Antiques RoadshowHere at Safe we spend a lot of time thinking about how to keep our possessions safe, but what about the possessions themselves? It’s fascinating to hear of all the treasures that people have in their safes, homes, or just happen to come across when doing a clean-up of the attic!

It was recently revealed that in spring 2016, Antiques Roadshow is going to feature an item found in Harrogate that is worth more than £1m, the most valuable in all 38 years of the show. With this rather exciting revelation, we wanted to take a look at some of the other hidden gems that have cropped up over the years, often found just lying around the house – quite shocking when you see how much they’re worth!

On the last series of the show, a Chinese enamel box was valued at over £10,000 – originally bought for 20p! Now that’s a serious return on investment…

Who knew a bit of gardening could unearth a hidden treasure? That’s what one man did when he was clipping his hedges. He found an 8th Century Anglo-Saxon ring that was later valued on the show at £10,000.

Pristine copies of the first ever Dandy and Beano comics were valued at £7,000, completely overwhelming Dawn Hutchinson who had no idea how much her late grandfather’s comics were worth.

Do you have a jewellery box of treasures? Imagine finding a hidden gem worth £10,000! That’s what unsuspecting Jill Cousins did in 2011. She’d had an incredibly rare Victorian brooch by designer William Burges tucked away in her jewellery box for over 40 years, and it was described by expert Geoffrey Munn as one of his “most wanted” items.

2012 saw one of the most valuable furniture items ever featured on the show, when a 10th century apothecary table made a rare appearance.

The 6ft bronze model of Anthony Gormley’s Angel of the North statue, featured in 2008, was the first on the show to be valued at seven figures, beating previous show records almost three times over. It currently resides with Gateshead Council.

Before that dazzling find, the record was held by a stunning silver collection that dated back to the days of Charles II, valued by experts at £300,000.

As well as smaller items that, by the sound of it, should definitely have been kept in safer places, some owners come by small fortunes from their larger household items. A Glaswegian man in 2006 brought his family heirloom to be valued and it turned out the chair, which he still sits on every day, was in fact an original Chippendale worth £35,000!

Featured on the show in 2000 was a gold plated Leica Luxus II camera, one of only four ever made in 1932. It was valued between £500,000 and £800,000 and thought to be the rarest camera in the world (and the most valuable!). Experts at the time stated it could easily fetch seven figures at auction.

 

Have you ever had any antiques valued and been shocked at their true worth or concerned you hadn’t been keeping them safe? Or have you an inkling to what the highest valued Antiques Roadshow item might be? Let us know on Twitter @talkwithsafe.

 

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