Antiques Roadshow is one of Britain’s favourite programmes, but not everything goes to plan and some of its guests have suffered some big bargain blunders.
The beloved BBC antiques show has been on our screens since 1979 and sees locals flog their old and unused items in the hopes of taking home a fortune.
But while some guests bag big bucks for their Grandma’s necklace, others go home disappointed as their objects are worth much less than they thought.
READ MORE:Antiques Roadshow guest blown away as rare gift is valued 15 times higher than expected
Daily Star has dug out the biggest errors in Antiques Roadshow history.
Million pound loss
(Image: BBC)
One guest was left gutted when they found out their painting wasn’t worth a whopping £1m.
The portrait was part of an 1845 catalogue which shared its name with famous 17th century portrait painter Sir Peter Lely, but unfortunately, all was not as it seemed.
Explaining how he ended up with it, the guest said: “We know it was bought in auction in London in the 1850s by the brother of my great, great grandfather who was Sir Charles Forbes.”
It turns out the piece of art wasn’t done by Lely himself and was likely a much later copy, meaning it was worth far less than it would had it been an original.
(Image: BBC)
Revealing one of the signs he knew it was fake, antiques expert Rupert Maas said: “The colours are slightly gaudier than you’d expect, a little bit of clunkiness in the drawing of the hand. “
Rupert continued: “You can tell I’m softening you up for a bit of a blow! Sorry, but I think, I’m afraid this is a shadow of a dream. In other words, it’s not even by a studio citizen, I think it’s a much later copy.”
“So if it was an original Lely, it would be pretty well around £1million.
“But as it is, it’s probably worth around I don’t know, £600 – but decorative and nice enough!” Rupert joked. “I’m sorry to let you down.”
£40k valuation gaffe
(Image: PBS)
Over 40 series of Antiques Roadshow have been made, so the bargain buffs are bound to make mistakes every once in a while.
And expert Stephen Fletcher was left red in the face when he wrongly valued a bizarre-looking face jug at a huge price.
The unusual item was 30cm tall, decorated with six faces and came from a barn, so it had been covered with dirt and straw.
Praising the piece, Stephen said: “This, in its own way, is really over the top. It’s bizarre and wonderful. You even see a little bit of, like, Pablo Picasso going on here.”
(Image: PBS)
Asked how much he thought the item would sell for, he replied: “In a retail setting, someone might ask anywhere between $30,000 and $50,000 (£40,000) for it.”
But unfortunately, he got it very wrong, because a viewer saw the episode and got in touch with the show to reveal that the “grotesque jug face” was made by a friend of hers at school back in the 1970s.
PBS, the station, updated the details on their website and revalued the item between $3,000 and $5,000.
The expert was forced to eat his words and he told The Guardian: “Obviously, I was mistaken as to its age by 60 to 80 years. I feel the value at auction, based on its quality and artistic merit, is in the $3,000-$5,000 range.
“Still not bad for a high schooler in Oregon.”
Emerald error
(Image: BBC)
You can’t blame the guests flogging their old items on Antiques Roadshow for wanting to bag as many banknotes as possible.
But sometimes their hopes are just a little too high, meaning they’re left gutted when the experts reveal the real value of the objects.
Last year, Roadshow expert John Benjamin was forced to break some bad news to a couple who thought they owned a rather expensive jewellery set.
(Image: BBC)
John lined up the six-piece set and dated the oldest item – a brooch with graduated diamonds – back to the Victorian period.
He then spotted a big green stone and asked the guests: “This pin is set with a very large green stone and white stones. That was made in about 1910 and what do you think about the green stone is?”
The wife got it rather wrong when she replied: “I thought it was an emerald.
(Image: BBC)
John let her down when he replied: “I wish it was. It could be worth an absolute fortune. It would be worth, I don’t know, £100,000…but it’s glass.”
The pin was only worth £10, but luckily, the rest of the pieces were diamonds, meaning the collection was still worth between £15,000 and £20,000.
Glass-gate
(Image: BBC)
Last year, a bloke brought along some glasses to the BBC show and quickly ended up regretting his choices.
Expert Andy McConnell revealed that the glasses were made by Saara Hopea and designed in Finland during the post-war era.
But apparently, one of the glasses owned by the guest, a green one, was more valuable than the one he brought in.
(Image: BBC)
Andy said: “You got the green one as well?! It only came in two colours, and you got one of each! I’m glad you didn’t give them away.”
The owner admitted: “I’m gutted I didn’t bring it.”
Andy told him the less valuable glass “is kind of 60, 70, 80 pounds,” whereas the more expensive one was worth a whopping £500.
Fabric Fortune
(Image: BBC)
This time, it wasn’t the experts or the owners that got things wrong, because it turns out some builders lost out on a huge amount of money.
A guest brought in an archive of textiles he saved from a skip that turned out to be worth a quarter of a million pounds.
He explained that he bought the pile of textile designs from the builders, telling the audience: “In December 2020, builders were throwing stuff away. I was a cheeky chappie, asked them if I could have a look, buy some bits and bobs, done a deal.”
(Image: BBC)
And expert Ronnie Archer-Morgan told him that they belonged to a very influential designer.
“Althea McNish, she was probably the most influential post-war textile designer that Britain has seen,” he said.
When it came to the valuation, he said: “I know that half a square metre of certain of her designs can be £2,500; or a textile design itself can be that sort of money.
“From what you’ve told me and what I know, I think this archive that you’ve brought to us here is worth in excess of £250,000 and it needs to be calculated.
The audience was stunned, with the owner saying: “That’s blown me away. Absolutely. It’s just been an incredible journey of learning and knowledge.”
Ronnie added: “I feel lucky. It’s great to have met you.”
READ NEXT:
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
