Top 10 Amazing Antiques Roadshow Items Found For Only One Pound

Top 10 Amazing Antiques Roadshow Items Found For Only £1

Ashley Bowman

Welcome to WatchMojoUK, and today we’re counting down our picks for the crazy items brought onto the show that were purchased for just about a quid (or less)  

#10: Stag

Yes you can certainly go a long way with 100 pence in Antiques Roadshow. Take for example this charming sculpture brought in by one guest when the show visited Ulster Folk Museum. It’s a model of a stag - and quite a detailed one at that - bought over 20 years ago at a carboot sale. The expert, Will Farmer, was able to identify it as being a bronze statue of Austrian descent. But not just by any sculptor, it was by Franz Xaver Bergman - one of Vienna's most celebrated. As such, the small piece got a valuation of up to 600 pounds!

No wonder the little fella looks so smug!

#9: Dumped Vase

Oftentimes, skips will put thrown away items aside that could be ‘repurposed’. That’s what happened to this gorgeous glass vase before it was snatched up by the guest for only a single pound. When throwing away some gardening waste at a local center, he spotted the item and instantly took a liking to it. And for good reason, as it turned out it was some of the finest Pilkington lustreware. The man supposedly behind this piece was the esteemed William Burton. To the guest’s delight, Eric Knowles suggested that his 1 pound investment could be worth upwards of 2 thousand pounds. 

#8: Ancient Item

This humble little pot had absolutely no place being where it was found. Brought onto the show after being bought for a pound in a charity shop, this guest soon learned that this piece dated back all the way to 200 BC - That’s over 2000 years old. It was also said to be of Roman origin. It may surprise you, though, that despite its incredible legacy it was only valued at 100 to 200 pounds. Regardless, the expert encouraged her to take it to a museum to get a better understanding of the relic.

#7: Kota Tribe?

We’re cheating a little here because this was actually a pound fifty, but are we really going to be that pedantic about a find like this? For this piece, the guest was under the impression that this was a figure with origins in the Kota tribe from Gabon. He’d seen that these items had fetched upwards of 250,000 pounds in auctions in the past!

Alas, things didn’t go quite as planned for the guest, as Ronnie Archer Morgan was able to identify that it was not in fact the same model as the one that sold for that staggering sum. As such, it was valued at just 150 pounds which, let’s be honest, is a pretty tidy profit margin for something picked up for a handful of change! Better luck next time.

#6: Colorful Painting

Ok how about we make up for going over budget in that previous entry by going under budget this time? This guest brought in a painting that caught their attention while browsing through a garden party.  It’s certainly very avant garde, so we’re not surprised it caught her attention. Somehow, they were able to bag the piece for the miniscule sum of just 50 pence. Now it may not be to everyone’s taste, but how did it fare when presented to the experts? Well, much better than you’d expect. Expert Lisa Lloyd identified it as being by Studio Alchimia, an Italian collective. If it were to be put to auction, she believed it would easily fetch around 500 pounds. Not bad indeed.

#5: Bram Stoker Book  

Here’s another thing to keep an eye out for at your local sources - old books!  

This copy of Bram Stoker’s The Mystery of the Sea was handed into this guest’s charity shop years ago, and seeing it priced at 1 pound, she kept it for herself. 

As it turns out, this was from the book’s third impression, from the same year it was originally published in 1902. As such it was valued at a respectable £200.

On the other hand, if this was an original copy of Bram Stoker’s most famous book, Dracula, it could’ve been worth up to 20,000 pounds - so keep your eyes peeled collectors. 

#4: Gorgeous Ring

This item caused quite a stir with the Antiques Roadshow audience. This ring was bought for a measly pound. That’s already quite the steal for a ring this magnificent. As it turns out, it traveled a long way to get to that little charity shop. Expert John Benjamin believed it to have come from Agra, India being made around 200 years ago and estimated it to be worth 2000 pounds. This Mughal ring led to much debate online as to whether the show should’ve mentioned that it obviously came into possession via the British Empire. What’s your take? 

#3: Colorful Vase

This guest’s grandfather sure had a keen eye for fine ceramics. Snagging this colorful piece for - no surprise here - one pound many years ago, in reality it’s worth far more. That’s because, as expert Judith Miller pointed out, it’s actually a piece by William De Morgan dating back to 1907. Sadly, Morgan’s art was not very popular during his lifetime but nowadays collectors are able to identify just how masterful his craft was and, as such, they fetch a pretty penny. This vase for example received an estimate of around 3500 pounds!

#2: An Absolute Steal

This one is just gorgeous. Just one look at it and you’d think “how on earth could anyone sell that for just a pound?!” Well that’s exactly what happened when this lady was browsing a second hand store in Whitstable market. It turns out it’s actually from the Georgian era and that lovely gem on top is a topaz. What a splendid color indeed and that frame is also Cannetille gold! It should be little surprise that such an alluring item is worth around 2 and a half thousand pounds!

#1: Assorted Jewelry

This haul brought onto the show is simply jaw dropping. It includes items ranging from 4 pounds to, you guessed it, one pound. All but one were found at a carboot sale over the years, and while the guest had her suspicions they might be worth something, expert Joanna Hardy had absolutely no doubt. While the first two items were impressive enough, being bought at 4 and 3 pounds respectively, it was actually the piece that was bought for just one pound that was most impressive. It was sold so cheaply because it was thought to be broken and worthless - but that was simply not the case. While the item found in a jewelry shop for 1 pound fifty fetched the same valuation, our eyes were firmly fixed on this beautiful one pound broach. 

 What have you bought for a pound that you’ve felt was worth much more? Let us know in the comments below