Cooper Cash in the Attic

This is the show that helps you uncover all the hidden treasures

around your home and then helps you sell them at auction.

I'm on the blustery Essex coast,

where I've come to take a look at the spectacular Naze Tower.

The 86 foot tower is the only one of its kind.

It was built in 1720 as an early form of lighthouse,

looking out across the Tendring Peninsular.

Over the years the building has had quite a chequered history,

serving as an 18th century tea room,

a semaphore post and even a wartime radar tower.

It's now fully open to the public and boasts a museum, art gallery,

and observation tower, from where the views are stunning.

If you look carefully you can see the village of Kirby-le-Soken,

our destination for today.

We're on the lookout for plenty of antiques we can sell at auction.

Coming up on today's Cash In The Attic,

is a heady mix of the bizarre...

This is quite macabre,

but you do get collectors who go for this type of thing.

..the unexpected...

I'm quite surprised. I hadn't any idea how much it would be worth.

And a whole lot of leg-pulling...

Ooh, that's a disgrace! You were a pound under.

But will we be toasting our success?

Wow!

Bang on the reserve.

We'll only know when the hammer falls.

I'm on my way to meet Peter and Carol Cooper.

They've called in the Cash In The Attic team

to help them raise some funds

for a rather special family gathering.

Peter and Carol are experienced publicans, now semi-retired.

They met, literally, across a crowded bar.

Married in South Africa four years ago,

they've travelled the globe, visiting family and friends,

a trend their daughter, Claire, is set to follow.

Despite all their travelling, they've collected items

during their years as pub landlords.

-Morning!

-Hi, hello. How are you?

I'm fine. I spotted you, literally,

from one mile off, at the top of the Mace Tower.

Really! That was you, was it? I was waving.

I hope the weather stays like this for the rummage, it'll be great.

-I brought it with me, actually.

-That's kind of you,

but I need you to go round the house and see what we can sell,

cos we've got to raise money for a special family event.

That sounds really exciting.

Tell you more later. Here's a clue...

-bells are ringing!

-Oh, really?

-Yes.

-Oh, right.

Good morning. So you must be Carol and Peter?

-We are, yeah.

-Hello. I see you've started already, which is great.

What is it that you've called Cash In The Attic to do?

We want to raise about £500 to buy my daughter a wedding dress.

She's getting married in Brisbane next year.

She's come over to this country at the moment,

so that we can go out together and get the dress

and she'll take it back with her.

Is the whole family going out for the wedding?

We hope so, but it's going to be very expensive,

because it's a big family.

That will be fantastic, won't it? What a lovely, lovely thing.

-So, we need to raise £500 then?

-That would be nice, yes.

OK. In terms of the items that we'll be looking at,

some of which we can see here, I mean where have they come from?

We've accumulated them over the years,

some from previous marriages, but a lot has come from the pub trade

and now we're not in the pub, we just haven't got room for it.

We thought it would be a good time to dispose of it.

OK. Let's go inside and see if we can find Paul, then.

With all those collectables, there's no time to be propped up in the bar.

Luckily our antiques expert, Paul Hayes, is the font of all knowledge.

-Hello, Paul. There you are.

-Hello.

It's Carol and Peter.

You've been on the drink already, haven't you?

Well, I was gonna say, "Cheers!"

These are really interesting. These are only given to landlords of pubs.

The idea is, with lots of products, basically any alcohol product,

they give away freebies to promote their ale or beer.

This one's from Martell and it's for brandy.

But Martell, actually, is one of the oldest brandy firms,

established in the 18th century.

And the idea was, originally, they'd take wine

and they wanted to preserve the wine to stop it going off.

So, what they did was they distilled it and the end result was brandy.

It was found to better than the wine, so they went into production.

So, what sort of value could we be talking about,

given that they're recent issues?

Six of them together, I should imagine about £20 each.

So, if I said £120 to £150, how does that sound?

-Incredible to think they were something we were given.

-Yeah.

We do like a bargain!

-I must admit, I've been on the whisky diet recently.

-Really?

I've lost three days already!

Well, we don't want you losing any more time, so follow me. Come on.

Cheers.

The water jugs...I was surprised.

It's something that I'd collected because they were a free gift,

but realising that they're that sort of value is quite incredible.

I'll be pleased to see them go to the auction.

What a terrific start and nearly a quarter of our £500 target.

Not bad for a few free jugs!

Time to widen the search.

Who knows what else we'll find in this treasure trove of a house.

In the attic, Peter thinks he might be onto something down memory lane.

Paul, come up here in a minute. I've found a couple of old Matchbox toys.

Oh, right. Let's have a look.

What a great attic!

Let me have a quick look. So, whose were these then?

-Were these yours as a...?

-Yeah. I've had these some time.

-All right.

There's some more somewhere. I've just found these two.

"Models of Yesteryear". A 1929 Bentley. These are interesting.

-Were these things that you bought as a kid?

-I used to work for Lesney's.

I was a toolmaker in the '70s,

and used to make the die-cast moulds for Yesteryear models

and also the king-size range.

Matchbox toys, I mean, that's their branding, wasn't it?

But Lesney was the parent company who designed them.

This would be pocket money, but if you wanted to splash out,

they made a king-size range as well, didn't they?

-That's right.

-You could be looking at quite a lot of money here.

The original box is important. You've got the accessories, which get lost,

and you've got some horses here and those get lost, but I'd say you've got at least,

sort of £40 or £50. If I said, sort of £50 for these two.

-Crikey!

-If we put them in at about 50, 60 quid, how does that sound?

-Crikey! I'm amazed!

-Is that all right?

-Yeah.

All right. I'll let you go downstairs first.

Let's see what else we can find.

The Matchbox cars, I was very pleased with,

especially being involved with the manufacture of them,

then their value... it was very good.

Another stroke of luck and another £50 towards the wedding dress fund.

With no time to waste, Paul is leaving no stone,

or chest, unturned, and stumbles across some more free gifts.

A collectable Guinness barometer

and a Schweppes clock, which together he values at £50 to £100.

That should get temperatures rising, come auction day.

So, with their £500 target in sight, I leave Paul to what he does best,

and search out Peter and Carol

to find out more about their family and the approaching wedding.

I understand you two met through the pub trade, is that right?

Yeah. We met to do with business, really.

I had a pub and Carol had a pub and erm...

this particular pub in the village here came up

and we decided to take it.

OK. So when did you realise that business had turned to pleasure, then?

-It just sort of happened over the course of...

-A few years later.

Then I moved out the pub I was in and then took that one over,

and we got married four years ago.

-So where did you get married?

-Plettenberg Bay in South Africa.

So exotic weddings run in the family then?

No. I mean, Claire met Matt while she was travelling.

She enjoys travelling as well, so I'm hoping that that's a good omen

and they'll be as happy as we are, really.

Has she any idea of the dress that she wants,

because it's quite an unusual request in this country, a wedding dress for a beach!

Yes. That's going to be the problem, I think.

I don't know. I haven't been looking for wedding dresses recently.

Hopefully we're going to go up to Colchester,

there's a couple of nice wedding shops there,

so we'll go and have a look there.

She may end up having something specially made?

Maybe, if she doesn't see anything she likes, but until we go and look, we don't know.

If you're going to get any money for a dress,

we'd better find Paul and see if he's got anything else to sell!

Come on.

'That wedding dress, then, isn't going to buy itself

'and we're far from happy hour, with over £300 yet to find.

'Every penny counts and upstairs Paul thinks this delightful 1950s children's doll,

'together with tartan-lined toggle overcoat and striking red hair

'should turn heads at the sale with an estimate of £35 to £50.'

But we're still a far cry from our target,

and if we want to reach that £500 and buy Claire her dream dress,

we're going to need to strike gold.

'This is no teddy bears' picnic and it looks like Carol might have the answer.'

-Lorne.

-What have you got there?

It's a Victorian mourning ring.

Well, it's got writing round it but I can't read it, so I think we'd better get Paul in.

-Paul, are you there?

-Yep.

-We've found a lovely ring here.

I must admit, I can't read what it says, so I wonder whether you could help out.

Let's have a look. That's a mourning ring.

It says here "in memory of".

This was a very traditional item.

What you'd do when somebody would die, you would wear this when you were in mourning

and that's where the term comes from, but sometimes you get an inscription.

You have one in the middle here. It says, "My dear uncle, James Cull",

and it says, "14th March 1842".

This would have been worn by a member of the family in memory of this particular person.

Is that a problem when it comes to selling it?

Well, it's quite macabre, but you do get collectors who go for this type of thing.

I think having the inscription there, you know 1842, it's a long time ago

and people look for items like that,

but there are collectors who want to buy this type of thing.

What sort of value will it have?

Well, this one's 18 carat, so it's a very good one.

It's in nice condition and it's very old, so it ticks all the boxes.

So I would say...

£100 to £150. How does that sound?

I had no idea what it would be worth,

but I'm quite happy to sell it because I haven't really got any...

it's not sentimental to me because it wasn't my family.

That's a nice bit of money in the pot, isn't it?

It is. It all adds up, doesn't it.

Let's go and see what else we can find.

I had no idea what it would be worth.

I wasn't sure as it was something connected with death,

if it would be a bit morbid.

So I was pleasantly surprised with the valuation.

Let's hope bidders are just as taken with this remembrance ring.

'Downstairs I unearth two Guinness prints,

'bought in a second-hand shop and valued at £25 to £35.

'Fingers crossed they bring the luck of the Irish come auction day.

'Outside, not even the garage escapes a thorough going-over.

-Is this a family heirloom?

-It was my grandmother's.

Oh, look at that! That's quite cool, isn't it?

-Well, this is a canteen.

-Yeah.

More than likely this was a wedding present.

Can you get your fingers in there?

Can you do it? There we are.

Wow, look at that! It's got everything, hasn't it?

The actual canteen is EPNS, which is electro-plated nickel silver,

and it's made by a firm called Walker & Hall,

which are a very good make of these sets,

but it is nice to find everything complete.

Do you know when your grandparents were married?

I think it was probably around about 1914, 1915.

You are looking around that time. On the blade here,

it says "G R", which is obviously George V,

so he was crowned in 1911, so you are looking at about that time.

OK, if you're happy to let that go, you should be looking...

-£80 to £120.

-Mmm, that would be great!

-All right?

-Yeah, lovely.

Well, let's lock it up and keep looking.

-OK.

-Great! There you go.

We're edging ever closer to our target,

but it's far from closing time for our former publicans

and we're on a roll.

Historically a stone associated with misfortune, Carol hopes her grandmother's opal dress ring

will fetch Paul's £40 to £50 price tag, rather than become daughter Claire's "something old".

Paul's taken a liking to the collection of Wade spirit decanters,

which should hopefully roll out £50 to £60.

And not to be outdone, Peter has found an impressive kettle,

which should get the auction room up to boiling point.

Paul, what do you think about this one, then?

Let's have a look. Oh, thanks very much. Two sugars.

That's a nice one, isn't it?

Wow! Is that something that you've bought, or something left to you?

No, actually it's part of Carol's family.

Let's have a look. Lorne, Carol, are you there?

Now look at this. What a belter!

Crikey! That's an impressive piece, isn't it?

Is it silver, Paul, or silver plate?

Well, this one is solid silver, and at one point it would have belonged to a whole tea service.

You would have your tea pot, your water jug, your sugar basin,

cream jug, sometimes you'd have a massive tray that would all fit with it, but this was an accessory.

It's called a spirit kettle,

and it gets its name really from this little burner in the bottom

where you'd actually put spirit or paraffin in there,

which would keep your water hot, and the idea was that when the ladies all gathered for afternoon tea

away from the gentlemen, if you were going to spend a couple of hours having tea,

you'd need to have a source of hot water

and the reason they used to just put the kettle into the actual fire or

have your servants bring them in, and you could close the doors,

you could have nice hot water, and it would be nice and private so you could enjoy your cup of tea.

So, what's the valuation on this one, then?

You're looking maybe £250, £300.

Now Carol, that's quite a lot, isn't it? What do you think of that?

I'm quite surprised. I hadn't any idea how much it would be worth.

The question has to be how do you feel about selling it?

Not quite as definite as I was about the ring because it is pretty

and I do like it, but, I suppose it just sits on the shelf,

gathering dust, so I might well decide to sell it.

OK. Well, let's set the kettle to one side for the time being.

The value of everything that's going to auction for sure comes to £550.

Obviously it's almost double that potentially if we did have that,

but, you know, you can let us know that later.

Right, so we'll next see you at the auction house when everything

you agree to send to auction will be on display in the auction room

and hopefully, lots of people looking at the items ready to bid.

Well, I think we've unearthed some real corkers to take along to auction and they include...

The Matchbox cars from Peter's days in the toy manufacturing business, valued at £50 to £60, but will our

one-time landlords call time on their ownership of the stunning silver kettle, valued at £250?

Only time will tell.

Coming up next on Cash In The Attic -

Will Peter and Carol's glass be half full?

-So I take it you are happy?

-Ish!

-Or half empty...

-Aah, so it's unsold.

-Unsold!

Will they have enough cash left over to buy us all a round?

Find out when the final hammer falls.

Now it's been a couple of weeks since we had a good look

through all Peter and Carol's items of pub memorabilia,

antiques and collectables and we've gathered together a selection that

we've brought here, to Chiswick Auction Rooms in west London.

They're looking to raise around £500 towards the cost of Claire's wedding gown

for her wedding in Australia, so let's just hope that today the bidders don't stand on ceremony

but get most carried away when the items go under the hammer.

We're in Chiswick today and if this little fellow's

excitement is anything to go by, we should be in for a great sale.

As always, our bidders are out in force,

and with so many fantastic items on display,

let's hope it turns out to be happy hour for Peter and Carol.

One man who is convinced our couple will drive away with the big bucks today is expert, Paul.

Now, Paul, all our yesterdays!

-Exactly, yes.

-So you're hopeful they'll do well?

-These are very collectable.

I've often thought how these have survived in that sort of condition.

The cars I had as a child were thrown down the stairs in various pursuits

and things go missing but these are sort of boxed and mint.

What else excites you?

I'm interested to see whether that spirit kettle arrives. That was a cracker, wasn't it?

Now that all had matching hallmarks, which you said was quite unusual.

-That's right.

-Do you expect that if it does appear, to be a sought-after piece?

Yes. That's no problem at all, if it arrives!

-Shall we go and find out?

-Let's go and find out.

With the auction room filling up with potential buyers,

all with a thirst for a bargain, Peter and Carol search out their items to say a fond farewell.

-Good morning.

-Hello, how are you?

If memory serves me right, these have doubled or something? There's more of these than I remember!

I was actually looking for some more of the Yesteryear models that I've got somewhere,

and I looked in one of the garages and found another five of these instead!

That's handy, isn't it? Will that make a difference to the estimate?

Yes, it certainly does. That's a nice collection now.

I think you've almost got a complete set.

What about the spirit kettle, because I know you were in two minds about that.

Well I've brought it, but I've put a reserve of £300 on it.

It's a while since we saw you so it'll be interesting to see if we get enough bidders

in the room today ready to make another cup of tea.

Anything you wanna buy!

-A cup of tea, did you mention tea?

-I did mention tea, yes, because I

knew that would do it for you, Paul! Come on!

With an additional five Martell water jugs,

and the silver spirit kettle now in the running,

there's even more cash in the offing, and Peter and Carol

need every penny if they're going to give daughter, Claire, her Australian white wedding.

Remember, if you're interested in selling or buying at auction,

you will have to pay commission and possibly other charges.

Time to take our places now for our first lot of the day.

It's the 18 carat gold memorial ring, which Paul valued at £100 to £150.

Nice piece this, Paul?

Very unusual. I'm just thinking actually that the inscription really makes this piece.

If you went to alter it to make it bigger,

you'll lose the inscription, so it has to stay this size.

Start me with £50. 50, 5, 60.

£60 for the little ring. At £60, 65, thank you I'm bid.

70, 75, 80.

£80 then at £80.

Anybody else? £80 it is then... 85.

That's not so bad, actually.

-Is that OK, are you happy with that?

-It sold then?

-Yes.

It's a good start towards the wedding dress fund and just shy of Paul's estimate.

I was quite pleased with the mourning ring.

It was a little bit below what Paul had estimated but I'm glad it's sold and I hope it's gone to a good home.

Next up under the hammer are Peter's two colourful Guinness prints.

With an estimate of £25 to £35,

let's hope good things really do come to those who wait.

A bit of fun for £24.

Ooh, £24. Is that all right?

That's a disgrace. You're a pound under!

Not bad. That's another £24 towards our target.

With two lots under our belt, things are beginning to warm up nicely here in Chiswick but we need our other

items to hit their estimates if we're going to rack up some serious cash for our wedding dress fund.

Maybe this little lady will catch someone's eye, with a price tag of £35 to £50.

So our next lot is the 1950s Pedigree doll.

-This is a sweetie, isn't it? Is this yours?

-Yeah.

-OK. What do you want for this, then Paul?

-I'm looking for about £35.

-OK. Here we go.

-It's worth £10.

Anybody want this for £10? 10 I'm bid. I'm made a bid of £10.

10, 12, 14, 16, 18.

£18. It will be sold for £18.

20 there, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30.

£30 on the Chesterfield. £30. Going then for £30. 345.

-There you go.

-£30.

-Near, isn't it?

Another modest result, we're still coming in under Paul's estimates.

Our bidders certainly aren't giving them anything away today.

Fingers crossed our collection of eleven limited edition Martell water

jugs, celebrating Grand National winners will up the bar, not fall at our £120 to £150 price tag.

Bit of interest in them but probably not quite enough.

Start the bidding at £70.

75, 80, £80 for the water jugs,

85, 90, 95, £95 in the room at £95...

-Go on!

-We need a little bit more.

-Sold.

-Oh, he has let them go.

He's sold them for £95. He's let them go for £95.

The way I always look at this actually is what you do overall,

so if we have 12 items for which you want X number of pounds,

as long as we get there, at some point hopefully that's how it will work out.

Well, Paul's right and we should remember that we were over-target

anyway and as it's early days yet, we shouldn't be too disheartened.

Maybe the Schweppes clock and barometer and the Guinness barometer will bring fairer weather.

They're valued at £50 to £100.

OK, now our next lot is that lovely Guinness barometer.

Now at one time as you must be aware, Guinness collections

were just so hot, people were always seeking these out.

-It is a lovely piece, though.

-Very nice.

What am I bid for those? Start me at £20.

20, 22, 24, 26 in the doorway, 28, 30, £30 in the doorway...

-£30... we're near.

-At £30. It looks like they're selling...

32 there, 34 nearer me now, 36, £36 there, at £36.

I can sell them then for £36.

-let them go.

-36 then.

-204.

-There you are. £36.

£36. It might have sold, but £36 is under estimate again and Peter and

Carol are beginning to look worried,

and when the opal dress ring sells for £30, £10 under estimate...

At £30, going...

..it doesn't bode well.

Our bidders are driving a hard bargain today and despite some

really unusual collectables, we're still £200 shy of our £500 target.

Perhaps this oak cased canteen of cutlery will whet our bidders' appetites, valued at £80 to £100.

£50 to start me for that. 50, 5, 60, £60 for the canteen, at £60.

And 5 anybody?

At £60. At £60 it is, at £60.

-Sorry, it's not sold.

-That's unsold.

That is disappointing.

No sale means Peter and Carol will have to lug this little lot back home to Essex.

We need the remaining lots to come in on estimate if we're going to get near our £500 target.

Let's hope there are some car enthusiasts or toy collectors in the

room, as the Matchbox Horse Van and 1929 Bentley go under the hammer.

A lot is riding on these little motors, priced at £50 to £60.

The two Matchbox toys.

Start me for £10, £10?

12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22.

He'd better not sell them at that.

I've got £22.

Aah, so it's unsold.

-Unsold!

-Never mind.

It's another disappointment, but as the cars have some sentimental value

for Peter, he won't mind taking them home too much.

But as the spirit barrels also failed to sell...

Nearly sold. £28.

..we can't help our own low spirits.

We're really struggling here today.

Will our final lot, the George V solid silver spirit kettle,

valued at £250 to £350 save the day?

With a reserve of £300, it'll be make or break.

If it gets that, then fine, I'll let it go,

but if not, it's going home because it was the only thing that was actually on display!

Now Multipart of Multi-hallmark, but it's from Chester, is that right?

Yeah, and Chester silver is not so much rare,

but collectable because they don't assay there any more

and it is matching as well, the base matches the kettle,

so that's good, and good condition.

I've got a bid of £260, which would mean £260...

£260 on it...

270, 280, 290.

I've got 295, I need to take more than 300.

£300.

In front of me at £300. That's £300.

In front of me at £300.

At £300 it's going then. £300 then.

Bang on the reserve.

So I take it you are happy?

Ish!

Finally our estimate is achieved and £300 towards the wedding dress fund.

After all that excitement, a drink is definitely in order, but will

Peter and Carol be drowning their sorrows, or toasting their success?

-Now you wanted to raise £500, didn't you?

-Yeah.

Towards the wedding?

-Yeah.

-It's all very exciting.

Now it's been a bit of a rollercoaster ride today, hasn't it, Paul?

It's been a confusing day. I'm sure it's something to do with the heat.

Now you wanted £500, didn't you, towards the wedding dress?

We've actually made £600.

Well, we've done our target, then.

-That's all right.

-So a bit better than you thought?

Yeah, yeah, that sounds fine, yeah.

It's a couple of weeks later and Claire, Carol's daughter,

and the bride-to-be, has arrived in the UK

and today they're on a special shopping trip.

Armed with their £600, mother and daughter have left Peter and fiance, Matt,

entertaining the rest of the family so they can decide on the perfect wedding dress.

I've been looking forward to this day for years.

She's my only daughter, first one to get married.

Can't wait to go and pick a dress.

It's gonna be great, it is gonna be fun, actually. I'm looking forward to it.

Where to start with such a treasure trove of beautiful dresses.

-Four weddings and a funeral, no!

-No, maybe not!

And for Claire, it's a chance to really shine on her big day.

I've been dreaming of this day since I was a little girl

walking down the aisle in a pretty dress, so it would be good to get dressed up for once.

I feel like a princess in this one, Mum.

-Do you like it?

-Oh, I like that! That's really nice.

With so much to choose from, it's a hard decision, and one that will need to be kept under wraps.

We've found the ideal dress.

Yep, but nobody is going to see it until the big day,

so you won't be seeing it on this programme, I'm afraid.

Let's hope the wedding down under goes just as well.

If you've got something you'd like to raise some money for by

selling antiques at auction, you'll find out more details about Cash In The Attic

online at bbc.co.uk.

Hopefully we'll see you next time.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd