Green Cash in the Attic

Welcome to Cash In The Attic, the programme that works with you to find antiques

and collectibles in your home and then sells them with you at auction.

Today I'm in Woolwich in East London at the Thames Barrier Park,

which is just a few hundred yards from the Thames Barrier itself.

You know, that barrier is really impressive,

but of course it's absolutely essential

to protect our capital city from the threat of flooding.

The idea for the barrier came after a terrible flood in 1953.

160,000 acres of land near the mouth of the Thames were flooded,

with disastrous consequences and loss of life.

The Thames Barrier was the solution

and officially opened by the Queen in 1984.

It consists of ten separate moveable gates

and spans a gap of 520 metres across the river.

It really is an amazing structure,

but it's time for us to leave this rather futuristic setting

and put the clock back a hundred years or so,

as we go in search of antiques and collectibles to take to auction.

Coming up on today's Cash In The Attic,

Paul's picking up a few tips of the trade.

This Sunday, I'm going to go on a car-boot with you, see what I can find!

I'm having to crack the whip.

So I'm afraid the gin and tonic will have to wait, madam!

LAUGHTER

And we can barely believe our luck come auction day.

-I can't believe that!

-Well done!

But can we keep our feet on the ground until the final hammer falls?

I'm on my way to meet a family who want to raise money

for a very exciting new arrival to the family.

This Victorian terraced house in south-east London

is home to Dave Green and his wife Michelle.

Dave owns and runs his own building firm

for which Michelle works as company secretary.

And the couple have just celebrated their third wedding anniversary.

With a new addition arriving in a couple of months,

they want to raise some cash for a special present.

-Morning, Paul!

-Good morning, how are you?

-I've been down to the Thames Barrier today.

-Oh, really?

-Yes.

I've decided I can throw my wellies away

cos I think London's going to be safe from a flood.

I hope so, but you never know. The climate is changing...

I know, look at it!

We're going to meet two sunny people today, that should make up for it.

That sounds really good. Do they have any antiques?

I think they just might have cos they want to raise money

for something very special - a new addition to their family.

-Lovely.

-Shall we see what they've got?

-New car?

Wait and see!

Hi, Dave and Michelle.

What a fab card!

That's Dave and I on a Saturday night.

Singing and dancing like Fred and Ginge.

Oh, that's it, yeah.

Brilliant. Now, which one of you two called in Cash In The Attic?

That was me.

Yes, I like surprising my husband and we're trying to raise some money

for my daughter who's having her first baby,

to put towards a pram.

-They're a bit expensive these days.

-They are.

-Is this the first grandchild?

-This is the first grandchild.

-So you want something a bit special?

-Yes.

And how much do you think it's going to cost?

Um, we're hoping to raise about £300.

We're going to have an expectant day at auction in more ways than one,

-and I know Paul's already started work, so shall we go and find him and see what he's found?

-Yes.

This couple clearly can't wait for the new arrival,

so we need to get straight down to business.

And we've got our own family man here to help today.

Paul Hayes has made the journey south from Morecambe

to help us turn this couple's dusty antiques into baby-fund cash.

-Ah, hello.

-Hi.

Hard at work already. What have you found?

I've found a collection of collectors' plates.

I quite like these, actually.

They're all by Wedgwood

and they're all from the Royal Horticultural Society.

What attracted you to these? The flowers or the plates?

It was the Wedgwood plate connection and the colour.

I love all the colours in the flowers. They're really nice.

Well, these used to be issued in magazines

and you would buy them once a month, so you'd save up,

and they were roughly about £20 usually.

And you'd get... Obviously cos this one's called April,

I would suspect they're all flowers of the month,

there's 12 in the series.

But these were made in the 1970s

and these designs are by a lady called Leslie Greenwood

who I'm not familiar with, but she's a very, very talented artist.

They're in fabulous condition. Will that add to their value?

It doesn't always work out that way.

Things that are made for the collectible market

tend to stay in really good condition,

so there's no real rarity there.

I think the only time I've seen these actually fetch more money

than someone's laid out are the subjects.

If you get aeroplanes or trains, vintage cars,

they have an added value.

People go in for that sort of thing.

So if I said at least £50-£100,

but I would expect two people who liked them

to bid a bit more for them.

So £50-£100. That's a start for the £300 that we want to raise.

-Are you happy with that?

-I'm happy with that. That'll buy one wheel!

Let's go and see if we can find the other three

before the one wheel falls off the wagon!

What a cracking start to our day's rummaging,

but if we're going to get the new baby a pram to be proud of,

we need a few more gems yet.

Luckily, Dave's already on the case

and digs out an Art Deco style Bakelite radio,

which Paul values at a rather modest £10-£20.

Meanwhile, upstairs,

Michelle and Paul are tackling one of the bedrooms.

How's that?

I was the fifth Beatle.

What about these, Paul?

They're interesting, aren't they? Now then, here we go.

-So where have you got these from?

-I bought them from the boot fair.

Right. Well, this first one here is called a vesta case,

and that expression comes from the Greek goddess Vesta.

She was the goddess of the hearth.

And what it's used for is for matches.

-OK.

-These go back to a time when matches were self-combustible,

so, if you exposed the match to the air,

the whole thing would self-combust.

If you had the matches in your pocket loose,

they could go off in your waistcoat.

They used to put them in airtight containers.

This one definitely is silver - see the little lion there? Solid silver.

But this one's actually for snuff.

That's a little snuff box. This one's from Holland.

These very intricate tavern scenes were always Dutch

and I can date this one easily.

It says 12th June 1923,

so that's when this has been presented or made.

All right. So we have two solid silver items.

This one's from Holland, this from England.

-I think we're looking at £30-£50.

-Really?

-Does that sound all right?

Yeah, that sounds fine. And how much were they?

I think I paid £2.50 for that one

and probably a couple of pounds for that one.

Just goes to show.

This Sunday, I'm going to go on a car-boot with you, see what I can find!

It looks like we've got a new expert in the making.

You'd better watch out, Paul.

In the hallway, I've found a gorgeous Japanese-style vase,

which tops up our kitty by another £10-£20.

I leave Paul to continue the search for now

and head down to the bottom of the garden

to find out a bit more about our grandparents-to-be.

-So this is the bar that Dave built.

-It certainly is.

What can I get you, sir, madam?

Two gin and tonics, please! Ice and lemon.

This is fantastic, because you built the bar here...

I tell you, it beats having a shed at the end of the garden.

-And the barbecue outside.

-This is better than tools.

LAUGHTER

You've been married for, what, three years?

What was it, Michelle, that attracted you to Dave?

For me, it was love at first sight.

-Very handsome man.

-I agree with that.

LAUGHTER

He's a wonderful, clever man.

Now, let's talk about this baby that we're raising this money for,

it's going to be your first grandchild.

How do you feel about being a granny?

Really looking forward to it. She's got six weeks to go!

So I'll be really busy, I would imagine.

-So is it going to be a girl or a boy?

-It's a girl.

-Called?

-Mia.

How lovely.

Mia Grace, I think it is.

Mia Grace.

Mia Grace is going to have a fabulous pram

to be wheeled around in, isn't she, by her doting grandparents?

-But only if we find some more stuff that we can take to auction.

-OK.

I'm afraid the gin and tonic will have to wait, madam!

LAUGHTER

Back in the house, Mr Hayes is in a rather unusual room for rummaging,

but the bathroom proves to be fruitful

when he spots this Murano glass clown.

He packs it off to auction

with a very colourful £30-£50 price tag.

Dave's thrown himself back into the rummage

and it looks like he's come up trumps.

-Paul?

-Yeah?

-Come and see what I've found.

Let's have a look. These old railway lamps?

They're not railway. They're ship's lamps. Whose were these?

-These were my dad's.

-And was he a keen sailor?

He used to collect bits and pieces, but these were on his bar.

He had a bar in his house,

but they were highly polished when my dad had them.

Of course, they've not been touched since.

These would've been highly prized when they were on board a ship

and they would go either side of a ship - port and starboard.

They would tell other sailors which direction they would go.

-Were these for candles inside?

-Originally they would have candles.

Sometimes they were converted to gas,

but these would have held a little candle wick in there,

and that would've burnt down and you'd replace it when you needed to.

The nice thing is you've got a pair.

You have got a red and a green one which is how you find them.

They're copper.

Maybe need a bit of a polish but I quite like them as they are.

They're quite nice. It says Chamberlain's Nautical Works,

129 Waterloo Road, London, so I'd say these were 1890s, 1900s.

So I think you've got a great collecting area.

If I said at least £30, maybe up to about £50, how does that sound?

-Sounds good.

-All right?

That sounds great. Let's see if we can find something else.

-Lovely.

-OK.

Another £30 into the pram fund. Great work, chaps.

Next door, Michelle has got another little item to add to the haul

when she finds this silver vase,

which Paul values at £30-£50.

Downstairs, I've found something that could be music to our ears.

Where did this come from, Dave? Who's the violinist in the family?

No-one, actually. When I was...

-I bought a house to renovate and this was in the attic.

-Wow!

Right, well, do you know what?

I always wanted to find a Stradivarius in the attic.

But it says here "Antonius Stradivarius, Cremona"

which is the corner of Italy where he used to make all his violins.

"Faciebat anno" which is Latin, I think,

for "made in the year" 1721.

So there we are. So everything about it says it's made in 1721,

but I think it means twenty past five!

This is a modern-ish copy of an early Stradivarius.

Stradivarius is so famous, it's like having a Van Gogh or a Rembrandt.

It's the name really, in violins.

So, if it's not the real thing... Sorry about that, Dave.

If it's not the real thing, how much is this worth?

It's not in the best of condition, is it?

No. If it didn't have its label in there,

which most violins don't, there are a couple of things to look for -

three different types of wood.

A good-quality violin will have a spruce neck,

it will have a willow case and innards,

and the back would be maple.

This looks like all the same type of wood,

so I would say it's not a serious instrument.

It's just a little bit of fun, really.

Something you'd stick on the wall?

Exactly, just to say you've got a Stradivarius.

If I said between £40 and £80, how does that sound?

-That sounds good to me.

-Is that music to your ears?

That certainly is!

Well, even in its rather well-used condition,

this violin still adds £40 to our kitty,

so every cloud has a silver lining.

Michelle is still racking up the finds

when she digs out this pair of metal matchboxes.

Paul thinks they could make £10-£20.

It's almost the end

of our day here with Dave and Michelle,

but we find Paul with one last item.

-Hi, Paul.

-Ah, I was hoping to see you two.

-You've got time on your hands there!

-I certainly have.

Only a very small piece of time, though.

-These are beautiful!

-Thank you.

Are they something you've bought?

No, this one I bought and this is something

that's been in our family for a number of years at my mother's house,

and she's donated it as a contribution towards the pram.

This is a top, top quality clock, absolutely fantastic.

This one on the right is an item that you can buy today,

just a little novelty. This one is actually solid gold.

That tells me that's been a very wealthy lady who's had that.

Did you know that was solid gold?

I did not, no, no. I'm sure my mother wouldn't want to know that either.

Well, it does make a difference.

Bearing in mind solid gold items would've been horrendously expensive

in the 1920s or '30s when this clock would've been made.

I suspect this has been made by a really good manufacturer -

someone like Cartier, Tiffany's, that sort of thing.

You're on that sort of level.

But there's no Cartier or Tiffany name.

There's no mark on it,

but we have got, on the front face, "Huit jours"

which is 'eight days' in French,

so it will wind for eight days without needing to rewind it.

On the bottom here, we have a hallmark.

Now, this is a gold hallmark and it says 585,

and how it works is a percentage.

So, if we had 1,000 parts, 585 of them are solid gold.

The rest is a base metal.

it basically translates is that this is 14-carat gold -

a high quality, it's not the cheapest.

This is really good.

Fantastic piece. So what do you think it might be worth, Paul?

You've got some beautifully bright cut engraving on the front,

it's in lovely condition, it's solid gold.

I'm going to put a conservative estimate on this,

and I would say at least £200 upwards.

How does that sound?

-If you can find it's a good maker, I think you've cracked it.

-Four wheels on the pram.

-Exactly!

-We should call Dave in.

-We should.

Dave, do you want to come and join us a second?

Paul has come up with a great valuation of at least £200.

-Yes.

-Right.

And possibly more,

which means that, if we add it all up together,

we should raise at least £440.

-That's good.

-That's fantastic.

So tell your daughter to get shopping,

cos by the time we go to auction, we need to know what she wants.

-Yes.

-That's great.

We've had a really fun day with Michelle and Dave,

and we've got a wonderful selection of items to take to auction.

The colourful collection of Wedgwood plates,

which Paul valued at a conservative £50-£100.

The rather battered violin which could prove to be a perfect restoration project

with its modest £40-£80 estimate.

And of course the beautiful carriage clock,

which proves size doesn't matter

as we're hoping it could make a massive £200.

Still to come on Cash In The Attic,

Michelle is trying to look on the bright side.

Somebody else can enjoy them.

And there's more room in your sitting room. OK.

But some results have all our emotions running high.

-Right!

-How's that?

So will we have reached our target when the final hammer falls?

It's been a week or two now

since we joined Dave and Michelle in their home in south-east London,

searching it from top to bottom

to find things that we could sell today here at Chiswick Auctions.

There's a new baby due in the family.

It's all very exciting,

because Michelle's daughter Sarah is about to have her very first child,

and they want to raise £300 to buy a top-of-the-range pram for her.

So we rather hope that our bidders today will really deliver

when their items go under the hammer.

The saleroom is packed with antiques and collectibles of all shapes and sizes,

and the bidders are already here giving them the once-over.

Before things get too busy,

I catch up with Paul Hayes for a quick pre-sale chat.

Paul, don't these plates look fabulous all put out like this?

It's great. You come in here, and you see these plates.

I'd like to bid for them. They're very nice.

You were taken by that very beautiful little miniature clock.

Yeah, how often do you see items like that?

What an absolutely fantastic item.

I think it should sell well,

so I put quite an estimate on it - £200 -

but that should be no problem at all.

We must find out if there's one other thing that's arrived,

-and that's the baby!

-Of course.

-They're going to buy the pram for them, shall we go and ask them?

-OK.

With Paul sounding so positive, I've got high hopes for our target today.

The auction is due to start any minute,

we find our grandparents-to-be in the corner of a very busy saleroom.

Michelle and David, you have...

That must be the tiniest thing in the entire saleroom.

Look at the size of it. It's so small!

Well, small is beautiful.

Lots of nice things come in small packages.

-It's a fantastic item. I love it.

-But the thing we need to know -

has it arrived yet? The baby!

-The baby.

-Has it arrived yet?

-No, not yet. Any day now.

-So have you finally chosen the pram?

-Yes, we have.

Yes, she's finally chosen the pram and it's a lovely pram.

We're going to make as much as we can for that pram,

shall we take our places?

If you're planning on buying or selling at auction,

remember charges such as commission will be added to your bill,

so check the details with your local auction house.

The bidders are eagerly waiting,

so we find a spot to watch the action unfold,

and our first lot under the hammer is the Bakelite radio.

£10-£20 doesn't seem a lot, actually.

People just buy these for the cases.

We've all moved on so much with technology with radios,

with digital radios, tenner for decorative value.

Lot 10A. A little bit of interest in that. I'm bid £20 straight off.

20 in!

22, 24, 26, 28, 30...

£30 for the radio. At £30...

And 2, anybody else? For £30... Going for £30, then. At 30.

-Wow!

-Well done!

That's well over Paul's estimate, and gets us off to a strong start.

If we keep up this pace, we should reach the £300 in no time.

Next up on the rostrum is the pair of nautical lamps.

Our expert hopes they'll guide the bidders safely

towards their £30-£50 estimate.

Lot 20A, here we go. What are they worth? £20? 20, 22, 24...

£24 for the ship's lamps. At £24...

26, somebody? For £24...

Are you all done? £24, then.

-That's a bit less than we wanted but not bad.

-That's not bad.

That's only a few pounds under estimate

and another good addition to the pram fund.

We might bank a few more pounds

when the Japanese vase is shown to the room...

£16, then. At 16...

..and sells for £6 over Paul's lower estimate.

Things are going well so far. I'm quietly hopeful about our next lot.

It's the snuff box and vesta case our couple got at a car-boot sale.

All these pretty little items

you bought originally off the back of somebody's car,

thinking you really wanted them.

-We really did at the time.

-At the time.

We're a pair of clutter bugs!

We thought we'd collect them.

Two in the lot, 40A.

Start me for 20.

20 I'm bid straight off, 22, 24, 26?

£26 further back. At £26... 26, 28...

30?

£30, in the house at 30. At £30, I'm bid, then.

30 it's going...

-There you go.

-On the nose.

That's great, isn't it?

Paul's estimates seem pretty spot on, and long may it last.

A long way to go before we reach that £300.

Well, hopefully the little matchboxes will strike

the right chord in the saleroom, with their £10-£20 estimate.

Is it worth £10 for the lot? £10 I'm bid. Maiden bid of £10.

It can be sold for £10.

At £10, £12 in front of me.

£12 in front of me, then.

14 upstairs. No?

£14 upstairs, then.

At £14... 14 it is, then.

-Terrific!

-Yeah, how's that?

Another few pounds in the kitty,

and we're all feeling pleased with our progress so far.

We're halfway through and it's one of our favourite lots up next -

the reproduction Stradivarius. We're hoping for £40-£80.

Imagine someone buying it to say

they have a Stradivarius violin.

Well, it's be music to our ears whatever it makes.

Lot 60A. Quite a lot of commission interest in this.

I can start this already at £60.

Fantastic!

65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90,

95, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140, 150,

160, 170, 180,

190... 190 there.

At £190...

At 190 far back, 190.

Selling for 190...

-I can't believe that!

-Well done!

-I can't believe that, really.

-That's brilliant.

What an incredible result.

It may not have been a genuine Stradivarius,

but it obviously struck the right note with the bidders today.

No time to celebrate yet, another lot goes under the hammer.

This time it's the collection of Wedgwood plates.

Are these worth £20, for the Wedgwood? £20 for them?

No less than 20. 20 I'm bid, a maiden bid of £20. 22.

-24, 26...

-The lady down the front here wants them.

£28 there with that lady. 30 there.

32, 34...

£34. Here at £34. For £34,

the Wedgwood going at 34, then. £34. 252.

Well, somebody else can enjoy them.

-And there's more room in your sitting room.

-OK!

That's the attitude, Michelle.

It's disappointing, but after the spectacular violin sale,

we can afford to take this knock.

But when the little Murano glass clown

also sells for way below its £30 estimate...

10 I'm bid. A maiden bid of £10.

It's going, then, for £10. The Murano selling, then, for £10.

All done at 10...?

We're all hoping the saleroom isn't cooling off.

Maybe the pretty silver vase will get the bidders to dig deep again.

£20? You know it is.

20 I'm bid, 22, 24... £24. That little bit of silver at 24.

-26 now?

-We're up to £26 already.

£26, £28.

There at £28, on the sofa there. Near to me at £28...

It's going for 28, then.

-That's good.

-£2 under the estimate, but you got rid of it which is what we wanted.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

A new home for the silver vase and another £28 towards the pram.

That's more like it.

The auction's nearly over, but not before our star lot

takes centre stage.

Not surprisingly, there's been

a lot of interest in the little solid gold carriage clock.

Paul put £200 on it.

We think it might do... very, very, very well today.

It should do well because it is a beautiful piece.

-It's really lovely.

-If you told me to find another one, I would struggle.

That's the way I look at this item.

To anyone who's a jeweller or collects watches and clocks,

it's a nice little item, solid gold. Yeah, great thing.

Let's hope. Here we go.

Lovely quality thing, 110A, the clock,

and I've got some interest in it and a phone bid, so I'm bid £200.

Straight off at £200.

At 200, 210, 220, 230, 240...

£240. 250,

260 on the telephone.

He really wants it, doesn't he?

280 on the telephone.

At £280 on the telephone.

-290 next to you. 300, and 20 do you want?

-On the phone.

320, 340...

360.

Keep going. Keep going.

£360. In the room then, for 360. I'm selling it.

380, just in time.

Crikey!

Do you want 400? £380 there.

380, 400...

And 20, 440,

460, 480?

£480. In front of me then, at 480.

Anybody else want to come in? £480...

480.

How's that?

Well done!

What a terrific result, well over double Paul's estimate.

I'm not surprised Michelle is shedding a few tears of joy.

After that fantastic final sale, I can't wait to add up how much we've done overall.

You wanted to raise, what was it? £300.

The clock has made more than 300 before you even go any further!

But while you were busy wiping away the tears there,

I was trying to do a little bit of maths here, and I think that what you have made today is...

-Well, you can get the gold coach for this. You've made £856!

-No?!

-That's brilliant.

-Crikey!

-That's brilliant.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

So...when is this baby due?

Now!

A couple of weeks after that triumphant day at auction, Michelle and Dave can finally

splash out on a new pram and it's not a moment too soon.

Baby Mia finally came on the scene a week late,

but she's gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous.

With so many prams on display, our new grandparents are spoilt for choice.

I really like that one. Yeah, it's really nice. If they'd done it in a different colour...

But it doesn't take too long for our new grandma to find the perfect one.

-Dave!

-Oh.

-They've got it. That's lovely.

-Yeah, that's the one.

-Sold?

-Sold.

Come on, then. Let's go and get it.

With the purchase made, it's time to road-test the new set of wheels,

and it looks like baby Mia is along for the ride.

Sarah is over the moon with her new pram, absolutely loves it,

but we've nicked the baby first,

to bring her out for her first walk today in the park.

Well, this pair are definitely doting grandparents,

and I have a feeling that this walk is the first of many.

Well, congratulations to Michelle and David.

They are absolutely over the moon with that result, and clearly

that grandchild of theirs is going to be travelling in style.

If there's something you would like to raise money for and you have things at home

you'd be happy to take to auction, why not get in touch with the programme?

You'll find all the details on our website.

And we look forward to seeing you on Cash In The Attic.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

Email [email protected]