A guest on Antiques Roadshow was left gobsmacked when they discovered a belt they thought was made of wood was actually gold – and worth a fortune.
On the American version of the popular BBC show, which airs on PBS, experts revealed the surprising value of a gold and diamond belt. In the recent episod, a guest explained to an appraiser that he’d bought the belt at an auction a few years ago, saying: “I got it at an auction two or three years ago.”
“It’s all Alaska gold and mammoth ivory, there are also some diamonds,” he added, before revealing he had spent around $5,700 (£4,480) on it at the time. However, the expert was stunned to learn it was gold as he initially feared it was a much cheaper material, Mirror reports.
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(Image: PBS)
The expert, inspecting the belt, said: “It’s rather large. Of course, I threw it on my scale, you almost broke it!
“There’s five ounces of gold here. I love this part of the mastodon tusk. At first, I thought it was wood.”
He then assessed the purity of the gold buckle and its connection to Alaska. The expert noted that the buckle includes five carats of diamonds, not including the gold. After a closer look, the expert gave his valuation.
(Image: PBS)
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On initially examining the buckle, the specialist asked the guest when he thought it was made, coming to the conclusion that it was likely created around 1975. He then surprised him by suggesting it could be worth between £15,000 and £31,000, potentially seven times what he’d paid for it!
The gobsmacked guest replied: “That’s a little more than I was thinking.” Chuckling, the expert said: “You’ve got that gleam in your eye. That’s what gold does to people.”
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