Antiques Road Trip expert Paul Laidlaw floored viewers after he made show history when a £60 find turned into a five-figure profit.
In a 2021 episode, Paul stumbled upon an old camera in an antique shop that later fetched a staggering £20,000 at a Bury St. Edmunds auction in Suffolk. While hunting the owner told him there was “stuff everywhere” and eventually he found something that caught his eye.
After exploring the store, Paul offered the owner £50 for an optical instrument priced at £75. The owner countered with £60, sealing the deal. As he showed off his purchase, Paul explained to the viewers: “What do you get for your money when you open it up? That looks like a peepside… and it is!”
READ MORE: Antiques Roadshow expert in tears as he shares huge value of boat from iconic film
READ MORE: Devastated Antiques Road Trip host yells ‘no’ after jaw-dropping loss on royal item
“I think this is a very early camera. If I’m right, that could be quite exciting. The photographic market is very much in the ascent, it’s a hot market, I think that’s a good thing.”
(Image: BBC)
When Paul showed up in Bury St. Edmunds with his old camera, auctioneer Edward Crichton was thrilled and told him he had “never seen” the sub-miniature camera in his hand. He told him: “We have carried out some research and cannot find any other example which has sold at auction. We were very excited to see this and it has certain potential to make a significant profit.”
As the auction kicked off, Edward confirmed multiple people were on the line and jumping up in thousands. When he started getting into the teens Edward said it wasn’t a “record price”, a record for a general sale was £15,000.
(Image: BBC)
But then the bidding for the camera continued to shoot up before getting to the record breaking price of £20,000. An amazed Paul said he was “flabbergasted”.
“Most items in this sale make between £50 and £500, so £20,000 is staggering, wonderful,” Edward stated, shocked at the massive price tag.
Paul’s gain of £19,940 trumps the previous record: a Tibetan bronze deity Anita Manning bought for a mere £50 and sold for £3,800 back in 2016.
* This article was crafted with the help of an AI tool, which speeds up Daily Star’s editorial research. An editor reviewed this content before it was published. You can report any errors to starletters@dailystar.co.uk
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
