Keith Cash in the Attic

Welcome to Cash In The Attic. I love seeking out antiques and collectibles

because you never know what you'll going to find.

Today we're in East Anglia, and I've taken the chance to drop in here to the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary.

It's dedicated not just to the conservation and rehabilitation of owls,

but also dozens of other birds of prey.

'Established as a charity in 2001, the sanctuary provides care and even surgery for birds in need.

'Last year, over 100 birds sought refuge here.

'Many were injured in road traffic accidents.

'Happily, almost half are released back into the wild once recovered.

'Most of the residents are owls, but there are also hawks, buzzards, eagles and falcons.'

I could spend all day here looking at these beautiful creatures

but that won't get the job done,

-as we go in search of antiques and collectibles...

-SCREECHING

..to take to auction.

'Today on Cash in the Attic I'm hanging out with some new friends...'

-And this is Redford.

-Yes.

-Named after Robert Redford?

-He is indeed.

'..someone needs their arm twisting...'

Take the arm. Otherwise, for the next two weeks you'll be mucking out the stables!

'..and at auction, our expert's having a bad day.'

-Have you ever been this wrong before?

-I'm sorry.

I'm doing the wrong thing. I'm off.

But will we still be smiling when the hammer falls?

Well, I'm just outside the village of Eye,

in the heart of Suffolk

where I've come to meet two ladies that were great friends, one of whom

has called in Cash In The Attic to help her raise money to buy something very, very special,

so fingers crossed we can raise the funds we need and make that little dream come true.

'This cosy 18th-century cottage and adjacent stables is home to housewife Tracey Keith.

'She's been married to husband Martin for 16 years, and they have a daughter, Elizabeth, aged 12.

'Tracey lived in London most of her life but always adored horses.

'She finally got to move to the country 15 years ago, and now she's got her own horse.

'To give us a helping hand today, friend and fellow horse owner Michelle has been called in.

'She lives locally and shares Tracey's love of all things equine.'

-Good morning, Jonty.

-Jules, how are you?

-I'm well.

-I hear you've been to an owl sanctuary.

-I have indeed.

-Was it a hoot?!

-Yes, it was a hoot! The jokes just get worse, don't they?

-They do. They do.

I hope you're focused on this because we're going to meet two lovely ladies

who are animal crackers - in particular, very, very keen on horses.

-Shall we go in?

-Shall we?

-Let's go.

-Here you are.

-Hi.

-Tracey, nice to see you. You must be Michelle.

-I am.

Now, whose idea was it to drag us all the way up to Suffolk?

-That was my idea.

-Now, what are you trying to raise money for?

-We're building a new house at the end of the garden.

-Are you?

-Yes.

-So you're a kind of property developer as well as a horsey enthusiast?

-Indeed.

-And for my nice, new kitchen I'd like a spice dresser.

-A spice dresser?

-Well, how much do you think you're going to raise? How much clutter have you got?

-A fair amount!

Hopefully, in the region of £300 would be good.

-And how much do you think the dresser's going to cost?

-Probably £1,000.

-Ooh, right.

-I've got a few other pennies saved up.

So £300 would make a handsome contribution towards it, but who knows, you might get a bit more?

-It would be nice.

-Now, how long have you known each other for?

-About ten years now.

I've brought my horse into the village looking for somewhere to keep him,

and Tracey came up with the goods, and I've sort of been friends with her ever since.

-So you'll have a pretty good idea of where a lot of Tracey's clutter is, presumably?

-A fair idea, yes.

Well, Jonty's in there riffling through your possessions as we speak.

Never a good idea to leave him on his own. Goodness knows what he might find!

So shall we give you a break from tack cleaning?

-OK.

-And we'll go and find Jonty and see what he's found. Come on. Let's have a look.

'Tracey's home is full of character, but it's also full of clutter to search through,

'much of which was inherited from her husband's late Uncle George.

'George Warren served in World War II and was an avid collector, with a particular love of clocks.

'Sadly, he passed away six years ago,

'and Tracey's decided it's now the right time to let some of his items go.

'Jonty has his bearings already, and he's navigated himself to the dining room for our first find.'

-Jonty!

-Ah!

-Look at this. I told you he was riffling through your stuff.

I'm ruling the world already.

A very nice-looking globe.

Yeah, where was this from?

My husband's school, where he works, the geography department had a clear-out,

and they were going to throw this away, and my husband rescued it,

brought it home for our daughter, who was only three, so that she could see what the world looked like.

I mean, it's all down to age, really, globes.

This is 30-40 years old, but it has bags of character.

That's why I've been so attracted to it.

Now, globes have been made like this in the same way for centuries, really.

You start off with a gauze interior, and then the map itself is made in segments.

So here you can see these lines.

You can see where it's aged naturally, and you can see how it's all been made in segments.

You can also see on many globes when they were made.

It just says here this one was printed in 1975.

I wanted to throw it out a short while ago!

-So money for nothing, literally.

-It is.

-Are you sure you want it to be sold, then?

Well, yes. There won't be room for it in the new house.

-We're not going to get a vast fortune for it. On a good day, £30-£40.

-Wow, that's amazing.

-Are you pleased with that?

-I am, yes!

-So £30-£40, Jonty?

-Yeah, yeah.

It's not a massive start, but it all helps.

Well, ten globes, and we'd be there, wouldn't we?! Right.

-Well, there's plenty more to rummage through.

-There is.

-Come on. Let's continue.

'After my wonderful time at the owl sanctuary earlier,

'I briefly get distracted by a cute toy version, but there's no time for playing around!

'Michelle spots this attractive pair of Nao figures made by Spanish ceramics company Lladro.

'She bought them for a fiver each while on holiday in Majorca in the 1980s.

'Jonty hopes they'll double their value and make us £20-£30 at auction.

'With lots of ground to cover, Tracey and I get busy searching in the breakfast room.'

-Now, what have you got in here?

-What's that?

-Gosh, some collection, actually, of watches.

Goodness me. Where on earth did you get all of these from?

They were all part of the inheritance that my husband got from Uncle George.

Well good, old Uncle George. Did you ever know him?

-No, I never met him unfortunately.

-Well, they're a really very, very sweet collection.

-What have we got?

-Oh, magpie! What do you think, Jonty?

At ten paces I could see those. They're great, wonderful.

Now, we've got obviously four pocket watches, two gents' pocket watches

and two ladies' pocket watches, so let's take this one here, for instance.

Let's open it all up. Here we have hallmarks, so see the sideways lion there?

-Uh-huh.

-That means that this pocket watch here will be solid silver.

-Oh, right! Lovely.

-Very nice indeed. Let's have a look at... Oh, my word!

-Look at that!

-That's fantastic. Have you ever used these?

-No, no.

What's this saying here?

I'm trying to work that out.

I think it says, "George Warren," who was my husband's uncle.

He restored and renovated clocks and watches as a pastime as far as we understand.

-He's used every numeral of his name to produce one of the hands of the clock.

-That's amazing, isn't it?

Wonderful. I don't think that will give it added value,

but it will give it interest,

and when you're collecting pocket watches you want the unusual,

so that's really great to see and it pains me to say that our collection here is only £50-£80.

Well, £50-£80, how do you feel about that?

I think that's fine. It'll add extra money into the pot towards my dresser so, yeah, let's do it.

-So you think as one lot, all four together.

-Yeah, £50-£80.

Well, it's added a bit more value to our total, as you say, Tracey.

£50-£80 on top of the total we've got so far.

It's not over yet, though, is it? Go on, Jonty.

Show us something else.

I think that's very good. I used to have them on display,

but then I got fed up with seeing them, and they've been tucked away ever since.

I didn't think the one with the name on would be of interest, being so personalised, so that's good news.

'Tracey's also happy to sell this wooden wall clock, another item from clock enthusiast Uncle George.

'He converted this one from a mantel to a pendulum clock,

'and as it's something of a hybrid and not to everyone's taste,

'Jonty's given it a conservative £20-£30 estimate.

'While Michelle rummages on, I can't wait to take a look at Tracey's new house, which she's built next door.'

This does all look very exciting.

-Your new home, Tracey.

-It is, yes.

'It'll be home to her spice dresser if we can raise the funds she needs,

'so we head inside for my guided tour.'

-Wow! Work in progress.

-It certainly is.

Isn't this just fantastic? How do you feel about seeing your new dream home come to life?

It's very exciting. It's been lots of ups and downs, but I'm really thrilled now.

Well, is this very much the dream that you and Martin, your husband, had? It's all coming together.

Yes, the idea was in actual fact to build our own home here on our own land and then sell Pear Tree,

pay off the mortgage and happily retire.

So you've got your dream barn conversion set within the acres that your horses can enjoy.

-With the stables.

-And the stable yard which we'll have a look at a little bit later.

Now, how big is this new home going to be?

We've got a kitchen right here. What's next door?

-Got a sitting room next door with a dining room and boot room for the dogs.

-Of course, yeah.

-And an office.

-That office through there, and what have we got upstairs?

-Three bedrooms, quite big ones.

-So one for you and your husband.

-One for Elizabeth.

-Your daughter.

-And a spare room.

-Perfect, so ideal size.

Now, where is this dresser exactly going to go in here?

-In the kitchen, which is going to be here.

-And it's going to go there?

-On this wall here.

Are you a very keen cook? Are you going to spend a lot of time in here?

Well, as all ladies, I spend a lot of time in the kitchen,

and I asked the architect to design the house around it,

so it's a nice size so I can have all of my friends sitting there while I'm cooking,

and it would be the heart of the house.

Very much so. Have you got your eye on a specific piece? Have you seen it in a shop?

Yes, I have.

Eight-foot wide with five doors and ten drawers all together.

What a wonderful opportunity. Well, I wish you luck.

-It's fantastic. It won't get anywhere unless we finding more pieces to take to auction.

-It's not.

Come on. Let's go and see what we can find.

'Tracey's set her heart on where the spice dresser would live,

'so it's more important to search for items.

'Surprise, surprise! Michelle finds yet another clock, inherited, of course, from Uncle George.

'This one's a wooden mantel clock, which according to Jonty,

'should fetch between £20-£40 at auction.

'Jonty has been riffling through cupboards upstairs.

'Could he have struck gold with our next item?'

-How are you getting on there, Michelle?

-Not much here, I don't think.

-No?

-Looks like you've got something. Wow!

-A box of goodies here. Inside, a collection of coins.

-Fantastic.

-Have a look at this.

I'm just going to put this box down for a second, so all those coins have no real value at all.

-OK. But that one does?

-Well, I want you to have a look at this,

because what we're looking at is... we've got a pendant here, but inside this pendant,

inside the medallion here, this is a half crown, so here from the front it says the South African Republic.

Not to be confused with the Republic of South Africa.

-Oh, OK.

-Now, this was effectively the Transvaal in South Africa,

so it's almost like a separate region,

and the gentleman on the front is the President at the time. That's Stephanus Kruger, OK?

-So you've heard of Krugerrands?

-Yeah.

-So that's Kruger.

This was issued in 1895.

This half-crown coin was only issued between 1893 and 1897, so by definition, this is a rare coin.

-Extremely.

-I'm hoping that this has a bit of value.

Now the problem, the downside we have with this coin is the fact that it's placed into this mount.

I'm hoping that this mount hasn't affected the actual condition of this coin,

because it's actually quite worn as well.

It's worth putting into the auction sale.

-How much do you think it's worth?

-I couldn't say.

-What do you reckon?

-£50?

-£50?

-Mm.

-I'm hoping for £50.

-Oh!

-I'm hoping for between £40 and £60.

-It was an off-the-top-of-my-head guess.

-That's great!

-I'll keep that. The box can stay put.

-OK.

-Let's find some more stuff.

-OK.

'After all his work inside, Jonty heads out to see if there's anything to be found in the stables.

'He manages to pick out this metal wall plaque with the letter F on it,

'a definite for the auction sale, valued at between £10-£15.

'Back in the living room, Michelle's already got the measure of working our expert.

'She sits Jonty down to look at items that belonged to - you guessed it - Uncle George.'

What's in here? I've got some medals in here. Look at this, British war medal.

Here we've got "HJ Warren", so that's the recipient,

"PO, RN", so that's Petty Officer from the Royal Navy.

So who do you think HJ Warren was? Uncle George's father?

I suppose it's a possibility, yeah.

Yeah? That makes sense, quite possibly.

-Mm.

-So let's have a look.

And of course, that IS the British war medal.

So that's the Victory Medal, OK? So we're going in reverse here, really.

-So this group of medals here were issued to those that served during the Great War.

-Yeah.

So this brass one here was for those that served during the first part of the First World War,

and it says here "14-15", so that's 1914-15, often known as the Mons Star.

This silver medal was issued to service personnel that went through

the First World War for 28 consecutive days or more.

So there's an awful lot of these medals issued.

And this one here, this golden one here, which isn't actually gold,

there was a lot of these issued, over 5.5 million.

-5.7 million, I think, of these were issued.

-Gosh.

And this was to celebrate the end or the victory of the war to end all wars.

The recipient's name should be on these medals, so if we look on the side here,

it's quite difficult to see,

but there he is again, "HJ Warren" on the side there, "PO, RN,"

which it says on the outside of the box. Petty Officer from the Royal Navy.

-Very fiddly to engrave.

-That's the reason why First World War medals

are quite collectible today, simply because we know exactly who they're issued to.

-Absolutely.

-Value? I suppose, what, £30-£50.

-OK.

-Yeah, that's quite reasonable.

-Excellent. Let's soldier on.

-Absolutely. Ha-ha!

'It seems Tracey doesn't know who HJ Warren is, and with no sentimental attachment,

'she decides the medals are off to auction.

'Jonty keeps up the good work by finding this white metal hip flask.

'It was Tracey's husband's grandfather's but not used in years.

'Again, Jonty puts a value of between £10-£15 on it.

'With all our work rummaging, I haven't had a chance to meet Tracey and Michelle's pride and joy

'and the reason for their friendship, their horses.

'We head outside to see what all the fuss is about.'

This is the stable yard.

Wow! Look at this. A proper, proper stable yard, isn't it?

-It is indeed.

-This is lovely!

Gosh, it's huge! Look at that.

-Look at all your ribbons.

-Yes.

Who's the competitor?

-That's me.

-Really? And who's the dog?

-That's Lancelot.

-He's clearly keen to get in on the act, isn't he?

-Yes. Bless him, he's lovely.

-Now, where did the idea for the livery yard come from?

Well, we'd already been living here a couple of years with two horses, had lots of stables,

and then one day Michelle came knocking on the door

and said that she was bringing a horse to the village - "Could he come and stay here, please?"

-And the rest as they say is history, I suppose, the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

-Absolutely.

We've done all sorts of jolly things together with our horses.

-What do you mainly do?

-Everything.

-We do cross-country, show jumping, Newmarket distance ride once a year.

-Wow!

-A little bit of dressage.

-Is it a full-time occupation, then, you and the horses?

-In the summer, yes.

Most Sundays we like to try and get out.

-Well, for what's clearly going to be a very busy yard, I don't see any horses.

-No.

-They're in the field.

-Let's go and see some horses.

-Shall I get something to entice them to the gate?

-Oh, a bucket of food. They'll love that.

-They will.

-Now, whose is whose?

-The big one, the cream-coloured one, that's Redford. That's mine.

-Redford.

The little one is Elizabeth's.

And here comes Swayze.

-This is your one?

-He's mine, yes.

She's very nervous and very young.

There you go. Good boy.

So this is Swayze, your own little pony. How old is he?

-He's four.

-OK. And this is Redford.

-Yes.

-Named after Robert Redford?

-He is indeed.

-There's a theme here. We've got two film stars.

-We've got Robert Redford and Swayze.

-Patrick Swayze!

-There we are!

Well, this is all very beautiful in terms of a nice slice of country life, but unfortunately,

the rummaging business isn't over yet,

so if we let them finish rummaging through the bucket. There you are.

We'll go and see if we can find a bit more cash for Mummy to buy her piece of furniture. How about that?

'Safely inside and away from all of that healthy fresh air, Jonty's beavering away.

'I make up for lost time by searching the spare room,

'and find this model steam engine in its original box.

'It's made by Bowman, who produced all kinds of model engines

'around the 1920s, and Jonty values it at between £20 and £30.

'Downstairs, Tracey's coming across clutter she's not seen in years.'

Jonty?

-I think I found something interesting here I'd forgotten all about.

-Oh, OK.

-What have we got here?

-Cameras.

Folding cameras, yeah, nice original leather case. Let's have a look.

Sit down, and I'll look at these.

So whose were these?

I think probably Uncle George.

-I can't quite remember.

-This is a lovely thing, a Zeiss Ikon.

That was Carl Zeiss, who produced cameras and lenses,

and he started in Dresden before the Second World War.

Before the Second World War, Dresden was the centre for making good-quality cameras.

Zeiss lenses, particularly, are still regarded as some of the best in the world.

Zeiss Ikon cameras like this are never really named as such.

They're always known from their catalogue number,

but this one looks like it's post-Second World War, so that's in very good order.

I also like the fact that we've got the original case as well.

-It's in good condition.

-Excellent.

Ah, this is completely different.

Made of plastic, and this, of course, is one of the Kodak Brownies that you can see on the front there.

-Oh, yes.

-You see the Brownie? The Brownie Cresta 3 camera.

The Cresta 3 camera came out in the early 1950s, I think '52,

but this is an extended model, so this is a later edition model.

This one was issued in 1960.

-Have you got the original box?

-Yes, there's a cord and a...

You've got that lurking around?

-Yes.

-Oh, good. That really will help because there are collectors for these sorts of things.

I'm hoping for the two we'll get, what, £30?

-That would be great.

-Maybe £40 on a good day, even £50.

-Oh, that would be better still.

-Leave those there.

-We've got some more work to do, and make it snappy! Come on.

-SHE LAUGHS

'More good news for Tracey's spice dresser.

'Our treasures are adding up, but there's not much time left for rummaging,

'and we haven't reached our £300 target.

'Tracey picks out a pair of Royal Oban vases, and as one is slightly damaged, Jonty gives them a value

'of between £15 and £20.

'We could really do with one more decent find

'to give our spice-dresser fund the final boost it needs.

'I decide to give the dining room a last look over, and yet another clock catches my eye.'

-Jonty? Where's a valuer when you want one?

-You rang, m'lord?

Or indeed a clock owner. Look at this very handsome thing. Where did it come from?

My husband found it in Uncle George's house when he died.

-Good old Uncle George!

-He did you proud, didn't he?

It looks like a British black-slate mantel clock,

which were fashionable in the late 19th century, early 20th century, but I don't think this is slate.

It's painted. It's not slate. Look at the proportions, it's too square.

A British mantle clock, a slate mantel clock, tends to be wider.

This is quite a square-looking thing, and looking at the front here,

look at these stylised pillars, there's something that's not right about it.

When I say "right", I'm not sure whether it was made in this country.

Let's have a closer look. Look at the way that opens.

That's not a British way of opening up the back of a clock.

-The back of a clock would just come off in your hand.

-Oh, yes.

Now, let me see if I can have a proper look in there.

-"Ansonia Clock Company, New York City."

-Ahh!

-That's where it came from.

-He's good at that, isn't he?

-An American one.

Yes, an American in the style of a black-slate mantel clock.

It's quite an elegant thing. Do you want to part with this?

I'm not altogether sure.

I thought it might look nice in the entrance hall to the new house. I'll have to think about that one.

Well, I suppose its value is going to help you make your mind up. Jonty, what's it worth?

-Well, £50-£80 of anybody's money.

-Really?

-Enough to persuade you?

-I'll have to think about it.

Well, let's see if Michelle can twist your arm.

Michelle, are you out there lurking?

Come on in. Come on in.

Now, we've just been talking about this clock here,

-and Tracey is in two minds as to whether or not to actually part with it.

-Right.

Now, you're the great friend who's helping to declutter this situation, so I'm going to leave that...

Take the arm, otherwise for the next two weeks you'll be mucking out the stables.

Look, you can fight about this one in the next few days and weeks

to come, but needless to say, our total has risen throughout the day.

Now, how do you think we're doing in terms of your £300 target?

I don't know. I haven't been keeping track.

I have been keeping track, sort of.

My maths isn't brilliant, but let me have a go. Now, if you don't bring this clock along, OK, given

Jonty's lower estimate of about £50 or so, we could be looking at £295.

-Wow! That's good.

-All right? So nearly there.

-Mm-hm.

-But an extra £50 or so, with the clock, we could be looking, of course, at £345.

-Right. OK.

-So no pressure, then.

-No, none at all!

-But it would offer a nice comfortable cushion.

-It would indeed.

-To get us towards that £300.

Only one way to find out.

Pack all of this up and get ready to take it to an auction.

Right. OK, then.

Tracey's charming cottage has provided us with plenty of items for auction.

Most of them are thanks to good old Uncle George.

He certainly loved collecting.

Our items include the World War I medals engraved HJ Warren.

Medals are popular collectors' items, so there's every chance

they'll bring in their estimate of between £30 and £50.

There's the pendulum wall clock.

It seems Uncle George made an interesting job of converting

it from a mantel clock,

and Jonty's given it a conservative estimate of between £20-£30.

And finally, there's the black mantel clock.

Tracey was thinking about keeping it for the new house, but if she

decides to part with it, Jonty hopes it'll make us at least £50.

Coming up on Cash In The Attic, even Jonty's impressed.

There you go! That's put a smile on your face.

-Yes!

-That's truly remarkable!

But I'm disappointed with one of our items. Well, £45.

-I think that's a bargain for someone.

-Yes, yeah, yeah.

And Uncle George's pet project makes all the difference.

Good God. Good grief!

I can't believe it!

Will we reach our all-important target?

Find out when the hammer falls.

It's been just a couple of weeks since we were in rural Suffolk with

Tracey Keith and friend Michelle searching her lovely home in

search of items and antiques that we could bring here to auction, at John Nicholson's Auctioneers in Surrey.

You'll remember that Tracey was looking for a new spice dresser for the new home that she's building and

was looking for £300 to go towards it, so let's hope the bidders here

today are all spiced up as we watch their items go under the hammer.

It's a beautiful day in Surrey, and already there are plenty of bidders

eyeing up the hundreds of lots in the auction room.

Jonty is already here, and having spotted one of his

favourite items from the rummage, he's catching up on some geography.

-Jonty!

-Jules, how are you?

I'm very well, mate. You found the globe.

-Did this help you get here?

-I wish it had.

We have a few fault lines with this one. Have a look at that.

-Yeah.

-It's great.

-Not quite perfect.

-Slightly damaged, but I love it.

We've got quite a range of items, haven't we?

I'm a little bit concerned, I have to say, because all the items that

we found I valued at less than £100, so it matters that they all sell today.

Every item is clearly going to count.

-I wonder if they brought that clock because it's all going to make a difference.

-That would so help.

Some of the items are here. Let's go and see if the girls are here.

It doesn't take us too long to spot the ladies from across the auction

room, and they're saying goodbye to something rather familiar.

-Good morning, Tracey.

-Hello!

-How is it all going?

-Very well.

Now, I can see you've made it as indeed has the clock.

Did that take a lot of persuading?

I had a long think about it, and I thought the dresser's more important than the clock.

-Now, Michelle, have you been to an auction before?

-Never.

-Never before?

-I'm an auction virgin.

-You're not allowed to buy anything. That's part of the deal.

Yeah, yeah. We have strict instructions not to bring anything home.

-Exactly. The auction is about to start. Let's take our places, Jonty.

-Come on. After you.

Well, the girls seem really excited about today, but being

so new to auctions, let's hope they don't bid on anything by accident.

And remember that if you've got valuables sitting in your attic

that you'd like to take to auction, commission, VAT and other charges will apply.

Your action house will give you all the details.

So with the auctioneer already on the podium, it's time for our items to take centre stage.

We find our positions ready for our first lot of the day.

It's the two cameras, estimated at between £30-£50.

Surprised you didn't want to keep these. You can leave

-them around as a curio, can't you?

-No, they just collect dust.

Yes, I can imagine a bit of dust collectors!

-Well, Jonty, you've got £30-£50 for the pair?

-Yes.

My only concern is these are the only cameras in the whole sale room.

-£30-£50, the Zeiss and the Kodak.

-And I'm £20 bid to start.

Five anywhere now?

25 in the far corner. 30 anywhere?

The bid's in the far corner selling at £25.

That's not too bad, halfway.

£25, yeah. Easy buy for someone, Jonty?

That's fine. Not too worried about that.

Everyone seems satisfied with the cameras selling under estimate.

It's not a bad start.

The cameras went for slightly less than thought, but still,

it's all money towards my dresser, and I haven't got to take them home, so that's a good thing.

Let's hope our next lot will make a good impression on the room.

The hip flask and wall plaque were found separately on rummage day, but Jonty came up with the bright

idea of selling them together, so hopefully they'll make more money.

And I'm bid to £20, £25, £30.

-That's good.

-At £30, 5, the lady.

-Ooh!

-5 if you'd like.

-At 40, five the lady. At 45.

-Fab!

The lady's bid.

-Selling at £45, number seven.

-There you go, excellent! Great!

-All going beautifully.

-It is!

A fantastic result.

The flask and plaque together make more than double their estimate,

a wise decision by Jonty, and it's smiles all round.

Perhaps our next lot, the Bowman model engine, can impress the bidders too.

Like many of our items it was inherited from Uncle George,

and we're looking for just £20 to £30.

At £15, 20, your bid.

25, madam? 25?

-30, at five.

-Oh, it's going up, going.

40. No, the lady's bid at 35.

40 anywhere now?

-That's five.

-40 anywhere? 40. And 5?

At 40, the lady standing.

5 anywhere now? The lady's bid.

Selling at £40.

I was very pleased that the engine sold for £40.

I hope whoever bought it's going to be able to get it to work and have fun.

Selling for twice its lower estimate, that's another great result.

And Jonty was a little concerned that all of our items would sell today, but so far, so good.

-Isn't that really good news?

-We're doing really well.

They aren't huge sums but they're all going in the right direction.

Jonty's eagle eye found our next item buried in a box

of coins and he's hoping it's worth at least £40 to £60.

And I'm bid to 20, 25, 30, at £30, five anywhere now?

At £30 on commission, five anywhere?

35 anywhere? 35 anywhere now, on commission at £30.

Considering it almost went in the bin!

Money for nothing.

-Money for old rope.

-Or old chain.

Tracey just doesn't seem to stop smiling whatever her items make.

Well, let's see how this pair of vases get on.

Jonty reckons they're worth £15 to £20,

but our auctioneer has a few reservations.

Not so optimistic. They were very much in fashion 10 or 15 years ago.

These days, they're not so popular and not what people are after.

They'll sell, but might make a bit below the reserve.

I don't really like them and they're just going to be in the way.

Let's see if someone else does like them. £15-20, here we go.

-At £10, for the pair...

-Don't want to take them home!

15 anywhere? At 10. 15 anywhere now?

15 anywhere? All done at 10.

-Oh dear, a tenner.

-Never mind.

I won't have to take them home.

That's the main point, isn't it?

So, we're up a tenner. All right.

The vases sell for a fiver less than we'd hoped.

With our last couple of items selling under the estimates,

we could do with a good sale to get us to the halfway stage on a high.

Can the collection of World War I medals help us out?

They're in their original boxes and valued at between 30 and £50.

When it comes to medals, these are relatively common, if not the most common issued

-during the first world war. But I think if we can get 30 to £50, we should be happy.

-Brilliant.

I'm bid 30, 40, 50, 60, 70,

the bed is at £70. 80 anyone now?

At 70, I can take five if it'll help? At £70?

5? 80 here. Five, 90.

Against you here at 90, then.

Five anyone now? It's with me on commission, selling at £90.

-How about that?

-There you go.

That has put a smile on your face.

That's truly remarkable.

I wonder if those original boxes made all the difference?

-Maybe that's it?

-You think that's what it is?

-That's incredible.

-Brilliant.

-Fantastic.

The medals managed to treble their lower estimate, selling for an amazing £90, we're all delighted.

A very good price, very pleased for that. Made £90.

Again, a very low pre-sale estimate.

They were Navy, which helps. Bought by a collector,

so go to a nice collection.

We've had a good first half of the sale, with a couple of items getting the bidders really

excited but before we take a break, did Tracey and Michelle have any idea of how we're doing so far?

-We're halfway through the auction process. Are you enjoying it so far?

-I am indeed. It's very exciting.

We're chasing £300 for you dresser. So, have a stab.

How do you think we're doing?

I don't know. A third of the way there?

A third of the way there, so £100?

OK, we've got a figure of £240.

-Wow!

-And we're only halfway, we're only halfway.

Jonty has a few things to show me around the auction room.

You guys have a cup of coffee

and then we'll reconvene and see if we've made another £240.

That would be brilliant.

We take a break and take in the saleroom atmosphere.

Interestingly, it seems there's a real buzz about one of our items coming up in the second half.

It's Uncle George's converted pendulum clock, which doesn't look

spectacular but our auctioneer seems quite excited about it.

Now, the wall clock. I've heard that this was made by one of her family members.

There has been a lot of interest. A very low estimate on it.

I think we're going to do very well on this. I can see it making certainly well over £100.

Before long, it's time to get back to business so we retake our positions for the second half.

First up, is Uncle George's collection of pocket watches.

We're hoping the bidders will be prepared to part with at least £50 for them.

We've got these four pocket watches that I found in your little dresser.

Jonty says between 50 and £80.

An attractive lot, a dealer's lot this should be.

-Very interesting to see what happens with this one.

-It's been a good day.

-Let's see.

I can start it here at 30, 5, 40, 5,

50, anywhere? At £45.

50, your bid, seated.

I'll take five now. At 50, seated, five anywhere.

This is a good buy for £50.

-55, anywhere? The maiden bid with you, sir, selling at £50. 162.

-Happy?

50 quid? I think that's a bargain for someone.

There's a lot of work in those things. Four for 50 quid, you can't go and by a new watch for that.

Jonty was spot-on with his valuation as the watches sell

for their lower estimate.

I'm still amazed they didn't make more.

But it's no surprise to our auctioneer.

Not the most fashionable things any more. People don't use them, just collectors. They made £50,

bottom end of estimate, I'm happy with that.

If looks are anything to go by, I'd expect a good result from our next lot.

It's the French-style mantel clock inherited, naturally, from Uncle George.

We're looking for between £50-£80.

30 bid, 35, 40, 45, 50 anywhere?

-Come on.

-I'll take 50 now. At £45.

50 anywhere? All done at 45.

Well, I think it's gone cheap, selling well under estimate and

-it's a bit of a disappointment it didn't make more.

-Well, it's gone.

-Don't have to take it home.

-And when it's gone, it's gone. OK.

But we've still got four items left to sell and Uncle George's second clock of the day is our next lot.

It's the wooden mantel clock which has been collecting dust at

Tracey's house, but Jonty's hoping for between £20-£40.

-Thank you both.

-And it sells just over our top estimate, going for £45.

All our items have sold so far but a few haven't

quite met their estimates and we could do with some strong results for our remaining lots.

Perhaps the globe will surprise us.

Jonty was rather taken with it but it has suffered

a bit of damage over the years, so we're looking for between £30-£40.

-It's just a fun item. And I hope for our sake it's going to cost someone the Earth.

-Oh!

And I'm 10 bid. 15. 20. Five, anywhere?

At £20 for the globe.

-At £20.

-Remember it's still money for nothing.

-Selling at 25.

Well, that's another sale slightly under estimate. Come on, bidders.

Maybe they'll be more inclined to splash the cash on the our pair of

Nao figurines bought by Tracey whilst on holiday in Majorca.

We're looking for £20.

Surely they'll make us more than the fiver each Tracey paid

for them 20 odd years ago.

-Don't tell me these were your uncle's as well.

-No, these are actually mine.

Steady on! Why do you want to sell them?

Not to your taste?

No, and I'm worried they might get broken.

20, anywhere? At 15 anywhere, for the two Lladro figures? 20, front row.

At 20, I'll take five now. At £20.

Five anywhere? The bid's with you madam, selling at £20. 176.

How much did you pay for them?

£5 each. Made a slight profit, then.

Tracey's made twice what she paid for the figurines back in

the '80s and Jonty was spot-on with his estimate.

We've got one more chance to try to boost our spice dresser fund

and we're all excited because our final lot is the pendulum clock famously converted by Uncle George.

We are looking for just £20-£30.

Now, Tracey, this wall clock that we're about to sell is intriguing.

It's an odd-looking thing, to be perfectly honest with you.

It was a mantel clock and Uncle George changed it into a pendulum clock.

I'd love to have met this bloke, that's all I'm going to say.

I wish I could have met him. An intriguing character, Uncle George.

-A DIY man.

-Very clever.

I'm bid to 70, 80, 90, 100 anywhere now?

100, 120, 140, if you'd like.

140, 160 anywhere?

Good grief. Can't believe it!

140, 160, your bid, sir. 180? 200?

At £200, the bid's with you, sir.

Selling at 200.

210. 220.

This is extraordinary. £20-£30, you're looking at 200?

-I can come to you at 230.

-Do they know something that you don't, Jonty?

The bid's with you, sir, selling at £220. 191, thank you both.

220!

-£220.

-Incredible.

We had an estimate of between £20-£30.

Have you ever been this wrong before?

I'm sorry. I'm doing the wrong thing.

-I'm off.

-That's just amazing.

That is absolutely extraordinary.

Obviously, Jonty dropped a zero.

what an incredible result. Our auctioneer was right when he spotted potential.

Perhaps Uncle George knew something we didn't when he converted it.

I can't wait to tell Tracey and Michelle how we've done.

Guys, our lots have now been through the auction. That's it.

The rest of the auction is continuing behind us.

They're quite long days. They've even just changed around the auctioneer!

But, at our half-time total, I revealed to you that we

had raised £240 of the £300 we were chasing for the dresser. How do you think we've done?

Because of the clock, I'm going to say just over 400.

Yep, not a bad guess.

-Now, the dresser that you're after is how much, in reality?

-£1,000.

You thought £300 towards it would do you all right. How about if you walked away with £645?

-That's amazing!

-That's great.

Double what you were hoping for and three quarters

-of the way towards the cost of the thing in the first place.

-Brilliant.

-Isn't that wonderful?

-It is.

After that fantastic day at auction, Tracey's all set to go and choose her new spice dresser.

On hand to help are daughter Elizabeth and, of course, Michelle.

We've come to a local furniture shop today to have a look around

and hopefully order my spice dresser for my new kitchen.

The girls see plenty of pieces of furniture they like...

Oh, look at those - they're really solid.

That's lovely, isn't it?

-Get all your bits and pieces in there.

-Yeah.

Because my mum did so well in the auction,

I hope I'll be able to get a few bits of furniture myself as well.

This is this sort of thing I want.

It's lovely, isn't it? The only difference is, the spice dresser would have drawers here as well.

And after a thorough look around Tracey browses

the catalogue with shop owner Ian to select her perfect spice dresser.

This is the one I'm interested in. The eight-foot one.

I've got a big space to fill.

We've spoken to Ian and we've ordered the spice dresser we want.

It's going to be a nice big eight-foot one. With lots of drawers.

And it's all sorted out so it was great fun, the whole thing, really enjoyed it. Well worthwhile.

I'm going to end up with exactly what I want for my brand new kitchen.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd