Davies Cash in the Attic

Welcome to the show that searches your home for hidden treasures

which we then sell at auction. Most people at some time in their life

inherit various heirlooms, but which ones are valuable

and which ones can you afford to throw away?

That's the question everybody asks, and today we hope to find an answer.

Will we find some very valuable heirlooms

on today's Cash In The Attic? Time to find out.

'On today's Cash In The Attic, a 19th-century train timetable

'gives us a glimpse into the glamorous world of Victorian travel.'

I love the way they list all these really important people,

then we get "Third Class", and there's not a word!

And Jonty gets into his Peckham mode

when he assesses some gold-sovereign jewellery.

Somehow there's a Del Boy feel to wearing a sovereign.

What do you think?

On auction day, our expert's estimates are slightly out.

Jonty, you got that one wrong!

But it's great when you get it wrong that way round.

Find out if all comes right when the hammer falls.

I'm going to sell it for 50.

Today I've come to Buckinghamshire to meet Keith Davies.

He's called in the Cash In The Attic team to help him raise some funds

for one of his sons, who's flown the nest and gone to study abroad.

Keith is the only son of a wartime globetrotting couple

who liked to pick up a souvenir from every place they visited.

Keith's parents have now died, and he's inherited their collections

and those from their siblings, too. This means his home,

which he shares with his wife Penny and sons Leslie and Mark,

is absolutely full of exotic and eclectic items

from the four corners of the world.

Keith's son Leslie now has the family travelling bug,

and is in America. Keith's wife is at work today,

so it falls to his youngest son Mark to help with the rummage.

And joining me is our expert antique hunter, Jonty Hearnden.

He's certainly got his work cut out, as I've heard this family want to raise £1,000.

Tell me, who are you looking at there?

These are photographs of Leslie. Just looking and reminiscing, really,

of the old pictures of him before he went to America.

He's gone off to study and do a university course,

and we're looking to raise some money to pay for his fees

and help towards the fees, because it's so expensive in the States for education.

-Do you miss Leslie, I take it?

-Oh, yes. Yes, we do.

So we need to raise £1,000 for Leslie's tuition fees in America.

Let's see if Jonty's found anything yet. Got a lot to get through!

'Jonty's been hard at work - and he's spotted something already.'

This is a lovely room. Ah, there's Jonty!

-I have been hard at work.

-What have you found?

I've found a lovely little case here. This is a cigarette case.

-And a cigarette box.

-Right.

-Inside this one here

is a picture. Who's that?

That's a photograph of my mother. This was a cigarette case

that was given to my father,

I presume as maybe a wedding gift, or maybe an engagement gift.

And it says here, "To my darling Les, all my love, Nan".

Mum, from a very young age, was always called Nan

-and was Nan Davies.

-Lorne, I've been looking for a hallmark on here,

and I haven't been able to find one, but I do have a little number here -

833.

Now that obviously means that this case is solid silver,

but it wasn't made in the UK.

This possibly could have come from the Egyptian-jeweller friend

-that they had.

-All sounds very exotic!

Yeah. When it comes to selling an object like this in an auction sale,

we cannot call it solid silver, by law.

We have to call it white metal. Whereas this box is.

If you look on the side here, lovely crisp, clean hallmarks,

and it's got the inscription "Thomas Hugh Davies".

That was my grandfather. That was a gift from the company he worked for,

for long service.

The problem we have is, it's been incredibly personalised,

so therefore they just have to be sold for their weight.

But, having said that, they're still worth £60, £80.

OK. Well, let's hope we can take these to auction

and get £60 to £100. That would be wonderful, wouldn't it?

-We're a tenth of the way there.

-It's gone up!

THEY LAUGH Optimistic!

Absolutely! Well, why not? They're both lovely objects,

and to get £100 - let's be positive.

I really like Keith's enthusiasm.

Let's hope it does make nearer the £100 mark for him.

In the bedroom, Jonty finds a cameo brooch and ring

which belonged to Keith's aunt Ethel from Sunderland.

These examples are from the early 20th century,

but are quite good quality, so Jonty values them accordingly

at £80 to £100.

Also winging its way to the auction is this late 19th century

French mantel clock. It used to have a glass dome,

but Mark and Leslie accidentally broke it during a childhood game.

It's also missing its minute hand -

but Jonty still hopes it'll make £80 to £120.

-Ah, Jonty!

-Yeah?

Look what I've got here!

Two fabulous pocket watches.

-So, where were these from?

-That's Grandfather's,

and he gave them to me when I was about 13.

And the smaller pocket watch was from my great-aunt Maggie.

Let's have a look at this gent's one first.

Have you ever looked at the back of it?

-Yes. Little engravings on the back.

-OK.

This is interesting. This is not a British-made pocket watch.

This is an American one, because we can see here

that it's the American Watch Company,

Waltham, Massachusetts.

They were a very big watchmaker.

In fact they made millions of watches

in the late 19th century. They went out of business in the 1950s.

The great news is - I've just had a look on the back here -

this is what they call ten-carat gold,

which we don't use in this country, which is very good news indeed.

Tell me about this small lady's pocket watch.

I would presume that was, sort of, late 1800s, type of...

-Over 100 years old.

-Well, you're about right,

and you can tell that by looking at the decoration on the outside.

Look at all the chasing on the reverse and on the side here.

It's very, very busy, so this has to be late 19th century,

possibly early 20th century. Let's see if we can get to the back of it.

Ah! That's really very good news indeed.

I suspected so. Because this casing here is nine-carat gold.

But look at the condition of that on the inside! Isn't that wonderful?

-That's almost mint.

-Why should it not be?

It's always been enclosed.

That lady's pocket watch is in very good condition,

this not so, so as far as value is concerned,

on a poor day we're looking at £200, but on a good day,

as much as £400, so that's a very good find.

In the bedroom, Keith has come across something from his childhood.

It's a toy van made by Budgie,

one of the British die-cast toymakers of the 1960s.

It's not as valuable as other well known makes

such as Dinky and Matchbox, so it gets a slightly lower valuation

of just £20 to £30.

Hi, Jonty. I've found something of interest for you.

Good. That's what I'd like to hear.

-A ring and a pennant-type brooch.

-Yes, OK.

Oh, wow! They've got sovereigns inset inside them,

in the middle there. Where are they from?

They were originally my great-aunt's.

She used to wear them quite often. The brooch she would wear daily

with scarves and things like that.

We're not sure she wore the ring, but she did wear the brooch.

It was very fashionable, in the late 19th century

and throughout the 20th century, for many people

to convert their sovereigns into jewellery.

You were simply wearing your money, wearing your wealth.

If you could afford to buy a sovereign, or a half-sovereign,

why not turn it into a ring, because it is solid gold after all.

But somehow there's a touch of the Del Boy about them.

I certainly wouldn't be caught wearing that.

-You sure?

-No. It's not for me, I'm afraid.

-So can we sell this pair?

-Oh, for sure. Yeah.

They're not strictly a pair. I imagine they were converted

probably at the same time.

So in the brooch, the half-sovereign here is 1905,

so that's Edwardian,

and this one is a similar age. This is 1914,

so the beginning of the First World War.

We're selling just at the right time,

because the market is really at an all-time high as we speak.

Five years ago, I would value these

at between £60 and £80. In today's market, at auction,

-we're looking between £150 and £200.

-Brilliant!

-So that is very good news.

-Good job you came now, then!

Good job you showed them to me!

-I'll give those back to you for safekeeping. We'll carry on.

-OK.

At auction, will the gold have the Midas touch with the bidders?

110, 120, 130, 140.

-Will it reach Jonty's estimate?

-150. In the room at 150. 160.

Will it go higher still? Find out later.

All that excitement is still to come.

In my search, I spot these two old teddy bears

that belonged to Keith's mother.

Unfortunately they're not very valuable,

only getting a £20 to £30 estimate from Jonty.

-Here we are, Lorne.

-Oh, what have you got there?

-Jonty?

-Let's have a look.

This is a silk time-bill, it's described as,

and it's an old Indian train journey

that took place in 1876, I think.

-That's right. Yes.

-For the Prince of Wales'...

journey through from Delhi to Lahore.

If you look here, it has all these carriages, and it tells you who's...

-Who's in every one.

-Oh, yeah! Carriage!

I love the way they list all these important people,

and then we get "Third Class", and there's not a word!

You have second class, third class, and that's it.

-That's it. They won't mention those.

-THEY LAUGH

How did this come into your possession, then?

This probably came from my great-uncle Rich,

who was a bit of an eccentric and went travelling around the world

in the mid-'60s, and went from Victoria Coach Station to Bombay

-on a bus.

-I think that was just insane.

-He did rather stupid things.

-He got there, did he?

-Yeah!

I can only presume that he's picked this up on his travels.

Now, the condition is pretty poor, because it's made of silk,

and silk does perish quite badly. Now, this is a rare item,

but it doesn't necessarily make it incredibly valuable.

I just find it fascinating, and a lot of other people will, too.

So what sort of price do you think?

I would put £20 to £30 on it,

and just see what happens in the auction sale.

I think we go for it.

Jonty makes the next discovery in the hall -

two French spelter figures of children.

Jonty reckons this pair should attract some attention

at £50 to £80.

Keith's son Leslie is the person we're raising the money for today.

But, as he's now living in America, I get the low-down on him from his brother Mark.

So, this was Leslie's bedroom before he went away.

-It's big, isn't it?

-Nice and big. He got the bigger room of the two.

-SHE LAUGHS

-Right. So, what's this?

This is a wakeboard. It's the snowboarding equivalent of water-skiing.

You're behind a boat, and you get towed at 30 miles an hour,

and it's all about doing the biggest, baddest trick you can do.

-Your parents must have a fit.

-Not the best thing to watch your child do,

but as a participant, it's exhilarating. It's great fun.

You've got lots of medals here. These are Leslie's medals?

Came second in one competition, third in another,

and the best one we have of him

is Best Crash award, where he completely totalled himself

in a competition and had memory loss for a day,

so we had a lot of fun taking the mick out of him.

What has he gone to America to do? Is it linked to this sport?

He's doing physiotherapy, and it connects with this,

because in wakeboarding there's a lot of impact injuries,

and it helps to know a good physiotherapist

once you get out of those crutches and get walking again,

so it's quite linked, really.

It's been quite tough for your mum and dad.

They get quite emotional talking about it.

Every time Les comes up in conversation, they're welling up.

But they're pleased for him because this is an avenue for him to follow.

So they were pleased.

What are your plans for going out there?

Hopefully in August the whole family will be going out,

so it'll be good to get back together again.

It will be. There'll be lots of tears then.

I'm sure there will be. Lots of hugs and kisses.

There'll be tears if Jonty doesn't find some more stuff to sell. Let's see how he's doing.

I'm not sure where our expert's got to,

but Mark makes an interesting discovery downstairs.

It's a Victorian cast-iron doorstop

in the shape of the puppet, Mr Punch.

It belonged to Keith's great-aunt Maggie,

who worked as a governess for families in France and England.

Jonty values it at £30 to £40.

In the bedroom, it looks like Keith might have found something sparkling,

but there's no stopping Mark at the moment.

In the snug, he's come across something else that has family connections.

It's the war medals that were given to Keith's father

and his great-uncle Oswald for their services during the wars.

These war medals, however, are fairly common,

and that is reflected in Jonty's estimate,

as he values them at £50 to £80.

-Hello! Oh, do I see diamonds?

-We do.

-Oh, hello!

And whose ring is this?

This is actually my mother's engagement ring.

It was made for her by a jeweller in Cairo

who was a personal friend of hers.

That's a proper knuckleduster! Excuse me.

-Can I have a look?

-Certainly.

-So, how many diamonds have we got in here?

-Ten.

Yes, you're right. We've got eight smaller ones,

and two large ones on the ends.

And those diamonds are inset in a very fine platinum ridge.

The band itself, the ring itself, is gold, probably nine-carat gold.

I would hazard a guess that we're looking between two and three carats.

We would have to properly assess the clarity of those diamonds,

because I think they're not the best,

but as far as value is concerned, an auction value is concerned,

we're looking at between £500 and £600.

-What do you think about that?

-Superb. I think that's good.

I'm quite pleased that we've got nearer our target,

and £1,000... Nearer to £1,000.

Well, it certainly has taken us a lot nearer our target,

because, as you say, you wanted £1,000

towards Leslie's education, or the fees for him studying in America,

and thanks to the ring, the value of everything going to auction

comes to £1,260!

-Oh, really?

-That's pretty good.

-That is good, isn't it?

That's fantastic.

There was certainly a Middle Eastern flavour to our items today.

I can't wait to see how they all do when we take them to auction.

There's the two gold pocket watches.

Will they tick all the boxes for the bidders,

with an estimate of £200 to £400?

The early 20th-century sovereign ring and pin

which belonged to Keith's aunt. With the price of gold being so high,

they should reach their £150 to £200 estimate.

And not forgetting the silk train timetable

for the Prince of Wales's journey from Delhi to Lahore in 1876.

His valuation was only £20 to £30,

but who knows what it might fetch on the day.

Still to come on Cash In The Attic - I think Jonty is punch-drunk

after the sale of the Victorian doorstop.

That's the way to do it!

'And what has us reacting like this?'

-That's just bizarre.

-I'm stunned.

I'm absolutely stunned.

'All will be revealed when the hammer finally falls.'

Now, it's been a few weeks since we met Keith and his son Mark,

and we found some lovely items in their home,

including that Indian railway timetable with a royal touch

and the Egyptian ring. We've brought those and other items here

to Chiswick Auction House in West London.

Remember, Keith's looking to raise around £1,000

so he can send the money to his other son, Leslie,

for his tuition fees in America.

Let's hope today the bidders are feeling very adventurous

and help us make our money.

These general auctions take place every Tuesday.

Today there are almost 800 lots,

and dealers and experts alike are eyeing up everything on offer.

Keith and Mark have never been to an auction before,

and I wonder if they're feeling anxious about how well all their family heirlooms will do.

How are you looking forward to the auction?

I'm a little bit nervous, not knowing what's going to happen.

So we'll wait and see.

I'm not nervous, but we never know what will happen at auction either.

-How are you feeling, Mark?

-It's going to go well.

We'll make a lot of money and it should be good fun.

The show is under way, so let's hope Mr Punch gets us a good audience.

Come on!

The auction room is packed, and with all the lots available online too,

let's hope there'll be plenty of interest in Keith's belongings.

The first to come up is my favourite - that Victorian train timetable

with the royal connection.

There's interest in this straight off, I'm glad to say.

I'm bid £20. Straight off with me at 20.

22, everywhere. 22.

25. 28.

30. 32.

£32, the middle there. 35.

38. 40. Five.

50. Five.

£60 with Terry.

Anybody else? 65 here. 70.

Five. 80. £80 there, further away. At 80.

Anybody else? At £80. I'm going to sell it for 80.

-There it goes.

-£80! That's really good, isn't it?

How about that? That put a smile on your face.

-Jonty, you got that one wrong!

-It's great when I get it wrong that way round!

'What a great start! More than double Jonty's top estimate.

'Let's hope this sale bodes well for the rest of Keith's heirlooms

'coming under the hammer today. Next up are the two teddies,

'priced at £20 to £30.'

£14 here. At 14. Anybody else?

At £14. 16, standing.

18. 20.

22. £22, then.

With the lady at 22. At £22. You all done?

22. And going for 22.

£22! That's £11 a bear.

Oh, how do you feel?

I find it really sad when I see my childhood stuff go.

I guess after the excitement of the first one, we've got to have a few downers!

'It was still within Jonty's estimate, though,

'so not too disappointing.

' The bidders seem pretty keen on our lots,

'as the boxed Budgie van and the silver cigarette box and case

'both sell on or over estimate...'

£60 and going, then, for 60.

'..adding £110 to our kitty between them.

'Now, how will that Victorian cast-iron doorstop do,

'in the shape of Mr Punch?'

What do we want for this? £30 to £40?

-It's worth every penny. Don't be surprised if he makes more.

-Right. Let's see!

There's a bit of interest in Punch. I've got a £30 left bid.

With me at £30 for Punch. 32.

35. 38. 40. 42. 45.

48. 50.

-55. In the room at 55. 60.

-Lots of hands going up.

-Look at this.

-£60 in the blue. 65. 70.

Five. 80. Five.

£85. With 85.

Anybody else? At £85. 90.

95.

-£95, then. At 95.

-HE BANGS GAVEL

-Now, that's the way to do it!

-That's amazing! £95.

-That is good!

-Pretty good for a doorstop.

'Incredible! More than double the top estimate.

'Keith's next lot is the collection of war medals.

'Let's hope they can repeat Mr Punch's performance

'at £50 to £80.'

I'm bid £60. Straight off with me at £60.

65. 65.

70 with me. 75. 80 with me.

85. 90 with me. 95 in the room. Against commissions at 95.

-Wow!

-Wow!

At 95. 100 there in the middle. Are you giving up?

-110.

-Great.

-120.

120 in the middle of the room. At 120.

In the hat, at 120.

-At 120, then...

-HE BANGS GAVEL

-What a result!

-That was great!

-Another good one.

-We're on a roll, aren't we?

-It's going well.

'We certainly have the sort of items the buyers are looking for today.'

We're halfway through the lots we're going to be selling.

So far we've made £427, so almost halfway there.

-Your items have done really well.

-We're second-half players, as well,

so bring on the second half!

If you've been inspired by Keith's success

and would like to raise money at auction, remember there are charges to be paid, such as commission.

These vary between salerooms, so it's always worth checking in advance.

Keith and Mark's next lot is the 19th-century French mantel clock.

We're looking for £80 to £120.

Bit of interest in that straight off. I'm bid £70.

At £70. 75. 80.

85. 90. In the corner at £90. Anybody else?

95, fresh bidding. £95. You all done?

At £95. Near the mirror, £95 and going.

95...

£95! That's not bad, is it?

'That's a good start to our second half,

'but the pair of spelter figures don't prove quite as popular...'

I'm going to sell them for £38.

-At £38. All done? £38.

-Disappointing.

'..selling well under Jonty's £50 estimate.

'The next lot is the two half-sovereigns.

'This year, gold has hit record highs,

'so now's a great time to sell and cash in.'

I've got interest in these straight off. I'm bid £100 for them.

With me at £100. 110. 120.

130. 140.

-150. 160 everywhere. 160.

-Everywhere!

-170.

180. 190.

200. And ten.

220. 230.

240.

240, further away. At 240. Anybody else?

At £240. 240 is the bid.

'I think Keith is just delighted that they've sold

'for such a good price - £40 over the top estimate.

'The cameo brooch and ring don't hit the same chord with the bidders, though.'

At £55. No? Not sold.

'And that's our first. unsold lot of the day

'I hope it's not a bad omen,

'as we've got two more jewellery lots to come.

'First up, the two pocket watches, with a sizeable £200 estimate.'

Start me, £100 to go for the lot. £100 for them, surely.

-£100. 110. 120. 130. 140.

-Come on!

£130? Is that 130?

At 130 for the watches.

£130.

130, not quite enough.

-Gosh!

-Unsold!

-That's unbelievable.

-Unbelievable!

-We've gone right back.

-What happened there?

-No interest in the room whatsoever.

-That's just bizarre!

I'm stunned. I'm absolutely stunned.

'Poor old Jonty! He was so sure those watches would fly.

'But at least the auctioneer didn't let them go for a silly price.

'And now we have the final lot. It's that large Egyptian engagement ring

'with ten diamonds that was Keith's mother's.

'Jonty valued it at £500 to £600.'

-Have you put a reserve on that?

-I think we did,

because I was concerned that it might go for not enough

as to what I thought it was.

-So there is a reserve on it.

-Do we know what that is?

-It's a discretionary reserve.

-Discretionary. OK.

The auctioneer is selling. Let's see what happens.

Is it worth... Start me, 400. 400 for the ring. Surely, 400? And 20.

-440. 460.

-Come on!

£460 for that ring.

At £460. 460. Anybody else?

-At 460. Not quite enough, 460.

-SHE GASPS

-No!

-Oh, my word!

-£460, and it's not sold.

-We were doing so well,

and all of a sudden we've come to a full stop.

What do you think about the ring not selling?

Everything that we thought was going to do really well hasn't done well,

and some of the items we were not expecting to do well

has done fantastic.

'I think Keith has just summed up how unpredictable an auction can be.

'But you have to take the good with the bad. What we need to know now

'is whether our unsolds have affected our target.'

Well, you wanted £1,000, didn't you, to send over

for the tuition in America.

We've got two major things that haven't sold -

the gold pocket watches and the gold ring.

-But you have made £800.

-Much better than nothing,

because we've still got those items, and I know we can put them somewhere,

and I'm sure we will get our thousand or more, so that's fine.

Thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Hi. How are you?

A few days later, Keith and Penny break the news of their earnings

to son Leslie by webcam.

Mark and I went to the auctions,

and we've managed to raise you a healthy amount of money.

So when I send this £800 over to you,

don't spend it on anything other than your tuition fees,

and look after the money carefully.

'Thank you very much. I really appreciate it.'

That's fine, Son. You're welcome.