Hisom Cash in the Attic

Welcome to the programme that just loves to rummage through your house

and find all sorts of hidden trinkets and little gems that we can take with you to auction

to help raise money for a favourite project or even a treat.

But what happens when the family involved want to raise not hundreds of pounds but thousands?

Are they kidding themselves?

Well, find out on today's edition of Cash In The Attic.

Coming up on today's show - could this treasure chest

of Victorian gold unlock a vast fortune for today's family?

That is amazing. These are all solid gold.

And our hosts reveal the story of their bouncy courtship.

I don't know what Malcolm was admiring...

I'll tell you after.

And when a Georgian silver teapot goes before the bidders, we are flabbergasted.

And I'll start it straightaway

at £400.

You can't afford to miss this one!

Good man.

Today I'm in the town of Arnside, which is on

the Lancashire coastline and just look at that beautiful view.

So lovely in the early morning sunlight, isn't it?

But that's the view that Malcolm and Christine enjoy every single day of their lives.

But then they are getting rather a lot of fun out of being retired.

Christine and Malcolm Hyson inherited this nine-bedroom

Victorian house in Lancashire from Malcolm's mother 16 years ago.

Christine and Malcolm both had to retire early after ill-health but

they keep busy with their charity work and fund-raising events.

They help to wind wool for volunteers

who send homemade knitwear to children in Eastern Europe.

They have two grown-up daughters,

Clare, who's 42 and Karen, 44.

She lives nearby with her children.

While Paul Hayes gets the hunt for collectibles under way,

I meet up with our hosts, who are busy with their charity work.

Now that's what I call a hive of activity.

But first of all, this house is fantastic and the view, Malcolm, is magnificent.

-How long have you lived here?

-I've lived here 16 years.

We inherited it off my mother.

Does that mean that it's full of a load of stuff that you've inherited as well?

My stepfather and his grandfather was the Vicar of Batley,

and also his own father was a waste merchant.

So there's a lot of stuff come from his own house as well.

He came in 1947 and literally left it in cupboards and never opened it.

So what are we going to spend the money on?

When I met Christine, her mother had a pianola.

Last year, the pianola went kaput and had a man come up and said it'd be £5,000 to have it put right.

-I thought that was a bit much.

-So, you're going to buy new one?

-Yes.

-So how much is that going to cost, Christine?

The pianola will be about £3,000.

I want a pianola party as well.

The party will cost more than that!

With £3,000 we'll be very happy.

£3,000 is actually quite a target, but I tell you what, our Paul Hayes is a local lad.

He only lives up the road and I've brought him with me today.

He's having a look at some of your stuff and hopefully we're going to be able to make that for you.

So shall we go and find him and see what he's come up with? OK.

Paul has over 20 years in the antiques trade, so he's just the man for the job.

-Ah, hello.

-There you are, Christine. I told you that Paul would be busy.

I found a very unusual table, actually.

It's a type of occasional table, but there's something not quite right about it.

Perhaps it's been a sewing basket or a Pembroke table.

Was it always in the family?

Well, I inherited this from my aunt.

And I've realised since that it's the same family that had, we think, our first pianola.

Came from there. So....but I'm afraid if there's anything wrong with the table, I might have abused it.

What's happened here is the sunshine has bleached the top.

Can you see that? But the good news is this is veneered.

At the time this was made, you're looking at maybe 1800, 1820s,

the veneer's expensive. This is mahogany veneer. It would be flame mahogany.

If you look at it, it looks like it's on fire.

The whole thing is dancing around and that's a lovely rich finish.

I think with that being intact it could be brought back to life.

It could rise from the ashes.

If we took this to auction, which presumably we're going to, how much do you think it might make?

If I said around the 200 mark.

-Ooh!

-£200-£300?

Ooh! I wasn't thinking that.

The sun may have damaged the table top but it hasn't affected the value too much.

That's a great start.

I make my first find in the dining room.

It's a 1900 heart-shaped Art Nouveau

dish made by the German company WMF.

It belonged to Malcolm's grandmother and it's valued at £120-£180.

And down in the cellar, Christine and Clare unearth

this beautiful ornate teapot,

which, amazingly, was left in the house by the previous owners.

It's solid silver, dates from 1803 and was made in Ireland.

Paul gives it a sparkling £300 to £500 valuation.

And Malcolm's been pretty busy in the lounge.

Paul? What do you make of these?

I've just found those in the drawer.

Got some old photographs? Who's this then?

That's my Uncle Stanley, who's my godfather, and

that's my Auntie Alice, my mother's sister and these are his war medals.

He actually got a watch given to him.

There's a little inscription inside.

It says here, "Presented to Private Thomas Shurrocks".

"From the Royal Fusiliers". That's what he's in.

So he obviously survived the war.

-Yes.

-These are his medals here.

Most people got these three medals and they're affectionately called Pip, Squeak and Wilfred.

They were issued to everybody that was involved in the First World War. Have you heard of that before?

-No, never. Never.

-They were like cartoon characters around the time.

-Basically, three medals.

-Yes.

The rare one amongst this lot is that one, the fourth one.

This was issued for bravery in the field. Do you know what that was for?

Not a clue. He never talked about the war at all.

Pretty much had probably a horrific time there.

He was only about 5ft 2 in height. He was only a little man.

Do you know what? These are fantastic.

But as an auction estimate, if I said £100-£120, how does that sound?

Fine. Brilliant, yes. Yes.

When those medals get to the saleroom, though, will they get a hero's welcome?

I'll start these straightaway...

at £380.

That's before we even start! What dizzy heights do they finally reach?

And it's going...

Find out later.

Paul wastes no time finding this fabulous 19th-century Persian

ormolu mantel clock with a medieval knight.

Paul sends it off to auction with a £150-£200 price tag.

Malcolm and Christine have been married for almost 50 years

and their courtship literally started on a court.

You two are going to be having your golden wedding anniversary this year, aren't you?

2010, our golden wedding.

-How did you meet?

-We were both students at Nottingham University.

We both played badminton and we met on a badminton court.

I was admiring Malcolm's backhand flick and overhead clear, his prowess on the badminton court.

I don't know what Malcolm was admiring.

I'll tell you after.

He's got that wicked gleam in his eye!

Badminton has figured largely in our lives. Very much so.

The thing that I love about this house is, because I've

had an opportunity to have a good look round, that you've still got so many of the original features here.

The fireplaces, there are nine left of the original 11.

That's unusual, because generally in these houses they've taken them out to modernise the house.

-We haven't modernised it.

-We haven't.

-We've kept it Edwardian.

Paul Hayes is absolutely having a field day in this house. There's so much to look at.

So shall we go and see what else he's managed to find to take to auction?

It isn't only Paul. Daughter Clare is looking around, too.

She digs out five gentlemen's pocket watches and a lady's watch.

They're a mixture of gold and silver, and various ages.

Paul gives them a staggering £300-£400 estimate.

Christine has found a collection of gold tie-pins.

There's a mounted Victorian half sovereign and various sporting themes, including hunting and golf.

Together, they should make £200-£300.

And I find something that just might keep our target afloat.

Malcolm? Paul?

It says this is a chronometer.

-Gosh.

-Have a look at that. Where did you get this, Malcolm?

Well, when I went to teach at Barrow Grammar School, it was in the laboratory.

When we went comprehensive in 1979, it was going to be thrown in the skip.

So I saved it from the skip.

It's a marine chronometer and it's extremely accurate.

The idea was, this would be used at sea to navigate your course.

You could tell exactly where you were in the world's seas, by using accurate time.

Do we know which ship it came from?

I discovered it said HMS Empress of Russia on it.

I often wondered what that was about.

I'm not sure how important the ship was, but what a fantastic thing.

This would be the only example you have.

And a rarity in the extreme. It's wonderful.

-If we took it to auction, what do you reckon it might make?

-I'm going to stick my neck out here.

-If I said sort of 800-1000, how does that sound?

-That's a shock.

I'd have thought 500 was about it, you know. Top end, really.

-What a wonderful thing.

-Isn't that fantastic?

Another truly astonishing find, rescued out of a skip.

Then Paul stumbles across yet another valuable item.

It's a Georgian silver tankard, hallmarked the year 1800 on the base.

Malcolm found it in the house a few years ago, when

he was sorting through things, but has no idea of its history.

It's a profitable find at £200-£300.

Malcolm finds these two silver cigar and cigarette cases, dating back to the early 19th century,

which belonged to his father and stepfather.

These should hopefully make £100-£200 in the saleroom.

Oh, 'ey up. Clare, this is quite a strong box you've got here, isn't it?

-Wow.

-I can see that already, look at this.

Where has this box come from?

It was there when my parents inherited the house, it's always been here.

They couldn't get in it for the first six months, it was locked.

So my father looked for keys. He found a broken key, and that's the key that actually opened it.

-So, all this was in there?

-Yes.

-Oh, my gosh.

This is a Victorian £2 piece, this would actually be currency.

So you've got two of those, and some chains. What's in here, do you know?

Some more coins in the little bag.

Let's have a look.

That is amazing.

These larger examples, that's a sovereign.

That's a half sovereign, you can see it's half the size roughly.

And this one is a £2 piece.

These have George and dragon on the back, sometimes they would have a shield.

On the front is always the monarch of the day. And that's why they call them sovereigns.

-These are all solid gold.

-Wow.

At the moment, we're looking at about £100 for a full sovereign.

About £50 for a half sovereign.

So you've £700 just in those coins alone. All right?

Then you've got the half sovereigns, and if we said,

about £50 each, you have about £1,100 up to now just in those sovereigns.

Then you have these £2 pieces.

These are very desirable.

They're two sovereigns in one.

In theory, these are £200 each.

So, if we said a minimum value of £1,500-£2,000.

That's amazing.

What an incredible discovery that was.

No wonder the box was kept under lock and key.

'We're all enthused by that last find

'and hope to make at least one more good one before the day is done.'

Drawers are always good places, Malcolm, to find bits and pieces, aren't they?

Pretty pieces of jewellery. Wow!

-What have we got here?

-I don't know.

Wedding rings. Engagement rings.

-Can we get Paul to take a look at these as well?

-Good idea, yes.

I know nothing about them.

Right, let's give him a shout. See if we can find him.

-Paul?

-Uh-huh?

Come and take a look at this. Oh, good, you're all together.

Because, look what we've found in Christine's drawer.

I can tell straightaway, you've got something for everybody here.

You've got a high copper content in this one, that's called rose gold.

You can see how pink that one is.

Then you've got an 18 carat, which is almost pure, which is a very yellow gold.

But your value here are these two.

Can you see that? Those are diamonds. Fantastic. Look at that.

Aren't they beautiful! They date, probably, 1900/1910.

So they're 100 years old now, if you think about it. Fantastic.

You're looking probably about £300 just for those.

Another couple of hundred here, so if we said at least £500-£800 as a lot, how does that sound?

You haven't seen them before!

-So, are we happy for those to go to auction?

-Yes, I think so.

-It's from your family.

-They've been here long enough.

I'm really glad to hear you say that, because I've been, throughout

the day, totting up the amount of money that we're likely to make.

But, I tell you what, even if we only got Paul's lowest estimates on everything,

we should be able to make at auction...

..£4,470!

Amazing, isn't it? Amazing. Amazing.

That will cover our golden wedding as well

as a pianola party.

She's a party girl.

That really is a fabulous result for Malcolm and Christine.

And, if all Paul's valuations are correct, we're in for a terrific time come auction day.

There's the marine chronometer from the HMS Empress of Russia that Malcolm saved from a skip.

Paul gave it a very impressive £800-£1,000.

Then, there's the unusual early 19th century Irish rococo solid silver teapot.

That was given a very dazzling £300-£500.

And who could forget the star item?

Those Victorian coins that were kept in the strong box.

Paul says they should raise £1500-£2,000 at the sale.

I can't wait!

Still to come: the ship's chronometer astonishes us with a value none of us were expecting.

1,200, 1,300, 1,400. 1,500...

And top values come thick and fast for the family heirlooms.

All done at 780?

Done at 500?

Find out what happens when the hammer falls.

There you go.

Well, it's been quite a while since we were with Christine and Malcolm in that impressive house of theirs

with those stunning views over the river in north Lancashire.

Now, they've set themselves quite a high target, £3,000,

so they can buy a new family pianola.

But we really did have an amazing day rummaging in their house.

And we've brought some really fantastic items to sell here at Silverwoods in Clitheroe.

So, hopefully, with the right kind of bidding, we

should be able to make that target and maybe just a little bit more.

Unfortunately, Paul can't be with us today.

but I find Christine and Clare eyeing up one of their most exciting lots.

Christine and Clare, it's so appropriate that you're both looking

at this, because there has been a huge amount of interest in it.

It's got its history and the documents there, so it's lovely.

I have to say, the auction house have done a terrific job for you.

They've let everyone in who has a kind of maritime interest know about this,

so I think we're going to have some very keen bidding on this today.

Now, you haven't brought your dad?

No, unfortunately, Malcolm isn't able to come.

And I also have to bring Paul's apologies because, unfortunately,

he's not going to be able to make it. So it's going to be a girls' day out today.

Well, that's fine.

This auction is also available on the internet, so today's bidders could be anywhere in the world.

The first lot of Christine's to come up is the French ormolu mantel clock,

decorated with a soldier in full battle dress.

Start me at 150 this clock?

150? 100, then? As you've viewed it, exactly as you've viewed it. 100?

50 bid. 50, and five?

At 55, 60, 65, 70, £75. 80, now?

80 and five. 90, 95.

100 it'll have to be.

-We've got 100 on the phone.

-Excellent.

At £120, and 130? Anybody else, then?

All done on this clock at £120?

-£120.

-A good start.

£30 under Paul's lower valuation,

but we're all delighted with that sale.

Next up, the ship's chronometer that Malcolm fortunately rescued from being thrown into a skip.

It's from the HMS Empress of Russia, and our research has turned up some really fascinating facts about it.

A young midshipman who used to stoke the boilers was called Philip Mountbatten.

He's now, of course, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

-So, it has royal connections as well.

-Wow.

950, 1000, 1100,

1200, 1300, 1400,

1500, 1600, 1700,

1800, 1900, 2000, 2200? At £2,000.

2200, if you like? At £2,000.

2200 from anybody else, then?

At £2,000, all quite sure? At £2,000, in the room.

£2,000,

-which is double what any of us thought it was going to make.

-Right.

Well, with that sale, Christine almost made

the entire amount that she's looking for in one go.

And the bids fly once again as the art nouveau tray goes under the hammer.

£250. 280?

280 somewhere.

At £300, 320 now? All done at 300?

£300.

-Your face says it all. You didn't expect that, did you?

-That's wonderful, isn't it.

That went way over Paul's estimate,

and the Georgian silver tankard quickly follows suit...

At 350, here and 380 from anybody else then?

All done at £350.

Online.

..adding a fabulous £350 to our total.

Christine's next lot is that Georgian rococo-style

Irish silver teapot,

which got a jaw-dropping estimate from Paul.

Did you ever think to use it at all?

Oh no, no. Not my cup of tea.

Straightaway at £400.

-450, 480, 500 now?

-Hang on.

At 480 in the room.

500, 520?

At £500, and 520 from anybody else?

Quickly. All done at £500?

Well, that took no time at all.

It was beautiful, but £500?!

The silver dealers are obviously out in force today

and the cigar and cigarette cases fly out of the room as well...

All done, at £120.

..selling for £20 over Paul's lower estimate.

The collection of World War I medals is coming up now.

They belonged to Malcolm's Uncle Stanley.

The one that's really causing interest, is the one which had

engraved around its outside, "For bravery in the field".

I'll start these straightaway at £380.

420, 450?

480, 500. 500, back of the room.

500 in the room.

550, we're up to 650. 650, 700 now?

At 650, where is 700?

At 650 online.

At £650. 700, 750, 800 where?

At 750, on the screen at £750, anybody else want a go?

At £750 and it's going.

It's the one for bravery

that has made all the difference.

Well, we've had some fantastic sales here so far today.

So, how is that running total looking?

-We are only halfway through the auction.

-We've got 3,000.

We've got all that amazing gold to come yet.

No, you haven't got 3,000.

-Have we not? I thought we would have done.

-No, you've got 4,140.

Oh, my goodness.

'If you've been inspired by Christine's progress,

'and would like to try and raise money at auction, do bear in mind

'that there are charges such as commission.

'These vary from one sale room to another, so it's always worth checking in advance.'

The next lot is the collection of gold tie-pins.

Now, it's been broken down into smaller lots,

so this one has a revised estimate.

The other lots will be sold later, with the rest of the gold.

Start me at £100. 100, any of you?

65? At 65...

Hmm. Not quite the result we wanted.

And the collection of pocket watches falls short of their estimate, too,

selling for just £195, which is a bit disappointing.

Perhaps Christine's gold rings will tempt the bidders to dig deeper.

At £200, make no mistake, I'm going to sell this.

Last chance at £200.

Here we go for the next one. These are the various little dress rings.

All done at £75, away at the back?

At 250, 280? 250, back of the room.

280 from anybody else? At £250.

That means that, collectively, on those three lots, £525.

-We were looking for between £500-£800.

-Right.

A very good result for that collection of jewellery.

Christine still has the collection of gold coins to go,

but before that, it's the turn of the early 19th century table

which Paul valued at £200-£300.

But I don't think the auctioneer thinks it's worth that,

as he's put it in the catalogue for half that amount.

£50? 50, any of you?

55, 60 now? 60, five...

-Picking up a bit.

-Good.

70 at the back. 75? Anybody else?

All done at 70? 75, new man.

-75, new bidder.

-Good. We like those.

90.

All done at 90?

Maybe it was the damage to the veneer

that affected the table's price.

Well, we've arrived at Christine's final lot now,

and it's that glittering collection that Paul found.

And what the auction house have done is split it up,

and they will all come thick and fast, so we've got to be on our toes

-when he puts these under the hammer.

-200, any of you?

200? 150, then.

160 if you like. 170, 180, £210.

At £300 on my right.

At £300. 320, anybody else? All done at £300...

And the neck chain, 300? 320.

500, 520, 550.

Another sovereign coming up.

All done at £80?

We're hitting the marks on this one.

All done at 780?

Done at 500?

At £580, this time.

All finished at 130?

What an amazing collection.

Now, we were looking for anything between £1,500-£2,000.

What we've actually made is £3,450.

Oh!

Christine can hardly believe it.

I think she may be lost for words when I tell her the final total.

-What a day we've had at auction.

-We have.

I thought you were going to levitate more than once, I can tell you.

But we did have such exciting moments.

-You want a pianola, don't you? A new one?

-We do, yes.

-How much does a new one cost, roughly?

-About £3,000.

-Which is what you wanted to raise?

-That's right.

But what you've actually made is

£8,465.

Wow. That's really amazing.

Isn't that wonderful?

Well, Christine and Malcolm have just used a fraction of their

auction earnings to buy their beautiful musical instrument.

This is our new pianola, that we were able to get as a result of the auction.

I'm enjoying it, because Malcolm enjoys it.

It's lovely that he's playing it. Nearly every day we have the music.

It can be played as a piano, but the pianola

usually works with perforated music rolls

and is operated using the feet.

The exercise you get from playing it is extremely good for your knees,

and your ankles and so on.

Since I've got a heart problem, it's probably doing that a lot of good as well.

Once I start, I can't stop. That's my problem!