Cox Cash in the Attic

Hello and welcome to the show that finds the antiques and collectibles

gathering dust in your attic and turns them into cash.

Today, we're helping one mum to do her daughter a good turn.

Coming up on Cash In The Attic,

expert John lets slip his sheltered upbringing.

Was he a bookbinder?

-No, he was a bookmaker. Horse racing.

-Oh, dear!

And the valuation of some silverware is just too hot to handle.

-Really?

-Are you surprised?

-For a kettle?

At auction, what on earth is John talking about?

I've got to start you at three dimmer switches.

All will be revealed when the hammer falls.

Today we're in North London to help one family clear out their home

so that they can repair another.

Diane Cox has two children.

Son Matt, who will be helping with the rummage today,

and daughter Alex.

Diane was married to Richard for almost 30 years,

but sadly he passed away in 1996.

The family home is a flat in North London

and Diane now lives there on her own.

Two years ago she took up a new hobby - building a doll's house.

We'll hear more about that a bit later.

Joining me is our expert John Cameron,

who is not only a graduate in fine art valuation,

he's also a chartered surveyor.

Maybe he could take a look at Diane's doll's house.

While he starts the hunt for collectibles,

I go and meet our hosts.

Ah, hello.

-Hello, there.

-Hi.

I've left John already having a good look round,

so obviously it's important to find out why we're here.

I want to try and raise some money to help my daughter

-with rewiring her house.

-Does she live locally?

-She lives in Birmingham.

-Why isn't she here?

Because she's a nurse and she's working today, I'm afraid.

What are we going to be looking at then to help towards this?

Anything at all, because she did get a couple of estimates.

How much do you think it might cost?

Going to be in excess of 2,000.

Crikey. Are you looking to make all that here today?

If I could raise half, that would be a good way towards it.

If we say £1,000 is the target then.

-So, Matt, do you live nearby?

-No, I live in Bedfordshire.

-You've come down to help?

-I have indeed.

-What a lovely son, isn't he?

He is, yes. He's very good.

-Are you getting anything out of this?

-I very much doubt it.

-Still negotiating.

-I'm very impressed.

-I get a day off work.

-I thought there'd be something somewhere!

So we need to make £1,000. Shall we go and find John?

Might I suggest if you have a look for some of these things,

that would be great. Come on then, this way.

Diane has lived in her flat for 30 years and it's full of stuff

she's inherited from various members of her family.

-Ah, John, have you found something already?

-I have.

An interesting little Victorian oil on panel by, I think,

Alexander Rosell.

What's the story with this?

It belonged to my mother.

The story goes that my grandfather was a bookmaker

and somebody owed him some money and couldn't pay,

and he accepted that as pay-off for the bad debt.

-It's a lovely topic. Do you like it?

-I do like it.

I'm very fond of it but it does need cleaning

and I can't afford to have it cleaned.

Sadly these days, often the cleaning is more expensive than

the picture is worth, and that's probably a case in point here.

Not a huge amount is known about the artist other than

he was working in this country around about the 1880s to the 1920s.

He seems to specialise in these cosy, sentimental Victorian interiors.

Very typical of this work, and again this figure here,

this mother looking down lovingly at that baby in the rocking cradle

is quite typical. That's reflected in the title, A Ray of Sunshine.

So what sort of value are we talking about, John?

In this condition, I'd be looking at around £200-300 at auction.

It'd be interesting to know whether the £200 now,

if you looked at it, would be equal to what he was owed for the books.

Was he a bookbinder?

No, he was a bookmaker, which is a turf accountant to do with horses.

-Oh, I thought you meant a book as in...

-Horse racing.

I've led a sheltered life, haven't I?

Diane's grandfather sounds like a fascinating man.

I wonder if we'll come across any more of his possessions here.

In the spare room, John has found an attractive vase.

It's late 19th century and is Chinese cloisonne ware.

A fusion of bronze, glass and metal.

It's one of a pair that were given to Diane

for looking after an elderly aunt.

They generally do well at auction and get an estimate of £50-100.

Matt, what about the actual dresser we're looking at here?

What's the story with this? Something Mum would get rid of?

-I think so, yeah.

-Where did it come from?

As far as I know, it belonged to one of my father's sisters.

It was too big for her needs

at the time so they swapped it for a sideboard.

-Any idea how old you think this is?

-No clue at all.

-Have a guess.

I really wouldn't know where to start.

Obviously older than me, but other than that, no idea at all.

It's made to look a lot older than it is.

If you look at the actual style of decoration, it's a dresser,

which we see in any great quantity in the 1600s and 1700s -

in oak, they tend to be.

The actual type of decoration on it,

in particular, the carving on the drawer here on the frieze,

that's known as arcading or stock fluting.

Then you've got lunette carving down on that front piece there.

Then this reeding. It's something that would have all

been done by hand a couple of centuries ago,

but this piece here is probably only about 50-60 years old.

It's something we often refer to as Old Charm or Priory style.

If it's something Mum would be happy to get rid of,

we can certainly send it to auction.

-No great sums of money, though. £30-50.

-OK.

Judging by your face, I don't think you'd give it houseroom?

-Not personally, no.

-What don't you like about it?

I think it's just a little too old

and a little too dark and cumbersome for my tastes.

All right, £30-50, let's carry on.

Matt might not like it, but let's hope when we get to auction,

someone else does.

Matt turns his attention to some ornaments in the lounge,

but it's another piece of furniture that really catches his eye.

It's a square occasional table on castors. Made of mahogany,

it's Edwardian in age, and its simple, almost rustic look,

means it's Arts and Crafts in design.

It used to belong to an aunt of Diane's,

who gave it to Max when he moved out.

He's since moved in again and has ended up at his mum's.

John gives an estimate of £30-50, but when it gets to the saleroom,

will the bidders love the Arts and Crafts design?

5, 60, 5, 70,

5, 80, 5, 90.

I wonder how much they'll like it.

As the search continues, going by John's lowest estimate so far,

we stand to make £310

when we take the things we've found to the saleroom.

Not quite at the halfway mark just yet.

My search in the living room unearths a 1920s silver compact

which belonged to Diane's aunt.

It has a good name on it - Garrard's of Regent Street in London.

There's also a very novel silver pincushion

in the shape of a roller skate,

which is unfortunately a bit battered,

plus a silver and pearl folding fruit knife,

which belonged to her late husband.

John thinks the three together could bring in £50-£60.

Diane? Can I talk to you about the family silver?

I zoomed on it straightaway, but I thought it was plated.

On closer inspection, we can see it's hallmarked.

Where did it come from?

It belonged to my mother.

I think they were given to her as a wedding present from her father,

who obviously had quite a bit of family silver.

I've got to ask you, were these the only two pieces you remember,

or was there more to the set?

I think originally, it must have been a set,

because one of my mum's sisters

actually had a teapot and sugar bowl and jug,

which were the same designs.

So I think originally, it was a set.

But my mum never had the other pieces.

-What a shame you don't have all of them.

-I wish I did.

You've still got two very nice pieces.

This is the kettle, as it were.

We've got the water jug for putting the water in

and then transferring it back to the teapot.

This, for me, is the nicest bit. It's the kettle and stand.

We've got three pieces here - the kettle on the top, the vessel,

the stand, and underneath, a little silver spirit burner.

I have looked, and all the hallmarks correspond, which is great.

Things can get lost, especially the burners,

and you end up with a replacement.

To have the corresponding marks is quite nice.

And so a nice piece. Two bits there. Nice and weighty.

If we were to put those into auction,

I reckon we'd be looking at about £500-£600.

-Really?

-Are you surprised?

-For a kettle?

THEY LAUGH

That's fantastic! I am surprised.

-And the jug.

-Yeah. I'm very surprised.

A pleasant surprise, I can see by your face.

It is a pleasant surprise. Oh, that'll help.

-So, can we sell them?

-Yes.

-Yeah?

-Yes, I think so. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely.

Diane's grandfather was obviously not short of a bob or two,

being able to buy his daughter such an expensive wedding gift.

And when you consider he had nine daughters and four sons,

that's an awful lot of weddings to fork out for.

Family is, of course, very important to Diane.

So it's understandable

she wants to help her daughter Alex with some repairs.

-And do you see much of each other?

-Oh, yes.

She comes down here on a regular basis and I go up there, as well.

But because she's a nurse,

her shifts are not always compatible with sort of a weekend off.

What did you think about the idea

of helping your sister out with this repair work?

Well, I think it's a great idea.

She's obviously nursing. It's not a huge wage.

She lives alone, so she couldn't afford to do it herself.

So it's nice.

Do you think you'll miss some of these things?

If this has been home for 30 years, you're used to seeing them around.

It is going to be a wrench.

But I have given it a lot of thought

and to me, the timing is right.

But you have got some lovely pieces.

That's obviously going to help us reach this £1,000 target.

Shall we go and see if John's found anything else?

Yes. I'm ready for it. Yes.

I think it's very generous of Matt

to let his sister benefit from the sale of all the family heirlooms.

They're obviously all very close. So there's no need for pistols at dawn.

You look armed to the teeth there, Diane.

-Let me relieve you of this.

-You might be interested.

-Where did these come from?

-They belonged to my late husband.

He had them before I met him.

I don't really know where he got them.

I can see from this, this is a percussion lock.

And this is an antique weapon

which doesn't have a current calibre.

You couldn't go out and get the bores for this to fire it,

so it's perfectly legal to sell at auction.

Looking at the rest of the gun,

condition of the barrel is quite poor.

It's very pitted. It's purely just a decorative piece.

In this condition, it's still something we could send to auction.

It's a decorative piece. No great value.

£50-£100, something like that.

That looks equally interesting.

Let's have a look at that.

I can see it's a bayonet, but let's take this out carefully.

Brass-ribbed handle there.

Along the top edge here, we can see it's been engraved.

-There's some French writing.

-Oh, yes.

I can just make out it's an Etienne. And it's 1874.

It's a grass 1874 patterned, French bayonet,

which was when this pattern was designed.

Not necessarily when the bayonet was made.

OK. Having seen that, I thought that was the age of the bayonet.

It was possibly not long after that,

but the bayonet stayed in general issue in France

for a number of years after that.

It could've been the turn of the last century.

At auction, similar money to the rifle, really. I'd say £50-£100.

I might be tempted to put them together, create competition

between somebody who wants that and somebody who wants that.

-So about £100-£150 for the two.

-That sounds good.

-You'll be glad to get rid of them, I'm sure.

-Yeah.

-It's a worry.

-We're getting there, but we're not quite there yet.

-So, come on, let's carry on.

-Lovely. Thank you.

The bayonet in particular should be handled with caution

and obviously kept out of reach of children.

In an oak-cased ammunition box,

John is surprised to find lots of old glass bottles.

They're from the 19th century

and were collected by Diane's late husband Richard.

Bottle collecting is a fast-growing hobby

and there are bottle clubs all over the country.

Amongst these is a stoneware ginger beer bottle,

which is very sought after.

John gives them all an estimate of £10-£20.

In the spare room, Diane finds an unusual little collection.

They're ceramic half dolls which were given to

her husband's sisters when they were children.

They were made in their thousands, mostly in Germany,

and were designed to disguise or decorate

a variety of household objects, such as pincushions and tea cosies.

Or just to stand around for decoration.

This little set should fetch £30-£50 at auction.

John? Lorne? What do you think of this?

-It's rather flash.

-Very impressive.

And it's another piece of silver.

You've got silver everywhere in this flat!

-Where did this come from?

-This was my mother's.

-I think, again, it was a wedding present.

-Right.

It's an impressive wedding present. Have you used it?

Only just to put sweets in or nuts

at Christmas and party times and things like that.

It's obviously a table centrepiece,

but beyond that, what is its function, John?

You're right, it's a centrepiece. In France, they call them epergnes.

It would've had probably cut flowers in here, in the tall trumpet bars.

And sweets or something like that around in these hanging baskets.

I've seen them in glass, typically in the Victorian period.

Often, you see them in silver plate,

but you don't tend to see them in hallmarked silver.

And we can see this one here is all silver.

Can you tell me where it's from, from the hallmark?

This piece has hallmarks which tells us it was assayed,

so it was tested for its purity, in the London assay office.

We've got the leopard's-head mark.

And the date letter tells us it's 1929.

That changes every 20 years.

They change the font of the letter and the shape of the stamp.

All these baskets, are they all individually hallmarked?

Yes, they do all correspond, and each piece would all be hallmarked.

Anything you have in silver, if they have detachable parts,

they should all be hallmarked. That's a good thing to check.

What sort of value would that have now, as an object?

Well, it's nice and weighty.

I reckon we're looking at £300, maybe £350-£400.

Certainly £300 at the lower end.

Ooh! What do you think of that?

Well, I had no idea, really, of what its value was at all.

So it's a nice surprise, yes.

I can't believe the amount of quality pieces

Diane has tucked away in her flat.

I'm half expecting to find solid silverware in her doll's house.

-Ah! There you are!

-Hello.

-So this is the doll's house I've heard about.

-Yes.

So tell me how long you've been working on this.

Oh...at least two years.

Really? Well, can I have a look?

Wow! Look at that!

Right. Oh, look!

You've got your dinner service all ready to go.

I've got my dinner service ready to go on my dresser.

Oh, yes! So, does this all come in kit form and you put it together?

This was...the house was the kit

and then I was bought all these other pieces.

The pieces of furniture were as kit form.

I've got to ask, what's in your attic?

-Oh, look!

-Cash in the attic!

Yeah, you've got lights in there.

Yes, I've got the lights all ready to go here,

ready for when my house is finished.

It can be lit up like Blackpool illuminations.

I mean, that looks more complicated for the doll's house than it does

if you wanted to actually rewire a house.

-Who are you going to get to do that?

-Matt!

Maybe he can do Alex's house when he's learned how to do this.

So how long do you think it might take you to finish?

Probably another two years, but then there's no hurry!

-It gives me something to do and I enjoy doing it.

-It's fantastic.

If we're going to get your daughter's house rewired, then we

need to find some more stuff unless you're thinking of selling this.

When it's finished.

It isn't yet, so if we're going to get your daughter's house rewired,

-we need to find some more stuff we can sell.

-Good idea.

What a talent Diane has. I know it's from a kit, but I'm very impressed.

Matt knows just where his mum still keeps some of his old toys.

The box set of three vintage model cars

were a gift to his father from him and Alex.

But the box die-cast Corgi rescue truck

is something Matt has had since he was a baby.

In fact it was given to him when he was born!

He's happy for it to go with the others

to try and achieve between £20 and £40.

Diane. I've just been admiring your silverware.

Now I can't help but notice they're all engraved trophies

for greyhound racing, so who was the dog trainer?

Well, again, it was my grandfather who was the bookmaker.

He owned greyhounds and he used to race at various greyhound tracks.

These were trophies from his winning dogs.

-The same chap that I thought was a bookbinder...

-That's right.

Did he race them?

He actually had greyhounds, yes, and used to race them.

-Did you ever go to any of the races with him?

-No, I didn't.

-He died actually before I was born.

-He was obviously quite successful.

I think he must have been to have won a few trophies.

There are some nice pieces here.

If I have a look at them... These three are silver.

This one is silver-plated and cut glass.

Interestingly, that's my favourite piece. It's a wine bucket.

You could get a nice bottle of wine in there. I'd give that houseroom.

Love this, got some great work in there.

A real tour de force and an academic piece

when you're talking about quality of silversmithing.

Lovely cast and applied handles.

Nice and scrolling arabesque border there, panelled sides,

and the raised body and spreading foot.

Lovely heavy tray there, with a border. This, another nice trophy.

Plain-ish decoration and these are dated to around the late '20s -

'29, '30, '31. That era.

Do you think these are something we could sell at auction?

Yeah, I'm happy for them to go.

Look, why don't we get the others in here, before I tell you what

I think they're worth individually and collectively. Shall we?

-Yeah.

-Lorna, Matt.

-Yeah?

We've just been chatting about Diane's family trophies,

the greyhound trophies,

and she thinks this is something we can send to auction.

-OK, good. What are they worth?

-Well, we've had a good look at them.

If I take them singularly and give you the total.

The plated ice bucket, £50-£80.

£250-£300. £250-£300.

And this little one in my hands, £100-£150.

Collectively, we're looking at about £650-£700 plus.

-Oh, wow.

-Are you happy with that?

-Yeah. Yes, I am.

-No second thoughts.

-No, I don't think so.

-It was obviously more than you were thinking, Matt.

-Certainly, yeah.

-That's nice, isn't it?

-I would be happy with half that, to be honest.

Would you? Oh, right, bear that in mind!

Obviously, this morning we were looking at trying to make £1,000

towards the £2,000 needed for Alex's rewiring

in the house in Birmingham.

You might be pleased to know then that the value of everything

going to auction comes to...

£1,970.

-Oh!

-So, we're nearly there.

-Oh, my God!

-You're genuinely shocked, aren't you?

-Yeah.

Well, we really do have some impressive things to take to auction

and I can't wait to see how they all do, including -

the two wedding gifts that were given to Diane's mum,

that striking George V solid silver

centrepiece which should reach £300-£400,

and she was also given that George V solid silver spirit kettle,

burner and hot-water jug.

I hope they'll sell for at least £500.

What about Diane's grandfather's greyhound racing trophies?

They're solid silver again

and should run away with £650 minimum on sale day.

Still to come on Cash In The Attic,

a childhood song springs to mind with one of Diane's lots.

Maybe it was cos there weren't ten green bottles

and they weren't sitting on a wall!

And Matt tells us why his boxed Corgi is in such good condition.

-I wasn't allowed to play with it!

-You weren't allowed to play with it?

What condition will we be in when the final hammer falls?

Now, it's just over one month since we visited Diane Cox

at her house in North London and together with her son Matt

we found some very nice silver items which are among the pieces

we've brought here to Chiswick Auction Rooms in West London.

Remember, she wants to raise enough money

so her daughter can get her home rewired.

Let's hope today there are plenty of silver dealers in the room.

And the good news is that

since we last saw Diane, silver has gone up again in price.

We could be in for a very exciting time here.

-Good morning.

-Hello.

-How are you all? I haven't met you before.

-I'm Alex.

-Oh, so it's your house that needs rewiring. How badly?

-Very badly!

-Are you looking forward to today?

I am, yes, bit nervous, but...

So you've come along today

-to see what budget you've got for the job, have you?

-Yes.

Don't know at the moment. We'll have to see.

-How have you been since we saw you? All right?

-Fine. Yes.

And no second thoughts about any of the items?

I didn't bring the wooden dresser. I changed my mind on that

because for the valuation of it, I felt I would rather keep it.

Right, shall we go and see how much money we can make you?

-Let's see if we can get your house rewired.

-Yes.

-Come on, then.

The dresser not being here means we're £30 down before we start,

but I don't think we need to worry with all of that silver they have.

The first of Diane's lots to come up

is the collection of old bottles in an oak ammunitions box.

-What's the story behind that one?

-They belonged to my late husband.

I think he had them for many, many years.

Probably dug up when he was working on different cinema sites

and stuff like that.

Bottles dug up from dumps can fetch thousands of pounds,

can't they, if they're the right ones, John?

There's a big collecting area for bottles, ginger bottles,

medicine bottles and old advertising ware, much of which is dug up.

They're looking for scarce labels, nice designs and rare pieces.

But you can guarantee, if ever there are roadworks where

there used to be a canal, and a lot of roads went into the old canals,

you always find these bottle diggers hanging around.

I don't know what quite to say to that! We want £10-£20 for it.

I couldn't go much lower than that.

It's a cheap lot but I gathered that when I unpacked them,

you didn't want them around the house.

No, they've been in the shed for years and so it's time they went.

£10 to £20, we've done you a favour.

£10 the lot, please, for bottles. Anyone want them for £10?

For the green bottles in the oak box, somebody surely. Nobody?

At £10, I'm bid. Thank you.

All done, £10. 166.

You literally got £10 for those.

Yes, they have gone.

-They didn't like my bottles.

-No, they didn't like the bottles, did they?

Maybe it was cos there weren't ten green bottles

and they weren't sitting on a wall!

But at least they're sold

and it's put something in the kitty towards Alex's rewiring.

The boxed toy cars are up next for £20-£40.

This includes the Corgi major aerial rescue truck.

-These have got to be yours, Matt.

-I think they may have been.

Yes!

I'm guessing it's not yours, Alex? No.

Well, it seemed to be in pretty good condition.

-I wasn't allowed to play with it!

-You weren't allowed to play with it?

-Don't you just hate those toys?

-Is that true?

-Yes!

Ooh, it is true?! Why wouldn't you let him play with them?

It was given to him when he was still a baby

and there's small parts on it, so Dad wouldn't let him have it.

He obviously never got to play with it.

-He used to put things in his mouth, you see.

-Even now?

THEY LAUGH

Low estimate, start me £10 for the lot.

I'm bid £10.

12 now.

14, 16, 18.

£18 here.

£18 in the leather chair. At £18, anybody else?

For the two items, for £18. Are you all done?

I'm going to sell it then, £18 and going... 199.

-OK, so £18.

-A bit disappointing, isn't it, really?

-You should have let him play with them now.

-I should have done.

If he had, it wouldn't have even made £18.

I wonder if the winning bidder will play with it.

Coming up next is the Arts and Crafts mahogany square table,

given to Max by his great-aunt.

How will it do here for £30 to £50?

Seems cheap, really.

It doesn't seem a lot of money. I hope it will get the bidding going.

There's lots of Edwardian tables around

but that is a nice example in good condition.

I'd be hoping to make top estimate at least.

With me at £50. 55 now, 60.

65, 70,

75, 80,

85, 90,

95, 100.

£100, still with me at £100.

And 10 if you like, at £100 for the table.

All done?

£100, it goes then for £100.

-Doubled our estimate there.

-Brilliant.

-Happy with that?

-Absolutely, yes.

I don't think Diane expected that old table

to attract so much interest.

Now, it's time for the late 18th century flintlock gun

and the late 19th century French bayonet,

which all belonged to Diane's husband.

I don't suppose you'll miss these, Alex?

-It is one of my favourites out of everything.

-Oh, really, why?

What appeals to you about it?

I just liked it.

I like old military guns and stuff.

-Presumably the rewiring's a bit more important?

-Yeah.

All right, John, you've got 100-150 on this.

That should be OK.

The gun's been converted from a flintlock to a percussion lock

but it is 18th century.

I put it together with the bayonet

because these will appeal to the same sort of buyer.

So 100-150, I think that's good for those items.

£80 straight off, with me at £80, and 5 I'll take.

85. 90 with me, do you want 95?

95, come on, come on.

100 there. 110, 120.

-130, 140.

-(Oh, God!)

£140.

There at 140, anybody else?

It's back in, it's back in.

No, it's got to be 150.

150.

150 here then, at 150.

At £150, anybody else, 150?

£150. Bang on your top estimate there, John. Well done.

Well done!

Are you all right about it, Alex?

Would you rather have held on to it, do you think?

No, I'm pleased with what it got.

We all are.

It was a good idea of John's to put them both together

to attract at least two bidders.

Now it's the sale of the first of Diane's family silver -

the 1929 George V centrepiece, which was a wedding present to her mother.

Is this one of the pieces you felt quite sad about letting go?

It is cherished and it's one that Alex particularly likes as well,

remembering it from... well, growing up with it, really.

Well, I know you like it, but...

it's expected to make £300-400

and that's a lot of money, isn't it?

Yeah, that's why we decided...

It had to go. OK.

Do you think we'll make that, John?

It's a nice piece and I overheard two dealers

talking about it before the sale and one commented to the other

that he thought that was the nicest piece of silver in the sale.

We can hear the auctioneer now opening the bidding.

I'm going to start you at three dimmer switches.

THEY LAUGH

Start me this, a couple of hundred pounds, surely?

I'm bid straight in at £200.

210, 220, 230, 240,

-250...

-Come on.

..280, 290, 300 and 20.

340.

-360...

-It's going at £340.

380 there.

One more, please.

400 and 20.

440, 460, 480,

500. £500 here.

£500 then, at £500.

£500! Are you pleased with that? Yes? Are you all right?

-Did you realise that you had £500 sitting there?

-No.

That's just the start.

I didn't.

-Are you OK?

-Yeah.

Breathe deeply through your nose, we've got a lot more to sell.

-I'm just wondering what my mum would say.

-I think she'd be delighted.

She would, actually.

I'm sure she'd be happy to know that her granddaughter Alex

will be benefiting from something the family no longer needs.

The two Chinese cloisonne vases quickly follow.

-What do you want for these, John?

-I've got 50-100 on them. Not bad.

They are early-20th century. There's not a huge amount of age to them

but they're in good condition and with cloisonne,

once damaged, it's almost impossible to repair,

so I think that estimate reflects their condition.

And were these another family piece?

They belonged to an aunt of mine and she gave them to me

when she no longer needed them because she went into a care home.

I've had them for a while, but they don't suit...

my taste any more.

They've been looked after cos they are a matching pair,

and you haven't lost one through damage over the years.

Let's see what we get for them.

Start me, 30 to go.

£30 for the vases, I'm bid at £30.

32, 35,

38, 40.

Come on, chaps.

£40.

Anybody else, at £40? 42.

45.

£45 here, at 45.

A new bidder.

48, 50,

55, 60.

We're getting there, it's just slow.

70, 75.

£75 further away then, anybody else?

£75 for the pair of vases. 75.

£75. That's pretty good, bang in the middle of your estimate, John.

-Happy with that?

-Yeah, that's OK.

-Good, good.

-That's fine.

That was another very good result there

but we did start off with a few low sales.

So how are we doing for reaching our goal?

We've got a bit of a break before our afternoon session,

in which you've got some very large pieces of silver coming up.

You wanted £1,000 for this rewire job.

How do you think it's gone so far?

-I don't know. Tell us.

-I want you to have a little guess.

Do you think we've done well or not?

-I'm quietly confident.

-Quietly confident.

You have every reason to be quietly confident,

because so far we've made £853.

Wow, that's good.

Which takes the pressure off the afternoon.

So, shall we have a bit of a break before we have to come back in?

Come on, then, follow John.

Now, if you've been inspired by Diane's progress here,

and would like to have a go at selling at auction yourself,

do bear in mind that commission plus VAT will be added to your bill.

This charge varies from one saleroom to another,

so it's always worth enquiring in advance.

A general auction like this one is a great place to sell

a wide variety of things, like Diane is doing.

It attracts dealers who have a trained eye

and are ready to spot anything out of the ordinary.

-John!

-Lorne! How lovely to see you.

-Love of my life! Where've you been?

-Looking at this jug.

-Oh, very nice. I like the colours on that.

-It is nice.

It's a Royal Patriotic jug made by Samuel Alcock.

We've got everything we need to know here.

-There we are, it's the Royal Patriotic jug.

-Which was for what?

It was for the Crimean War.

We have a scene on this side,

wounded soldiers in battle in the Crimea.

If we turn it round, we have a weeping mother

and some children here.

But the jug was issued in about 1855,

right in the middle of the Crimean War.

You can see just down here, January 1st 1855.

-Was the point of it to raise funds to help families?

-Exactly.

The jug was sold to generate funds

for children who had lost somebody or somebody who had lost a husband.

It is in extraordinary condition, isn't it?

It does look remarkably good, and I have to say,

when I picked it up, I thought, brilliant, I haven't seen one of

these in a long time, they are quite scarce these days.

However, I've just noticed

a little hairline crack right down there from the rim.

So, the auctioneers have got this in at 150-250.

It's great. They don't turn up often.

It'll be interesting to see how well it performs here today.

We'd better put it back somewhere safe, hadn't we? Come on.

Honestly, it was like that when I found it.

Well, it didn't do too badly here,

reaching just £10 under its lower estimate.

As the sale of Diane's items resumes,

her Victorian oil painting is the next to go before the bidders.

It was given to her grandfather

in payment for a debt when he was a bookmaker.

Nice picture. Not the best time in the marketplace for these,

but I brought my estimate down.

I think ten, 15 years ago, this would have made £400-600.

It's not terribly commercial.

I'm hoping it's going to make £200, because it's lovely.

I'd love to know how much money he was owed.

I would love to know.

Yes, because whatever he was owed,

you're going to get the benefit of it, aren't you?

And I am sure you'll be pleased to hear I have one, two,

three, four bids on the lot.

-I can start at £200.

-Straight in at 200.

-So we've sold it, definitely.

230, 240, 250, 260.

£260 it is.

At £260, anybody else?

At 260.

260 it is, then. For 260 I'm going to sell it. 260.

£260.

I wondered if we'd get a bid.

It is one of those things, it'll either sell or it won't.

Well, this result definitely brings a ray of sunshine

into the Cox family, and their ambitions to make £1,000.

The second collection of silverware is up next,

including a compact which belonged to an aunt of Diane's,

a fruit knife which was her late husband's, and a novelty pincushion.

Right, we know the silver dealers are here today,

which is good news for us. But forget them for the moment.

What I think is going to be interesting

is to see who else is interested in your little roller skate,

because that has got to have been

one of the most viewed items here today.

Whenever it went into the cabinet, someone else wanted to view it.

Let's hope that translates into sales.

Overall, we've put 50-60 on that, John?

-I've put 50-60. It should eclipse that, shouldn't it?

-I hope so, yes.

Who'll start at £50 for the lot?

I thought I might be bid in front of me. Anybody else?

At £50 for the roller skate. I can't believe it, it is so cheap.

55 now, 60, 65, 70.

75, 80.

£80 in front of me for the roller skate. £80. Anybody else?

It doesn't seem a lot. At £80, I'm going to sell it, then.

Selling it for 80. £80.

£80, so it didn't translate.

All those people looking at it,

I thought it would have gone for more, John.

I thought it might, because as you say, very unusual,

but I guess at the end of the day

there's only so many collectors for it out there.

And it was over the top of the estimate,

so we shouldn't be at all disappointed at that result.

Some more silver follows.

The George V spirit kettle with burner and water jug.

Everything you could possibly want for afternoon tea, I would suggest.

-This is another family piece, isn't it?

-Yes, it is.

How do you feel about this lot going?

About the same as I felt about the other.

Yes, this was my mum's, and again,

she had them as wedding presents, and...yeah.

Well, I know you've put £500-600 on it when we did the rummage, John.

But the auctioneer in the catalogue has put 650-1,000.

-And you've put £650 reserve on it, haven't you?

-Yes, discretionary.

All right, well, let's see what happens.

And I'm glad to say there was a bit of interest in this straight off.

I'm straight in at £500, and 50 I'll take. £500. And 50.

550 is bid now.

600 I'll take from somebody else. At £550.

With me at 550.

At £550, is that all?

At 550, I am not selling it, I'm afraid.

The auction house put 650-1,000.

You put the reserve of 650 in, discretionary.

But the bidding only got to 550.

So it was just below the discretionary reserve,

which is why it hasn't sold.

-But how do you feel about it not selling?

-That's OK.

It was a wedding present to my mother,

and it's just something that's always been around.

And, again, like the other piece, constantly cleaning it and so on.

So, yes, it's sentimental to me.

I think we've done well enough so far.

We can sustain that for the moment, can't we?

A shame, though. I said 500-600, so it got up as far as my mid-estimate.

-So there we are.

-I'm sorry, John.

-You big show-off!

Well, that £550 would certainly have been welcome.

But while it is disappointing,

it's a much-loved family piece that they can still enjoy.

And they can always sell it at another time, should they choose.

Next, it's the small collection of half dolls

which belonged to Diane's sisters-in-law.

They were used to cover pincushions and powder boxes.

The estimate is £30-50.

There are two bids on the book. I'm straight in at £35.

35, and 40 I'll take for the pincushion dolls.

At £35, all done?

On the book, then, at £35...

40! 45 with me.

£45, on the book with me at 45. Are you all done? £45.

Ooh, they almost reached John's top estimate,

so another good sale there.

The final lot is another precious family heirloom -

her grandfather's greyhound racing trophies

made of highest-quality silver.

We're all hoping they bring in a price

that smashes all our expectations.

Well, John, you put 650-1,000 on that.

That was based on them collectively.

I wasn't sure whether they would

split them up and sell them as individual lots or not.

But they've kept them together,

and kept my estimate together, so they should sell.

Let's hope so.

Start me £500 for the lot, please. £500, and 50 I will take.

At £500. All done? 550.

600. And 50.

700. And 50.

800. And 50.

900. And 50.

£1,000. 1,100.

1,150. 1,200.

£1,200 now. £1,200, anybody else?

At £1,200, I am going to sell it, then. 1,200.

GAVEL BANGS

Oh, my goodness. What do you think of that?

-Fantastic!

-I really...

Well, I am quite gobsmacked at that amount, aren't you?

-Are you happy with that?

-Absolutely delighted!

Diane's shaking so much, she could hardly speak.

That sale surpassed the target she was hoping to reach in one go.

I can't wait to tot up the total

and tell her how much she's actually made.

-Can you remember how much you wanted to raise?

-£1,000.

-That's right.

I thought that was a bit probably underestimating

the cost of having the house rewired,

but any contribution helps, doesn't it?

So, you might be quite pleased to know

that the value of everything we've sold today comes to...

£2,438.

So, do you think you'll be able to get all the work done now?

I hope so.

Pretty sure that should cover it, I reckon.

And don't forget, you're still taking

that family silver kettle home.

We didn't even sell that.

So you've got all that money,

and you've kept one of the heirlooms,

which is quite nice, isn't it?

-That's lovely.

-Did you ever think you'd make that much?

No. It's been...

It's been an eye-opener, hasn't it?

Well, it took a while to find a date

that suited both Alex and the electricians,

but finally the work has started,

and just in time, by the look of things.

I didn't, I suppose, anticipate such cold weather

when we instigated this rewiring.

But I am going to be happy, because I know she's going to be safe.

I have waited a long time for the rewiring.

It was financial, mainly, so Cash In The Attic has really helped.

The work will take three days in total, so is Alex pleased,

and how is it all turning out?

It's a bit of a shock seeing my house like this,

but in a couple of days it'll be back to normal.

Yes, I have taken a week off work to come and help her sort out

and make good afterwards,

because there's going to be a lot of decorating to do, as well.

So that's something to look forward to.