Chopping Cash in the Attic

Hello and welcome to Cash In The Attic -

the programme that really enjoys helping you to search through your home

for unexpected or hidden treasures, and then, if you do decide to sell them,

we'll help you take them to auction so you can raise money for something really very special.

'Coming up on Cash In The Attic: Our expert, John, gets all bombastic with some vintage ammunition.'

-John, what on earth have you found there?

-Incoming. Put your tin hats on.

'And I put in a bid for Strictly in front of this period juke box.'

We've even got the disco lights!

'Hope you're watching, Brucie! The auction brings even more surprises.'

-£50.

-Amazing!

-'Find out why we got so excited when the hammer falls.'

-£50. Thank you.

You join me deep in the heart of Essex,

where I'm about to meet a mother and son, who live in a house

that is full of inherited collectables.

They're going to sell some of them so the good fortune of a previous generation

can do something really good for the next generation.

Jean Chopping is downsizing.

After years in this beautiful house, which she shared with her late husband, Brian,

and their two sons, Mark and Darren, she's decided it's time to sell up and move on.

The trouble is, the house is stuffed to the rafters with mementoes

that Jean and Brian inherited, or acquired on their travels.

That's why Jean and Mark are in need of some expert help.

The least we can do is provide the expert.

-Hi, Jean, Mark.

-Hello.

-This is John Cameron, who's going to be our expert for today.

Now I've described this a house that's full of collectables, inherited collectables.

-Who was the great collector?

-My husband.

-What sort of things did he collect?

He collected glassware, antiques, anything that's collectable.

-Junk, people call it.

-Sounds as if you've got your work cut out, John.

-Either that, or I'll have an easy day finding things.

-You'd better get started.

-You get the sunshine?

-Absolutely!

We'll be joining you in a moment when I've discovered from you

why you've called in Cash In The Attic today, Jean.

Well, I'm downsizing. The house is too big.

I've got two lovely grandchildren. Unfortunately, my husband never lived to see them.

If I sell some of his collectables, I'll give the money to them.

-How much exactly do you want to raise today?

-£800.

So, that's £400 each. One of those grandchildren is yours, isn't it?

-One is mine, yes.

-So, how do you feel about that?

-I'm very excited.

Oliver will be happy with a nest egg from what we can raise at the auction.

John, as you know, is already started in the house, so why don't we go and join him

-and see some of these wonderful things your husband collected.

-OK.

The first thing you notice about this house is that there is glassware everywhere.

Our expert, John Cameron, has more than 20 years experience in the trade.

He's found these pieces of textured and bubble glass in one of the sheds,

and some more interesting pieces in the front room.

John, it looks as if you've already found pure heaven for you.

I don't know about. I couldn't see the wood for the trees.

Jean, you have an amazing glass collection. What is the story with it?

My husband collected it.

It started with an ashtray from his aunt's,

which he couldn't part with when she passed away, so brought it home.

Whenever he went out, he looked for something with bubbles

and it just grew and grew and grew.

How many pieces do you think you've got?

A couple of hundred pieces, if not more.

Was he looking for individual pieces of glass or did he just buy anything?

At first, it was anything but then he got that he liked Whitefriars.

He was told if you got the label on it, it was worth more because people realised it was more genuine.

-John, what can you tell us?

-Interesting you said about Whitefriars and the label.

This is the only piece with the Whitefriars label on,

though a lot of them are, to me, Whitefriars pieces.

Very famous factory.

One of Britain's longest running and most diverse. Their output was huge.

And we've got this clear glass jug here.

That's more the Whitefriars we expect to see, isn't it, John?

These are the bark, the textured pieces, blown into wooden moulds.

Collectors within that area are looking for pieces

with sharp definition, which shows it was an early blown piece.

You've got great techniques here.

We've got crizzling glass, which was a desired effect, developed in Germany,

where glass, before it was cooled, was dipped into water so it almost shattered but stayed together.

Then it was reheated and gave this wonderful crazed effect.

So, you've got that and, as you've said,

your much-loved ashtrays with the bubbles in.

Are you going to take all of these pieces to auction?

-Hopefully, yes.

-Crikey. How do you value something like that, John?

150 to 200 pieces, we have got to be looking at, for me, between £300 and £500 somewhere.

That's fantastic. I would have thrown it all away.

Well, we were overwhelmed by that sea of glassware.

Mark has uncovered a World War II survivor's kite.

He thinks it belonged to his grandad who served in the RAF.

The frame of the box kite acted as an antenna for a radio transmitter connected to the kite by string.

Downed airmen used it to alert spotters to their position.

Our expert's estimate, between £30 and £50 pounds.

John is not letting our good start distract him from the hunt.

John, what about this, please?

Right. Looks like a little diamond engagement ring.

-Did it belong to anyone?

-An aunt. Inherited aunt's.

Let's have a look. If you hold on to that, let me take a look.

Got my loop out of here.

It's 18 carat and platinum.

OK, and on the top, got a flower design.

And whilst it looks as though the whole thing has been rub-over set, there are diamonds

but not as many as you'd think - called an illusion setting.

You've got Swiss-cut diamonds around the edges

of the petals, there.

And two rose-cut diamonds on the shoulders, tiny diamonds.

The rest of it are little nodules of platinum

which are almost similar to how you see a marcasite ring.

Something we can sell, not going to make vast sums

but definitely £50 to £70, something like that.

Yeah, that'd be fine. I mean, I shan't wear it, so...

-Never wore it in the past?

-No. Never been worn.

One thing you soon realise about Jean is that she's very keen on dogs.

Over the years, she has owned and exhibited

a number of pedigree canines and she has the rosettes to prove it.

Now, with some fascinating finds under our belt, it's probably a good time to pause and take stock.

Jean, I know you are going to be downsizing, which is why you've sold the house,

but it means moving away from this wonderful garden,

which really has been very important in your life with your late husband.

It certainly was, yeah. We both loved gardening and spent hours and hours out here.

Him doing the vegetable patch and I did the flowers.

-You've won prizes with this garden, haven't you, Jean?

-Yes, best garden,

village garden, and then I got a second prize this year with it.

The other great passion in your life is your dogs,

and in fact you can't move

in a single room in your house without a photograph of, or rosettes for,

the Pomeranians and the dogs that you won. How did that come about?

After I nursed my father and he passed away, my husband said, "Get yourself a hobby."

And I thought, "What can I do?" And a friend said to me, "Come to a dog show."

And that was it, I got hooked.

How many have you had?

We had 13 at one point.

So, Mark, did you get dragged in on this as well?

Showing the dogs when you were growing up.

As a teenager, it's not cool to be seen with a small ball of fluff

on the end of a lead, so I leave the showing to Mum.

We've left John to his own devices for long enough.

Shall we go and see what else he thinks we might take to auction?

While we've been nattering, John has been busy around the house,

digging up more treasures.

This NSM Galaxy 200 Jukebox can hold up to 200 records and might easily fetch £900 or more at auction,

but the family are not prepared to part with it.

But they are happy to part with this Edwardian round-back chair

with its stained walnut inlay and arabesque markings, this could be one to watch.

So, will John's £50 to £80 estimate be realised at auction?

Things are certainly hotting up.

What do you say to this one? £100 for this one?

£85, 100, yes.

100 bid...already.

'How high will it go?'

Thank you.

Our rummage through Jean's past continues.

So far we've uncovered some amazing mementos.

It's all hands on deck and our estimated total has climbed steadily upwards

to its current level of £430.

In the bedroom, I find this 22-carat gold wedding band

and as John is never shy of reminding us, the price of gold is really holding up at the moment.

This could achieve between £50 and £70.

At the end of the garden, John has stumbled across a painting and an artist's easel.

Don't tell me that after all these years on Cash In The Attic, he's finally found an old master!

-Jean?

-Yes.

I was looking at this earlier. Is this something we can send to auction?

-It's interesting.

-The easel, yes. But not the painting. I'd like to keep it.

Well, let's take that off of there and have a look at the actual easel.

-Well, have you ever noticed the maker's label at the top there?

-Never.

Well, if you have a look, it says, Reeves & Sons.

They're an important maker of artists' materials, but you get a variety of easels.

You'd think, "An easel's an easel," but they come in different forms and shapes

to accommodate different pictures.

I can see an artist buying it, somebody that is at college, who can't afford to buy this.

Because retail, this would cost you three figures definitely.

An auction house might buy it, because it's a great thing to display a painting on.

-Sure you've got no aspirations of being an artist?

-No!

-And shall we get rid of the palettes as well?

-Yeah, can we put them both together?

-Yeah. I've had a look. I can't see any makers' names on them.

-No.

-And they're very well used, aren't they?

-I know.

If you're not taking up a career in art, stick them in with the easel.

-At auction, I'd put it on at £40-60, something like that.

-That's fine.

It may make a bit more,

-you never can tell.

-No, that'd be lovely.

Back in the house, the quest for the rest continues.

In the bedroom, Jean finds this lovely porcelain box

with a painted lid.

It belonged to her husband's aunt and could be worth between £30-50.

Meanwhile, Mark has found some old ginger beer bottles that his dad once dug up in the garden.

They're priced at between £50-£60.

In total, Mark's dad dug up more than 1,000 bottles.

They discovered that their house is built on the site of an old ginger beer factory.

Our expert, John, has been nothing if not determined today.

There isn't a corner of the house he hasn't explored. And, yet again, that seems to have paid off.

It's difficult for Mark to move anywhere in the house or garden

without finding something that reminds him of his late father.

Mark, this is such a lovely thing to have in the garden, a seat in the garden in memory of your father.

Brian Chopp, which was his nickname. What's this on the end here?

That's a symbol he put in cards for my mother.

We're not quite sure what it means, it might be some sort of secret message to her.

-But that's what he used to put and he used to do it for years.

-Yeah.

John, what on earth have you found there?!

-Incoming! Put your tin hats on.

-Does that mean we've got to duck?

I think you'd want to if one of these was coming your way. Right, I found some war memorabilia.

-What's the story?

-My father bought one on the back of two that we acquired from a Great Uncle Freddie,

who was involved in the First World War.

So having two, being my father, he wanted a collection and got a third one.

Well, I think you may well have got that mixed up,

which often happens with stories handed down.

This one is First World War and those two are Second World War.

-Right, OK.

-You can see here, if we turn it up on the bottom, we've got a date on there.

See that? 1917. So that tells us that's when it's from.

And those two there have 1945 and 1944, respectively on them.

They're Second World War, so they're the ones he picked up later.

If you turn that one up, Mark, you can see it's a 25-pounder and this one a six-pounder.

What sort of money do they make at auction, John?

-Are there people who collect them?

-No pun intended, won't make a bomb.

But I still think we'll make about £20-£30, maybe even £40.

Excellent. Surprising, actually.

'We're coming to the end of our rummage, but we're £200 short of our target.

'Will our last find push us over the edge?'

Some great old tunes on this jukebox, John, aren't there?

We've even got the disco lights, John!

-Any change for the jukebox?

-No, I haven't.

-No, me either.

-I've got some change.

-Oh.

-Oh, that's good.

-Oh, I don't think

that's exactly change, Jean!

Blimey, look at that, John. A pocketful of sovereigns and half-sovereigns.

-Where have they come from?

-My mother was given one on her wedding day for her first-born, which was me,

-and the rest were given to us by a neighbour.

-It is a good time to sell them.

And what we've got are two full sovereigns and seven half-sovereigns.

And we've got a mixture of dates here, from Edward VII to George V,

so about the same time these all date from.

And on the other side, we've got the different monarchs.

All on the obverse, we've got the very iconic image of St George on the horse there slaying the dragon.

Before you tell us how much you think they might make, I'm going to call in Mark,

because he should hear this. Mark, have you got a minute?

Come and join us. Your mum's just brought us these amazing sovereigns.

So what do you reckon, John, when they go under the hammer?

Well, I certainly expect the full sovereigns to make £150 each.

Then we've got seven halves,

so adding them up, in total, I make that about £825.

I didn't think they'd be worth as much as that. I'd have said a couple of hundred.

If you think that's good news, let me give you a bit more good news.

Because adding that to the lowest figure John has given on everything that he's looked at today,

I think we should be able to raise a very respectable...

..£1,445.

-Good grief!

-Gosh!

-That's fantastic!

I'd never have said that!

That's at least £700 each for the grandchildren.

-Blimey! They'll need a bigger piggy bank!

-Much bigger.

I can't believe that. Honestly, I can't believe it.

What a terrific day of searching we've had.

But what's going to take the bidders' fancy?

How about the collection of nearly 200 pieces of glassware

Jean and her late husband, Brian, collected over a lifetime, valued at up to £300?

Will the Second World War kite that saved lives soar higher than its £50 maximum?

Or will those wonderful sovereigns really turn out to be

worth their weight in gold, and break the £1,000 mark?

Still to come on Cash In The Attic, John gives us some gruesome facts...

A lot of times, these little rings are cut off of people's fingers as they grow.

..while Mark gives a definite maybe when quizzed about his future.

-Have you not got someone you might like to put this on their finger, Mark?

-Not yet.

Will his loss be someone else's gain when the hammer falls?

You've now joined us at Tring Market Auctions in Hertfordshire, and this is going to be the setting

where, hopefully, Jean Chopping and her son Mark

are going to be able to raise that £800 that she wants

to put into a little nest-egg for her two much-loved grandsons.

So let's hope that the bidders will do the business

and we'll get some good money for her items when they go under the hammer.

Jean's at auction to raise money for a nest-egg for her two grandchildren, Harry and Oliver.

If only these bidders at Tring auction house were aware of the responsibility

on their shoulders.

Jean and Mark have already discovered that their sovereigns

have been split into three separate lots to make them more marketable. And that's not all.

Have you seen what they've done with the glass?

It's been split up into 16 lots, and the auction house have put it into sort of coloured groups.

I think it looks really good, don't you?

It does. I couldn't believe it when I saw it.

It looks fantastic, it really shows it to its best.

So, quietly confident, but still quite nervous.

I'm nervous - it's not going to sell!

Of course it will, keep your nerves under control!

And to prove it's going to sell, let's take our places over there and watch the bidding, come on.

The sale is underway, and the auctioneer is in full swing.

Let's see how the bidders react to the shell cases.

One of them was inherited from a grandparent who served in World War I. We're looking for at least £20.

What about those? I think we ought to be in the region of £40 for those. £40 for the shell cases.

£30? Will anyone bid for them? Do I bid, and five, for you, sir?

-£30 and 2 now. 30, they're going at £30...

-30.

-Both of you are in at £30, thank you.

-£30.

-Not too bad.

-Right in the middle of John's estimate.

-It's not bad.

Jean's happy with that, and if it goes like this all day, we're quids in.

Next up is the World War II kite.

Handy if you're a pilot who's been shot down and you need to contact your chums.

We're looking for somewhere between £30 and £50.

50 has it then. £50.

-£50!

-Yes or no? No, he says.

OK then, it's yours, sir, for £50.

-That's fantastic.

-£50.

-Amazing!

Fantastic indeed! Every bit extra goes into the pot

for Jean's grandchildren, Oliver and Harry.

Our next lot is the stately Reeves & Son easel.

A bit of a specialist item, this.

What about that one? £50 for it, £30. £20, I'm bid five.

£30. Five, 40?

Going down at £40. Five? At £40, then. Yes, at £40, then.

It is yours at £40, then.

I wonder if they were artist or dealer!

Well, let's hope it's gone to a good home.

The porcelain box with painted lid Jean found in the bedroom is next...

-Thank you.

-..and it achieves the lower estimate of £30.

Coming up next are the gold sovereigns.

We're really banking on gold's current popularity.

John's estimate for these was a minimum of £825,

but we have to pay attention because they're not being sold as one lot.

So a bit of loose change, Mark?

It is. It's something we've sat on for some time and it's the time to sell it

and benefit from the money that we raise from them.

Even though more are coming up because the price is so good,

demand seems to still be outstripping supply, so the prices are holding up.

310? Just for you, 310, then.

20, 320 I'm bid. New bidder. 320, front row. Thank you.

These are George V sovereigns.

260 and 70 is in. £260.

Thank you. Two good sovereigns there. £300 for those. 300 I'm bid.

320, I'm bid, 320.

Madam, are you going to bid? I've got 330 now, and it's going at £330.

£910 for your three sets of gold sovereigns. That's not bad, John.

-It was quite within our estimate as well, wasn't it, I'm pleased to say.

-Fantastic.

Well, it turns out that John does know his onions, or rather his gold, after all.

-You're looking for £800 in total, aren't you?

-Yeah.

-400 each?

-Yes.

-In the piggy bank.

Well, we're only halfway through and we're up to £1,060.

-Wow!

-Fabulous!

-That's fantastic, thank you.

Remember, that items sold at auction

are subject to the auction house's rate of commission.

So if you have items you're thinking of selling in this way, do bear in mind that the total amount bid

will not necessarily be the amount you take home.

Next up for us, the first of our two rings.

It's the diamond-platinum engagement ring at 50 to £70.

-Have you not got someone you might like to put this on their finger, Mark?

-Not yet.

-He's gone all pink!

-Maybe!

-At £65...

-GAVEL FALLS

A slightly more modest return there, but we won't say no.

Now, it's time to see if John's oft-repeated mantra

that the price of gold is holding these days is true.

We're after at least £50 for this 22-carat gold wedding band.

A lot of times, these little rings are cut off of people's fingers as they grow,

and these languish in boxes.

People bring them into you and are surprised that this broken wedding ring is worth £100.

I'm bid 80...90...

-Gosh, it went up with a clip.

-110, I bid. 120, 130 and 40. 150?

No, 140. Starting, then, back at 140, then. It's going for £140. Thank you.

There you are, and you just left it lying in a drawer!

That's incredible.

Almost three times John's minimum. The price of gold really IS holding up.

Next, the ginger beer bottles that Mark's dad

unearthed in the back garden. Our target, £50 to £60.

It's going, then, for £30... Thank you.

That was under John's estimate, but every little counts.

What will the bidders make of the round-backed Edwardian chair?

-And it's not something, Mark, that you'd like in your home?

-No.

What don't you like about it?

I'm not a big fan of old, brown furniture.

-It's quite old-fashioned now.

-But it's pretty!

What shall we say for this one? Are we going to beat 100 plus for this one? 84, 90, 100, yes.

100 bid already.

£120, 30.

£40, 50, 60. Five, 70.

Number one, 170 on my left.

-Good Lord!

-I'm selling to sir on my left, then, for £170.

-I told you it was a pretty chair.

-It really is, but this shocked me. That's quite a large amount.

-It is.

That wonderful result well and truly busted John's maximum estimate.

So far, so good, but things are about to get tricky.

The auction house has broken down Jean's collection of glassware

into 16 separate lots.

Now, I think this is where we sort of hold on to our hats,

because we've got this huge amount of glass to sell.

Is it going to go one right after the other?

And I'm not even going to try and keep up with how much it's going to make until we get to the very end,

but I think that this could be quite surprising.

50, I have it at £50. Five, £50, at £50.

That's 50 for the amber.

90, I'm bid. 100, sir?

There you are, the collection of ruby. £55.

£45? £55. Thank you.

You've got this one, sir, for your £60. Thank you. £30, thank you.

Guess what? Some more glass! £30. Your turn.

For £50, yours, sir. There we are. Some more bubble dishes(!)

£45.

£55. You're out, sir, at £30.

At £20, the lemonade set.

To anyone at £20. That's it, you've got them.

Hello, we have yet more! £45, thank you very much.

Got your breath back?

-Just about!

-That was a bit of a roller-coaster, wasn't it?

Have you any idea how much your husband paid for that glass

when he bought any of it? Just a kind of ballpark?

-A few pounds for each piece, but I wouldn't like to hazard a guess at adding them up together.

-No.

Because the way that it was sold, it means that just the glass alone,

you might need to go and lie down after I've told you this again, £883.

Oh, my goodness!

-That's fantastic!

-Brilliant!

Well, the bidders at Tring really took a shine to Jean's pieces.

But now for the amount we've all been waiting for.

Now, we had some amazing things come through.

-The gold sovereigns - that left you shocked.

-It did!

-The glass - that left you shocked. The chair - that left you shocked!

-It did.

Well, I tell you what, I think you're in line

for a few more shocks, because you originally wanted to raise £800 for the two grandsons, £400 each.

What are you going to do with...

-£2,348?

-That's brilliant.

-I never thought we'd make that sort of money. Never.

-No. Over the moon.

Over the moon! Thank you so much.

Have you thought how you might spread this out and give the little ones a start in life now?

-Definitely.

-How are you going to do it?

-I'm going to open a bank account.

There you are, you see.

And that's exactly what Jean did.

With the £2,348 burning a hole in her pocket,

Jean headed straight to open accounts for her grandchildren, Harry, and Oliver, who lives abroad.

A lovely feeling that I've been able to give them something and hopefully they'll enjoy it when they're older.

Unfortunately, Oliver lives in Miami so he can't be with us, but I treat them both the same, so...

What one has the other has.

But Harry and his dad Darren, Jean's other son, were on hand to show their appreciation.

Obviously with losing his grandad and never knowing him,

I think it's a fitting end to all his antiques going to the two people he would have cared most about now.

HARRY BLOWS A RASPBERRY

Jean's generosity is going to give her two little grandsons such a wonderful start in life.

If there's something special that you would like to raise money for

and you think you have things at home you'd be happy to take to auction,

then why not get in touch with the programme?

You'll find all of our details on our website.

And it'll be nice to have you with us here on Cash In The Attic.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd