
“It wasn’t an uncommon thing to happen,” he explained, adding that it “echoed a bracelet” worn by Charlotte, which she made in memory of her two sisters that featured their hair.
Despite the provenance being unknown, Geoffrey said it was “utterly and completely credible” and increased his valuation from £25 to £20,000.
“You should have provided me with a seat,” said the gobsmacked owner, who immediately promised to buy her daughter a rabbit.
It’s not known what happened to the ring – but at the time the Antiques Roadshow episode aired in 2019, there was interest from historical collectors.
Ann Dinsdale, principal curator at the Brontë Society & Brontë Parsonage Museum, felt it would be a “lovely addition” to their collection if they could find the funds.
£1m ‘object of fantasy’
A Faberge flower treated like ‘part of the furniture’ was revealed to be worth £1m
Colonel Stamford Cartwright (second from left, in blue) was gobsmacked by the valuation
In 2018, Colonel Stamford Cartwright made history after bringing in one of the most expensive items ever valued on the Antiques Roadshow.
The soldier admitted he treated the Faberge flower – made of gold, diamond and jade – as “part of the furniture”.
But expert Geoffrey said his “pulse was racing” at the sight of such a precious object and valued it at £1million.
At the time it was only the third item to receive a seven-figure estimate and was described as an “object of fantasy” by the thrilled jewellery lover.
Geoffrey explained: “To make a judgement of that enormity is a tricky thing to do so I’m not going to pretend it wasn’t pressurised.
“This was a sensation beyond our wildest dreams really. This is a towering masterpiece from Faberge.
“It’s what we call an ‘object of fantasy’ because it has absolutely no function whatsoever except to be a source of pleasure and it is.
“It is the rarest, most poetic manifestation of Faberge’s work that one could ever hope to see.”
Colonel Cartwright was “over the moon” after previously dismissing it due to there being so many “huge silver pieces” in the army barracks that “absolutely tower over this little thing”.
The ornament was a gift to the squadron from Georgina, Countess of Dudley – the wife of Lord Dudley, who was second-in-command at the regiment.
It is not known what happened next to the Faberge flower, which was owned in trust by the Worcestershire Yeomanry Charitable Trust.
£400k ‘freebie’
Ray Russell was given this prototype guitar for free because he could play it better than its previous owner
A “strange” prototype guitar, which had no frets and was given to a session musician for free, was valued at a jaw-dropping £400,000 in March 2020.
After Ray Russell played a few notes on it, he was told: “It’s doing better for you, why don’t you have it?”
He described it as “a strange old thing to play” due to it missing the frets, which help guitarists determine which notes they are playing.
It was made by Bartell’s of California and its former owner worked for a film company, which was co-founded by Beatles legend George Harrison.
Ray discovered the instrument had a rich history related to the Fab Four, which made it worth a fortune.
Photographs revealed it was played and owned by both George and John Lennon, which left Antiques Roadshow’s Jon Baddeley stunned.
The expert, who valued it between £300,000 and £400,000, said: “I think in 25 years it’s by far the most expensive thing I’ve ever seen.”
Jon added: “To a guitar collector, it’s initially a very rare guitar, then to somebody who’s a Beatles fan, to own a guitar that was once owned by both John Lennon and George Harrison, can you get a better history?”
Ray, who claimed he “never really thought about value” before, sold it seven months later for £190,000 through Bonhams auction house.
Experts believe the instrument was used for tracks Helter Skelter and Happiness Is A Warm Gun.
£50k ‘bit of plastic’
Fiona Bruce ate her words after dismissing this helmet as a ‘piece of plastic’
In factor it was an original TIE fighter pilot helmet from the 1977 Star Wars film
Antiques Roadshow host Fiona Bruce was left eating her words after dismissing an original Star Wars prop as a “piece of plastic”.
The helmet, one of just 12 TIE – Twin Iron Engine – fighter pilot helmets used in the 1977 film, was valued at £50,000.
It was brought onto the BBC show back in 2014 by Star Wars memorabilia collector Stephen Lane, who paid “a few thousand for it”.
He explained the helmet was “buried in the attic with one of the senior crew members of the film who was gifted it”.
After receiving a valuation of £40,000 to £50,000, astonished Fiona said: “I think anyone that’s not in your world [will find this] astonishing… but it’s a great bit of kit.”
It’s not known if self-confessed “Star Wars geek” Stephen, who travels around the country buying memorabilia, sold the helmet or held onto it.
£35k royal note
The owner of this Queen Elizabeth I signed note thought it was worth a ‘several hundred pounds’
She was gobsmacked when it was valued at £35,000
In 2018, an unnamed lady brought a historic Tudor note onto Antiques Roadshow “hoping” she may be able to get “several hundred pounds” for it.
Much to her surprise, expert Clive Farahar gave it a valuation of £35,000 because it not only had a signature from Queen Elizabeth I but remnants of sulphur from the time period too.
The royal note was passed down from the lady’s great-grandfather – who she believed either “purchased or acquired” it – to her mother.
She explained her mum was given the item because her name was also Elizabeth and she was born on the date the document was signed.
Clive described it as “in pristine condition” and on vellum – a type of skin – with writing that was “as bright as it would have ever been”.
After she told him she didn’t “have a clue” about its value, he replied: “The signature of Queen Elizabeth’s is very desirable and very rare.”
Noticing her shock after valuing it at £35,000, Clive asked about her future plans for the piece.
The lady told him she planned to speak with her brother and sister, who were “probably part owners”, to see if they wanted to sell it.
£25k ‘tatty’ old books
Tatty old books were valued at £25k
The owner had read one of them so many times that the book didn’t have a spine
Three signed Beatrix Potter books, including one that was missing a spine because it had been read so many times, left viewers shocked in 2017.
Expert Clive collectively valued the items at £25,000 – and just one of the books, Appleley Dapply, was estimated at £8,000 alone.
The owner, who was not named, explained his great-grandfather, who was a solicitor in London, had been given the books by Peter Rabbit writer Beatrix herself.
Continuing the story, he explained: “The books were given to him who in turn gave them to his daughter, my mother and then they were read to me as a child and we, in turn, have read them to our children.”
One of the books – The Pie In the Patty Pad – from 1905 was described as the “cream of the crop” because it was from “right at the beginning of Beatrix Potter’s career”.
Another – a first edition copy of The Tale of Mr Todd – was described as “fabulous” despite the fact it was missing a spine.
The owner, who admitted he was to blame, explained: “It’s one that was read to me because I requested it, that’s why it’s so thumbed.”
Expert left ‘trembling’
This tiny notebook was said to be worth £30,000
The owner was told it had ‘enormous scholarly value’
A 17th century notebook brought onto the show in 2018 was so intriguing that it left expert Matthew Haley’s hands “trembling”.
He described it as having “enormous scholarly value” because it potentially proved William Shakespeare did not write all of his plays.
Inside the tiny notebook were phrases and quotes written by John Lovedon of Caversham, the 2018 owner’s five times great-grandfather.
While Matthew felt many of the notes were “almost completely intelligible”, he was able to “pick out phrases that appear in Shakespeare”.
He added: “Sometimes the best things come in small packages. My goodness, is this a good thing… Anything, really, from the same century of him – about him – is of huge interest.
“There is so much research that can be done on this item. It’s absolutely extraordinary. My hands are trembling now, just looking at it.
“Nobody started to edit Shakespeare’s works in an academic way or comparing texts until the 18th century.
“Shakespeare was known as the national playwright and the national poet, he’d acquired some sort of mythological status by that point.
“But people weren’t looking at him in an academic, analytical way. But maybe this note-taker was.”
Matthew believed the notebook could fetch £30,000 at auction back in 2018 – and it’s not known if the unnamed seller flogged the historic piece.
