Antiques Roadshow guest has mind blown over rare item valuation as he vows to keep it
Guests appearing on Antiques Roadshow always live in the hope that their precious items can bring them the big bucks.
And that's exactly what happened in one classic episode, with the outcome leaving the item's owner refusing to sell it at auction.
The historic BBC programme, which has been running since 1979, sees antiques appraisers travel the country with locals bringing them everything and anything that could have a bit of hidden value to them.
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Not every item brought forward to the experts has been given a cash price, however, with one item refused due to its 'most disturbing' past.
Others have 'passed out' due to how much their item is valued at, with it growing hugely in the time since they bought it.
In our episode of Antiques Roadshow in question, the guest refused to sell their wares after getting his treasured war medals valued.
Show expert Mark Smith was quick to put a price on the items, labelling them an 'incredible collection'.
The medals were given to the gentleman by his late father, and were passed down through the family.
"He had a very good eye," Mark said of the guest's dad. "If we look at this one here, for example, it has the Battle of Waterloo on the back, and it has the word Wellington.
"Now this is really the first ever medal that the British forces ever gave to anybody.
"Before that, we gave out things like coins, they didn't have your name on, you couldn't wear them, you put them in your pocket.
"But at the end of the Battle of Waterloo, this medal was instituted to be given to every soldier, and instead of it being made in different metals for different ranks, so a gold one for the Generals, on this particular occasion, Lord Wellington said they should all be exactly the same because they all did exactly the same job.
"So Lord Wellington got one of these, and so did the 10-year-old drummer boys who were on the battlefield."
And their valuation? A staggering £12,000.
"This is quite a rare medal. So you have this one as well and this one is from a famous regiment from the Battle of Waterloo," Mark explained.
"This is the King's German Legion, and they are German troops but fighting with the British as they had done in the peninsula, we have this German medal as well for the same period and they're both named, they really are quite spectacular.
"You don't see Waterloo medals like that unless you go to a regimental Museum."
With the guest having no idea about the valuation, he was taken aback by the £12,000 figure after suggesting they might only be worth just £25.
But a sale looks off the books forever, with the guest saying they were to stay in his family for generations to come.
In clarifying his plans, he said they would be left to his grandson when the time comes.
Topics: BBC, Antiques Roadshow, Money, UK News, Good News
Tom Earnshaw