In a cracking episode of Antiques Roadshow, one guest just couldn’t part with his prized war medals despite them fetching a pretty penny.
The owner shared that the medals were passed down from his father. Mark Smith, clearly impressed, said, “He had a very good eye,” before diving into the backstory of these historical pieces.
Mark went on to explain, “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”, as reported by the Express.
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The expert then turned the spotlight to another standout piece in the trove, the Military General Service Medal.
“So one medal with different classes telling you which battles the man was in was invented by Queen Victoria as a concept in 1847. You personally still had to be alive to claim your medal,” Mark imparted.
Mark’s passion was evident as he rattled off the details: “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.”
He further enthused over the rarity of the medals: “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,” remarked Mark, before quizzing the astounded owner about their value.
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“Do you have any idea what these are worth?” Mark inquired, to which the owner admitted, “I haven’t got a clue.”
Mark laughed as he teased with a cheeky £25 guesstimate, causing the medals’ owner to scoff at the suggestion of them being mere “scrap”.
But jaws dropped and eyes popped when Mark upped the ante, exclaiming, “It is getting better by the minute, how about £12,000? ” a figure that swept the audience and owner off their feet with sheer amazement.
“Never,” the guest exclaimed, clearly shocked by the discovery but cementing his emotional bond: “I wouldn’t part with them, Mark as my grandson will have them.”
Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
