Darlington Flog It!

This incredible red-brick sculpture depicts the famous locomotive

Mallard, and that certainly puts a smile on your face! And it lies just

yards away from the track of the world's first public railway system,

which ran from Stockton to

our valuation destination of Darlington. Welcome to Flog It.

I love all of these bricks.

They represent all the smoke billowing out of the back of

the locomotive as it charges by you.

There's 185,000 bricks used in this construction, and it weighs

15,000 tonnes. It's one of the largest single sculptures to be

built in the United Kingdom, with a length of 40 metres, and it took

34 bricklayers, with apprentices and labourers, five months to complete.

And I bet once they finished it, they stood back

and they looked at that and they were all chuffed to bits!

And at the Dolphin Centre in the heart of Darlington,

fingers crossed Will Axon and Adam Partridge will make equally

impressive finds, but, hopefully, on a slightly smaller scale.

Well, I think it's about time we got everybody inside to see what

the people of Darlington have to offer. Don't you?

Show us what you've got!

Whilst the crowds have been getting settled, Adam's made his first find,

but Valerie's vases aren't what they first appear to be.

Good afternoon.

-Good afternoon, Adam.

-Welcome to Flog It.

-Thank you.

-How are you today?

-I'm very well, thank you.

-A lot of people at home

might look at these vases and think, "Oh, more Moorcrofts!

-"Here we go, Flog It!" But they're not Moorcroft, are they?

-No.

And they're not that Stanley ware Jacobean that looks a bit like

-Moorcroft either.

-No.

-What are they?

-Well, they're Dutch.

-Yes, they are.

And how did you come to own?

They're by Gouda.

-Gouda ware.

-Yes, yes. Well, they belonged to my husband's father.

-Right.

-And I think he was probably given them as a gift,

because he did quite a lot of business in Holland, Norway...

Right, so it may have been a gift from a client or something?

Yes, to do with shipping.

-Right. And when was that? In the '40s, or something?

-Er, '30s.

'30s, '40s. These very much look the Art Deco style.

-Yes.

-Do you like them?

-No.

-No?

-No, no.

-Why don't you like them? I think they're quite pleasant.

No, they're dark, and I don't do dark.

That's why you're selling?

-That's why I'm selling them, yes.

-What would you go for instead?

-Well, I would go for something like probably a piece of Royal Worcester.

-Right.

Or even a bit of pretty Doulton, something like that.

These are too dark and overpowering?

Yes. And I've had them for quite a long time

-and I've never known where to put them.

-Are they out on display at home?

-They're out on a very high shelf in the breakfast room.

-OK.

-It would be like this to see them!

-So you're not going to miss them?

-No, no.

-Any idea what they're worth?

-No.

-£1,000?

Oh, no, definitely not!

I think they're probably worth £40-60.

Yes, yes.

They're decorative, but they're not particularly rare or

exceptionally valuable, but they should make £40-60 between them.

-Yes.

-Happy with that?

-Yeah.

-Put a reserve on them?

-Yes.

-What do you think, 40?

-Put... Yeah.

-With discretion?

-No, just put 40 on them.

If not, what will you do with them?

Put them back on the shelf.

Not give them away or something?

-No. Put them back on the shelf.

-And you were telling me about the Flogs.

I said, "What are you going to do

"with the money?" And you said, "I'm going to give it to the Flogs."

Does that mean the Flog It team?!

No, no, no. Well, I've got four granddaughters, and they're called

Fleur, Lucinda, Olivia and Georgina.

-Right.

-So I've christened them the Flogs.

-OK. Did they like that?

-Oh, yes, they loved it, yes.

They had T-shirts done with a Flogs name across it.

Friends, the four of them, and they did me a badge.

-It said "Flogs team leader".

-Oh!

Cos I'd taken them out picnicking and this sort of thing, you see.

I hope they sell well, but I don't think we'll be

-fainting with excitement for these.

-No, no. I didn't think so.

But it'll be a bit more pocket money for the Flogs.

Yeah, and something different for the viewer as well.

For the viewer, yes, yes.

Judith, I like these little silver pepperettes, or salt and pepper,

that you've brought in today. How have you come by them?

I was in Bishop Auckland and they had a church fair. And I thought

they looked interesting, cos they had the little finials on the top.

These were on a stand at the fair, were they?

-Among all the rubbish.

-Were they?

Yes, and I got them for 60p.

60p?! Did the person selling them know they were silver?

No, she was banging them together

and saying, "Oh, they're only tin."

"They're only tin"! Imagine that!

Were they as shiny as now? They're in wonderful condition.

No, that's why I got them, they desperately needed a good clean.

You get that with silver. It's just a reaction with the atmosphere.

It tarnishes the surface, which is why you get that blackening, which

can sometimes be a clue that things are silver, rather than

silver plate, where you don't get that tarnishing so much.

So, you've paid 60p for a pair

of solid-silver salt and pepper. Any idea of the date?

Yes, I did have a look in a book and I thought it was 1890.

1890? Well, if I have a look at the hallmark on this on here...

They can be hard to find, but usually under the rim. There we are. We've got three hallmarks there.

We've got the Assay Office, which is Birmingham.

-Then you've got the date letter, which is a Z.

-Yes.

And then you've got the sterling-silver mark, and then a maker's mark,

which I can't quite make out. It's a little bit rubbed, to be honest.

But that doesn't detract from them.

Now, the date letter, Z, is going to be 1899.

Nine years from what you thought, but the right decade.

Typical from that period.

This nice, moulded body here,

a bit of scrolling, bit of chasing here and there.

And then these, I think, rather fine little finial tops, that you said

attracted them to you in the first place. Have you any idea of value?

You're not going to be a genius to guess they're worth

a little bit more than the 60p you paid for them. What do you think?

-Do you think we can put a nought on the end of that?

-Maybe.

I think you're looking at £60-80 as a sensible estimate,

which for your investment is not a bad return.

How long ago was it you came across them?

-12 years.

-OK. So that's not bad at all.

More than if you'd stuck it in the saving account.

-Oh, yes!

-So if we estimate them

at £60-80, I'd like to set the reserve at, let's say, £50.

Fixed £50 reserve. What do you think you'd do with the money?

Start trawling more church fairs, perhaps, looking for more bargains?

No, what I would like to do is, my grandson's just taken up golf and he needs a lot of...

Equipment and so on, and green fees.

That's not cheap, is it? It's not a cheap hobby.

-Is he any good?

-I believe so.

-Yes?

How old is he? Has he started young?

-He's 12.

-You've started him young.

Let's hope we see him winning the Open in future.

I'll look out for him. And £50 towards a budding golf career. Let's hope we get you that figure.

OK. We'll see you at the saleroom.

-Thanks, Judith.

-Thanks very much.

Jean, this album is just so fascinating.

It's all your family history, really. Your social history.

-It is.

-So when did your mother give you this?

It was grandmother who gave me them just before she died, which would

probably be about 30 year ago, and I've kept them safe.

-All these were sent to her?

-They were all sent to her from her

-husband in the First World War.

-Yeah, during the Great War, through

the sort of 1914-1917 period.

-That's right.

-He must have loved her so much, because

they're all sent to her from France.

-That's true.

-It's incredible. "To my dear wife".

-There's some loving sentiments from a very brave man.

-Yes.

Did she look at it much?

Oh, yes, and we used to look at it as children and go through it, and

she used to talk about these days.

And some of the cards are sent to my mother, which is her daughter,

-of course.

-Yeah. Some are worth a lot more than others.

I mean, there's a great double-page spread.

-Yes.

-Condition, very good. These silk cards are lovely, and they're

-worth around about £7-9 each.

-Right.

So, you know, there's quite a bit of monetary value here as well.

I've picked out these two from a previous page.

Lord Kitchener and Charles Fryatt.

I mean, they've not been sent in the post, which helps. Hasn't devalued them.

-Yes.

-So they're worth £20 each.

-Oh, good.

-A lot of them are so personal to your grandma.

-Well, they are.

-I really should be trying to talk you out of

selling this. I should, you know. Is there no-one...?

-No, I only have distant cousins.

-No children to...? No, I haven't got any children, no.

There was one in here of Whitby, wasn't there?

-You've just passed it.

-The cats!

-That's my favourite one.

-You like that?

-I breed Persian cats.

Would you like to keep them? Shall we take them out?

Well, yes, it would be rather nice, cos it was sent to my mother when she was a little girl!

You've got to have something.

-Well, yes.

-Well, look, that one's yours.

That is mine because it was sent to my mother, so,

-yes, that's special.

-Are you seriously selling these?

I'm seriously going to sell those, yes,

-because they'll only go in a skip.

-Oh, what are we doing?!

This is quite nice, Whitby. Cos this one pulls out.

It does, yes. Concertina one.

-So you can see exactly what Whitby was like...

-That's true.

-..in the early 1900s.

-That's right.

-That's quite nice. Collectors will buy this.

-Oh, yes.

The sad thing is, when this sells in auction, it'll be split up.

It won't have any sentimental value to anyone else, let's face it.

-And you feel the time is right now?

-Yes.

I'm sure my gran would have wanted me to hand them to someone who will appreciate them.

Any idea of the value?

No, I have no idea of the value, really, at all.

It's not really important.

Well, I think there is a great deal of value here.

-There's a lot of silk cards.

-Yes.

Those two, as I said, are worth £20 each, so you've

already got £40. I think we could

-put these into auction with a value of round about £100-150.

-Oh, gosh.

I think they'll get the £150 mark.

-Oh, right.

-Fingers crossed, on a good day.

-Right. Lovely.

-Is that OK?

-Yes, fine.

We'll put a reserve of £80 on.

-Right, yes.

-You can change your mind.

-I won't change my mind.

-OK.

-I've given it thought.

-Let's put them into auction.

-Yes.

-And I guess it's a book that we have to shut, isn't it?

-You're right.

-Let's hope they go to a good home, OK?

-That is

the most important thing, that they go to someone who

appreciates them. People wouldn't buy them if they weren't interested.

Exactly. And that's going back to a good home.

That is going to a good home and then that'll be treasured as well.

I'll see you in the auction.

Yes, I'd love that. Thank you.

-Hi, Dave.

-Hello.

-How are you today?

-Not bad, not bad.

-And what's made you come along to Flog It?

-Well, I watch the programme and I've actually seen one similar to this sold.

-Have you?

-Without the heraldic bits.

-Yep.

-Got this one from a charity shop.

-Did you?

-How long ago?

-About 18 months.

-18 months ago. How expensive was it?

-£1.90.

-£1.90?

-Yes.

-Yeah. And you're selling it.

It appears to be a Georgian cannon.

This bit is Georgian. The stand is later.

Little garrison stand there,

which is probably in the last 50 years, I'd have thought.

So, what attracted you, just cos it was a bargain?

Well, I thought it was an excellent piece of workmanship when I saw it.

And it was that that attracted me.

It's a nice piece of brassware. It's a good piece of workmanship, and you've got

the George III cipher on there. Any idea what it's worth?

-Not really.

-Well, I'd estimate that at £30-50 at auction. And

I think it would probably make that, perhaps a little bit more.

It's a miniature example.

The big ones on the big cast-iron stands can make hundreds, even sometimes

thousands, but this is fairly ordinary.

So I'd expect that sort of money. Are you happy with that?

-Yeah, yeah.

-OK. Say it makes £80, what would you do with it?

Probably most of it would go to

-a computer programme or some such thing.

-OK. Or back to the charity

-shops for more bargains?

-Oh, always.

-Yes, yes.

-Do you scour them a lot? Is that a hobby of yours?

-Well, I look. I look.

-So, off to auction with it.

We'll put it in the auction with a £30-50 estimate on it. Any reserve?

Well, I would like a £30 reserve.

Bottom of estimate, see what happens.

-If it doesn't make that, we'll take it home.

-Uh-huh.

Thank you for coming, I'll see you at the auction.

OK. No problem.

They haven't got long to wait. It's now that time

where we head off to the saleroom, and here's what's coming with us.

I hope Valerie's vases do well so she has a stash of cash

to give to the granddaughters, the well-named Flogs.

Judith's bound to make a profit on the salt and pepper shakers.

They're definitely going to make more than the 60p she paid for them.

And with a valuation of £30-50,

I'm convinced the cannon will go with a bang.

And Jean is selling a real piece of her past here.

They're are some smashing postcards in the album,

so I just hope the collectors are in the saleroom to spot them.

And this is where the auction will take place, Thomas Watson's in the heart of Darlington.

The room's to filling up. Let's hope it'll be

jam-packed full of bidders and they're all here for our lots.

And the auctioneer with the gavel at the ready is Peter Cartwright.

Under the hammer, two Dutch vases with a valuation of

£40-60. They belong to Valerie, and all the money's going to the Flogs.

-So, remind us about the Flogs.

-Well, I have four granddaughters.

Their initials are... Well, they're Fleur, Lucinda, Olivia and Georgina.

Spells Flogs, taking the initials.

It's an anagram of Flogs!

-So I call them the Flogs.

-So we need top money, Adam.

We do. They're attractive vases, but

I don't think we'll be surprised.

Too dark for Valerie. Will that put many people off?

Well, they're quite stylish, though.

I think they're quite Deco-looking.

-Yeah.

-I think they'll be all right, but I think

we should be delighted if they hit three figures, and very surprised.

I hope so. Well, I hope so!

Well, we can't say any more, really.

The lot is just about to go under the hammer.

Let's see what the bidders think.

The two Dutch Gouda vases, each with a flora decoration.

Interest in these. I can start these away at £65 for the two.

65 straight in.

70 now for the two. At £65 with me. The bid at £65 for the two.

Straight in and straight out.

£65. Are we all done at £65?

Hammer's gone down. £65. That's not too bad.

-£15 each for the Flogs.

-Yeah.

-That's not bad, is it?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-That's OK.

-That's a good day out.

Well, they'll be pleased to start with that.

-And you didn't like them anyway, did you?

-No, I didn't!

No, they were too dark for me. Yeah, I like lighter china.

-They had the look, and I'm sure somebody's going to enjoy them.

-I think so.

Next up, we've got some solid-silver salt and pepper shakers

with a value of £60-80.

They belong to Judith, and she's brought along her partner.

-Hi, what's your name?

-Alan.

-Alan, pleased to meet you.

Why are you flogging these? Don't they come in handy?

Not really, because I don't want to use them.

-I would.

-They're too nice.

-I would!

I've had them in the cabinet for a long time.

-I've had them 17 years.

-Yeah.

And I paid the great sum of 60p for them!

-That was a bargain!

-At a church fair.

Never happens to me, that. A church fair?

And they were really black and dirty.

I think we can turn a profit here!

I would have thought so. Little bits

of silver, that's what the market is taking well at the moment.

-So I'm confident we'll get these away for you.

-And precious metals,

-they're riding high as well.

-Certainly.

The price of silver's gone up a lot.

Yeah. And pepper's not cheap!

The scrap value... Pepper's not cheap either!

Saffron shakers, there we go!

Let's they find a good home here today.

Good luck, you two. This is it.

Victorian silver salt and pepper shakers with embossed

decoration. Birmingham, 1899, these.

And I have 35 to start for the pair.

At 35. 40 now for the pair. 40. 45.

50. In the room, the bid.

-Doing well at 50.

-£50.

The lady's bid at £50. 55 now. 55.

60. 65. 70. 75.

80. At £75 in the gallery.

Gentleman's bid at £75.

-Are we all done at £75 the pair?

-Yes. Yes! The hammer's gone down.

£75, and I think that lady on the second row has bought them.

The lady you were sitting next to.

-Yes.

-They've gone to a good home, and I hope she's going to use them.

-Yes.

-I would. I would love to go and buy fish and chips, bring

them home in newspaper and sit there with my silver salt and pepper pots!

Silver knife and fork, and you're away, aren't you?! Good idea!

Firing things right now for us, we've got

David's little Georgian brass cannon with a value of £30-50.

Fixed reserve at 30. We're not giving this little gem away, are we?

You picked it up for a couple of quid?

-Yeah.

-So you've got keen eyes.

-Well, yeah.

Any other bargains you've found?

-'Fraid not.

-That's the only one.

I've never found a bargain in a charity shop.

-A little gem.

-A sweet little thing.

I thought it was a bit of you, actually, when I saw it.

Yeah, I do like it. It's a nice little desk toy.

This should get the top end.

-Should be £50, shouldn't it?

-Mmm.

-Be nice.

We're going to find out right now.

-This is it.

-The Georgian model of a cannon on the mahogany stand.

Interest in the lot, and I can start this away at £30 for the cannon.

-Good.

-At 35. 40 upstairs. 45. 50.

55. 60. 65. 70. 75.

At £70 in the gallery now.

At £70, your bid, sir, at £70.

75 for the lot now. 75.

80. 85. 90. At £90. Still in the gallery, then, at £90 for the lot.

Are we all done at £90?

Yes! £90! That's fantastic.

You see, quality always sells. What

are you going to do with that money? Less a bit of commission.

Erm, Photoshop 6.

So you're into your computers?

Well, yeah, I'm getting there, getting there. I combine it with art.

-Erm, merging watercolours with line stuff...

-Yeah.

-For pleasure, of course.

-Hours of fun!

You pretend you understand what he's talking about!

Oh, Jean, that brings back some memories, doesn't it? Look at that.

We saw that at the valuation day.

That's the one we've kept back.

We've got quite a lot of these First World War postcards

-going under the hammer with a valuation of £100-150.

-Right.

Let's hope we get that top end, shall we?

I'm pleased you kept that one back.

Yes, I'm pleased, cos that was the one thing that

started off with breeding my cats, so it's very special.

Did you say goodbye to them this morning?

-Oh, yes, I certainly did!

-Did they wish you luck?

Yes, they did! My friends all rang, anyway!

These cards have been in the family a long, long time.

-They certainly have. Almost 100 years.

-Let's hope

they find a good home today.

-I hope so.

-Let's say goodbye to them.

They're going under the hammer right now.

Interesting lot. It's three albums of postcards.

Silk cards in amongst this lot.

Interest in the lot. Start these at £55, the lot.

At 55. 60 now. At 55. 60. 65. 70. 75.

-80 at the back. At £80. Gentleman's bid in the room...

-We've sold.

85. 90. 95.

100. And 10, sir. 120. 130. 140.

-150. 160. 170.

-They love it.

-Yeah.

The cats will be pleased!

-Certainly will!

-At £200. Downstairs, the bid at £200.

-Are we all done at £200?

-Yes! £200!

-I'm ever so pleased.

-Wonderful. Thank you.

-They got the right money.

-They're going to

someone who's going to look after them.

Yeah. Will you treat the cats?

Oh, it'll pay for some cat shows, that's one thing!

It will get me to two cat shows, anyway!

I hope you get a winner as well.

I certainly hope so. Thank you very much.

Now, 27th September, 1825, is certainly a date

to remember here in Darlington, because it was the first time ever

a steam locomotive was used to haul passengers on a public railway

system, and the locomotive involved was Stephenson's Locomotion No. 1.

It certainly was a piece of railway history.

And today in Darlington, yet another is just about to unfold.

I'm here at Darlington Locomotive Works to find out a little bit more.

There's thousands of rail enthusiasts in the UK,

but one group in particular took their

passion, their energy and their enthusiasm a lot further than most.

They turned a pipe dream into a reality. Meet Tornado.

49 A1 locomotives were built between 1948 and 1949, and each and every

one of them was scrapped by 1966, replaced by modern diesel engines.

So the A1 became a missing part of railway history till 1990.

The idea was hatched to build a brand-new A1 from scratch, and work

began on the 50th locomotive of this class.

Hopefully, Director of Engineering David Elliott can tell me how a seed of an idea with thousands

of little parts like this can turn into something like this.

The A1 was the last development in a long line of locomotives,

which included the Flying Scotsman and Mallard.

Created as a simplified version of the earlier models,

the A1 was developed for post-war conditions, when there

was a combination of poor coal with a shortage of manpower.

Tornado has also been tweaked from the original, but this time

to compete with modern diesel trains on the UK's mainlines.

David, great to meet you.

Thank you for showing us around. I want to know who came up with the idea, because this is awesome.

It was down to a group of enthusiasts who also happened to be businessmen

and the rumour has it that it came out of a convivial party, and after

they'd got past the first two or

three bottles of wine, the question came up, discussing the whole railway

movement about the engines which were missing from the national collection.

And it wasn't very long before they decided that this A1 Pacific

was the biggest omission from the collection of preserved locomotives.

Wonderful craftsmanship. How many are in the team here?

Well, at the moment we've got

about six people regularly working on it, plus a number of volunteers

and others who come in just for specific activities as required.

Thousands of hours.

Many thousands of man hours. We haven't totted it up, but I should

think it's heading for 90,000-100,000 when it's finished.

Gosh. Have you any idea of what it's cost so far?

Up till now, we're approaching £3 million, and by the time she's

finished, over 3 million.

That's a lot of money. So how have you managed to fund this?

The vast proportion has come from

individuals contributing regularly to the project.

What have been the main problems?

First, we had to establish whether there were any drawings for the engine.

Luckily, as a result of a major trawl

through the National Railway Museum, we discovered they had

-around of 95% of the original drawings for the loco.

-Yeah.

This made the whole project possible, because if we'd had to work just off

an arrangement drawing and redraw all the detailed parts,

it would have been a huge task, and really outside our capabilities.

People said you could never build a new steam locomotive -

-the specialist skills you need are no longer there.

-Yes.

The difficulty was, unlike the old days when there was

a loco works that did everything on the same site, we've had to source this

from all over the UK, and into Europe and South Africa and beyond.

Yeah. Can we take a guided tour?

-Certainly, by all means.

-Where do you actually start?

Well, we laid the frames in the first instance.

That is what everything else hangs off.

-Yes.

-We did actually have the wheels made early on.

This enabled us to get going with

-something that was very identifiable as part of a steam locomotive.

-Yeah.

Early on, the essential thing was to make progress to make it look as though we were building an A1.

And the boiler, where was that made?

Well, the boiler was and has been the biggest single problem.

There's no manufacturing facility in the UK that

produces steam-locomotive-type boilers on this scale. And finally, we chose the Mining

and Locomotive Works in Germany, which is, astonishingly, still

a fully-fledged steam-locomotive works here in the 21st century.

What's been the highs and lows so far?

One of the highest points was when we steamed this boiler for

the first time. They invariably leak somewhere.

-This didn't leak anywhere, which is what we'd hope.

-Once you've

got the steam up, you've got to generate it into power.

Yeah. In order to be able to create enough pull to start a heavy train,

three axles are coupled together so that they all go round at once,

and altogether, when this

is running at, say, in the order of 75 or 80 miles an hour, she's capable of

-producing about 2,600 horsepower.

-Wow.

That's equivalent to most of the larger diesels that are around today.

Have you had to modify the brakes?

Only to enable them to haul modern rolling stock.

This must be special for the people of Darlington. Do they keep an eye on what's going on?

23 of these were actually built in the Darlington Locomotive Works of British Railways.

Fantastic. Every morning when you come to work here and you

look at this, you must go, "What a great day."

It's not always like that.

More often than not I'm coming in to sort a problem out, but

there are times at the end of the day when I just stand back and look at it

and think, "What is this that this team has created?"

-Yeah.

-Cos the opportunity to build a new steam locomotive of this scale

and size in this century is just astonishing.

Wow! That's all I can say.

I really wasn't expecting that.

It's magnificent. What an incredible achievement, and the great thing is,

Tornado's built right here in Darlington. That's history.

One day I'm going to take a ride on her, and I'm sure all the

people of Darlington will as well, and they'll feel extremely proud.

Well, it's now time for our second lot of valuations,

and everything seems to be running like clockwork for Will.

Joanne and Carole, thanks for coming

along today. You were here nice and early.

-Yes, we were.

-That's what we like, good!

You've brought along some tinplate toys for us to look at.

What can you tell me about these?

They were my father-in-law's. He passed away, and we brought them along just to see what they are,

what they're worth, if they're worth selling.

I mean, date-wise,

they're going to be from perhaps the '50s, perhaps the early '60s.

Tinplate toys and, as you can see, in the box, "Made in Romania".

Now, before we get too excited, as people do about tinplate toys,

the market for the collectable tinplate toys is really the Japanese and German tinplate.

Romanian tinplate toys, I'm afraid, haven't quite reached those heights,

so we're not talking megabucks here.

But let's have a closer look anyway.

You've got here the steamroller.

-Yeah.

-That's a bit of fun. And if I take this one here out of

the box, look at this sort of modern, futuristic design.

See the way the buildings are designed? You say they work?

-Yes.

-Well, let's put it to the test, shall we? I've got the key here.

Look at that. All modes of transport. It's a little bit sticky.

A bit of oil, that'll go nicely.

I'm sure even the kids of today, with their minds plugged into the

computer games, I'm sure they would find those appealing.

The steam tractor also works?

-Yes, it does.

-So when I wind this up

and let it go on the table, it won't fly off the end?

No, no, no. It'll go backwards and forwards.

Oh, it's got forwards and reverse?

-It has.

-Clever. Let's look if we can get that...

There it is, look. Ah!

That's great fun, good. Backwards and forwards. I'll just let that run down,

cos otherwise it'll go non-stop.

So we'll put those down there. Have you

-thought about value at all?

-No, no idea at all.

-Like I say,

the market for Romanian tinplate isn't as collectable.

I mean, I would value the two pieces, bearing in mind one's got the box...

It is a little bit tatty, the corners have gone.

You've lost the lid on that box, haven't you?

But they've got to be worth a tenner apiece. I'd suggest

putting them into auction at an estimate of £20-30.

To be honest, I'd probably advise you not putting a reserve on them.

Then they will make what they make.

Bit of a gamble, at auction, not putting a reserve on.

Well, I'm confident we'll get close to the £20.

Carole, you didn't even expect to be here this morning?

She texted me for coffee this morning, and I end up in here on this show.

-You end up in the Flog It queue.

-Yes.

You came into town for a skinny latte and instead you've got

-a skinny valuer!

-Yes!

-You could come with us if you want!

-Well, that's very kind of you!

On the day, perhaps if I get

close to your £20, I'll take you up on that offer.

We'll have a nice cup of coffee at the saleroom.

Yes, we will do!

-David?

-Yes.

-Shirley?

-Yes.

Welcome to Flog It. And you've brought along a very interesting

-thing. This Taurus the bull.

-Taurus, yes.

-Can you tell us about it?

Where did you get it from, David?

-Bishop's Stortford in Hertfordshire.

-OK. Who chose it?

We both saw it, and his birthday is in May, which is Taurus the bull.

-Is that what attracted you? What do you like about it?

-Well, actually, I wanted the eagle.

There was a ceramic eagle.

And then my wife said, "Well, here's a bull.

"You're May. Shall we have it?" And I liked it straightaway, really.

-OK. But your wife made the decision?

-I think so.

-There's a pattern there, isn't there?

-Oh, yes!

So when was this that you brought it down in Bishop's Stortford?

It must be about 40 years ago.

-40 years ago. Quite a while ago?

-Oh, yes, yes.

-And do you remember what you paid for it?

-£25.

-Good memory, David!

-Oh, yes!

-Yeah?

-Money, isn't it?!

A good memory for numbers?!

-Erm, fairly.

-No, he leaves that to me!

Well, this is an interesting piece

by Wedgwood, the zodiac bull, Taurus the bull. Obviously, as you've seen,

it's got signs of the zodiac all the way around it.

This was designed by Arnold Machin.

He was a designer for Wedgwood, but what he was particularly famous for was the postage stamp.

He designed that famous profile portrait of the Queen, and that

image has been reproduced over 200 billion times.

-Yes.

-He also designed a number of other things, including this bull,

which kind of shows the diversity of his work, really.

So it's quite interesting. Any idea what the current value is?

Cos £25 40 years ago was quite a lot of money.

-It was, yes.

-What was it the equivalent of?

-Can you think, Shirley?

-No, no.

-A week's wage.

-A week's wage?

-It could be, yes.

So, what's a week's wage now?

-It's anywhere from 150 upwards, isn't it, I suppose?

-Yes, yes.

I've sold a lot of these in auction.

They generally make between 100 and 200.

Sometimes a little bit more.

But that's the guide price that I would suggest on it, and

we'll put a reserve of £100 on it.

-And it'll go on the internet?

-I believe it will.

-So I think we should put a £100 reserve on it.

-Great.

Cos if it doesn't make that, it's worth that, and it should make

-a couple of hundred quid.

-Oh, great.

-Why are you selling it?

-The family don't really appreciate it, and as my

51st wedding anniversary's coming up,

I'll get something for the wife and something to replace it.

Yeah. Have you got anything in mind?

Not really, no.

We're going to Carlisle, so there's some good shops there,

-antiques.

-Something nice.

-Yeah.

A nice idea to commemorate 51 years.

-Oh, yes.

-Thank you for bringing it along.

I think it'll make a couple of hundred pounds. I do hope it makes a good price.

-Right, thank you.

-I'll be at the auction there for moral support, and

-let's hope it goes well.

-Smashing.

-Thanks for coming to Flog It.

-Thanks very much.

Dane, thanks for coming in today to see us here at Flog It, and

you've brought with you

a piece of jewellery. Now, we always like seeing

good-quality jewellery boxes as valuers and auctioneers - that

generally means the piece inside is going to be good quality, too. Let's have a look.

If I open it up, well, there it is. Look at that. Quite a showy piece

What can you tell me about it? Is it something you've inherited? Purchased?

Well, I did purchase it, but not how you think.

I bought an old pine tool chest full of old tools.

And in the bottom of there was

an old Oxo tin, and inside the Oxo tin... There we go.

-Don't tell me this was inside the...

-Yeah, that was inside.

And did you know it was there when you were bidding?

I didn't, no. I was after the box, the chest itself, cos I like wooden

-boxes.

-So this was literally a bonus in the bottom of the box?

-A good bonus.

-And how much did you pay for the box?

-£15!

-No! Get out!

-And where was this saleroom? You can tell me afterwards!

-I will do!

Quite a story. It's those sort of stories

that make the auction room so exciting.

That's why you've got to go to these places and view well.

Right, well, let's have a closer look at it, if I take it out of its nicely-fitted box.

We can see that it's fully diamond encrusted.

We've had a look at the size of the diamonds, and we've calculated that

there are roughly sort of 2.1 carats' worth of diamonds there in total.

Good-quality stones.

-They're old-brilliant cut, which is just the style of cut.

-Yeah.

And if I spin it over, with nice-quality

jewellery, you can tell a lot more sometimes by the back of a piece

than you can about the front.

These are the parts you're not meant to see, not show, but

the quality in the workmanship and the finish is top notch,

which would suggest to you that someone's taken a lot of care over this.

And here we've got the pin attachment.

And have you ever noticed that you can actually take this piece off?

Yeah, you can. I believe you could put it on a pendant or, like, a...

That's generally how they worked.

I'll see if I can take this off now.

There we go. So I've taken that off, and you can see you've got an area

there where you can either attach this perhaps to a pendant,

and occasionally they would attach to a bracelet.

So, very versatile. I'll pop that back on so we don't lose it.

Well, let's pop that back in its case safely.

The only other thing to say is that it's set in silver on gold.

Generally, they would set these diamonds in silver, because if they

set them in gold, it would tend to discolour the diamonds, because of the

yellow of the gold, and then that would just give a bit of a yellow

tint to the diamonds, when really people are after the brilliant white.

And I would suspect that this dates from that late 19th century.

1890, that sort of period.

So why did you want to sell it?

Well, it's not modern or, you know...

It doesn't really have any practicability.

Yeah. I mean, it's wearable. It is a wearable brooch.

Value-wise, I don't know if you've ever had it valued?

-I haven't, no.

-No, you didn't go back to the auction you bought it from?!

-I didn't dare!

They'd say, "We'll have that back, thank you!"

-Yes!

-I think a sensible estimate for it

at auction... I would like to see it in a catalogue at, let's say, £6-800.

How do you feel about that?

-Is that a figure you were thinking of?

-That will get us

-a painter and decorator in up the whole stairs and landing.

-Will it?

We're doing half the house already on that! Dane, it's been

great seeing it, and I think it could be one of the stars

of the show at the auction.

And I'll see you there. £6-800. We'll reserve it at £600.

We'll fix it at that, because

I don't think the auctioneer's going to need any discretion.

That's right, yeah. Good!

Well, there you are. Another three items valued, and another trip to the auction room.

What a lot of fun these toys are, and I'm sure any big kid would

want to get their hands on these and have a play.

And I hope the stars are on our side today and there's a stampede of

bidders when the Taurus bull goes under the hammer.

And finally, the brooch.

I know diamonds are a girl's best friend, but at £600-£800, they could be Dane's, too.

Will certainly has high hopes for the gorgeous diamond brooch,

but how does auctioneer Peter Cartwright think it's going to do?

This is a bit of quality. Look at this sparkling away.

It's a real little gem.

2.1 carats, this diamond brooch.

Belongs to Dane. You're going to love this, because

it was inside a tool chest that they got for £15 in a little tiny tin.

Very good £15 spent.

We've got a value of £600-£800,

-with a fixed reserve of 600.

-Well, worth it.

-Can we flog it?

I'm sure we can. We've a good quality diamond brooch,

late Victorian, original box, from Conduit Street in London, Mayfair.

Fantastic piece. I don't think we'll have a problem selling this.

-OK.

-It should make the top estimate.

-And more?

And more, hopefully, on the day. I would hope so.

OK, if you had to put a value on this the afternoon when somebody

walked in, would you say 600-800, or would you say 800-1,000?

I would hope for 800-1,000. I would hope.

We're going to be relying on you to weave some magic. We want to see £1,000.

It would be fantastic if we could.

I believe coffee and cake is in order after this little lot.

-Don't you, Joanne and Carole?

-Yes.

We've got tin toys and a valuation from Will of £20.

Yeah, not a lot, but we explained that on the day, didn't we?

And I think if they sell, you've promised me coffee and cake, so I've got my eye on a little...

-Can I come as well?

-I think there's enough for two.

-Hey, who came up with the idea of no reserve?

-Him.

-Oh!

-Yes, well, you always like to have a couple no reserve.

-Guaranteed sales.

-What happens if it struggles at £10? Guess who's not getting coffee and cake?

Me again. I will stick my own hand up.

I'll buy it for 20 quid and take you all out, how's that?

I'm pretty sure it'll do the top end.

-It's a bit of quality.

-Yeah, and it's a bit of fun

and, hopefully, there's some toy collectors in here and dealers.

We've got a packed house...

The two Romanian, clockwork, tinplate toys.

And I have 15 to start on these. At 15. 20 now for the toys.

Well, 15 sells them.

20 at the back, the bid. At £20.

-This is good.

-Are we all done at £20?

Well, it sold at the lower end. That's not bad, is it?

-We got it away.

-Yeah.

-Coffee and cake!

-We're in!

-For you two.

-I'm paying.

-Fair enough.

-Thank you so much for being so much fun.

David and Shirley, it's now time to find out exactly what that china bull will do.

It's the sign of Taurus. Adam, is it a bullish price?

I think it will hit towards 200.

-Plus a little more.

-Mm.

-Had a chat to the auctioneer.

He liked it as well. We both sort of thought it was very unusual.

-Yes, it was, yeah.

-You never know, do you?

-We could get that £200 mark.

-Could do.

-Why do you want to sell it?

I've had it a long time and our sons aren't interested in it, and you have to start getting rid of things.

-OK.

-And it's our 51st anniversary of our wedding...

-Congratulations.

We've been away for a week and now...

-Where did you go?

-Just outside Carlisle. Beautiful hotel.

-Business spa hotel.

Oh, lovely.

So now you're going to pay for it?

-That will pay for it.

-No, I thought of buying something for me wife.

Oh, lovely. Well, let's hope we get top money. This is it.

The Wedgwood Taurus bull, decorated

with colour transfer prints depicting signs of the zodiac.

Interest in this lot. I can start this away at £90.

100 now. 100 seated. 110 I'll take.

At 110. 120. 130. 120 with the lady seated in the third row at 120.

130 now for the lot. Are we all done? 130 at the back.

140. 150. 140 with the lady still.

At £140. Are we all done at £140?

Hammer's gone down. We've sold it at mid estimate.

-It's gone.

-Yes.

-It's gone.

-Oh, yes,

-Big smiles. It's a good result.

-Yes.

-Well, it is a good result.

-Yes.

As good finds go, it doesn't get much better than this next lot.

We've got a diamond brooch. It belongs to Dane

and it was found in a tool chest that you bought for £15.

-That's right.

-Gosh. 2.1 carats.

-Good size.

-£600, £800 possibly.

Got to be worth that. I mean, if it doesn't sell, I'll be disappointed.

At £600-£800, it's worth all of that.

You work down the high street and see what sort of equivalent they're

putting on these sort of things in the shop window and you can put a nought on the end.

-Had a chat to the auctioneer. He totally agreed with the valuation.

-Good.

I'm hoping for the top end.

What went through your mind when you found that?

Did you think, "It's costume jewellery," or something?

No, I wasn't really interested at first, cos I was more interested in the handles what was on top of it.

-Yeah. And then you saw it and you thought...

-It looked a bit dirty and cleaned it up and I thought,

-"Well, it's sparkling, so it's got to be something."

-Did you get it valued?

No, no, it's been in a cupboard.

So the first time you knew exactly how much it was worth was when you met Will at the valuation day?

-That's right, yes.

-Mm.

-That must have been a nice moment?

It was and it's come at the right time, cos we're doing up the house.

-Haemorrhages money, doesn't it?

-Yeah, it does.

-This is it.

We're going to find out exactly what this is worth.

This very good-quality, late-Victorian, diamond brooch

in the form of a Catherine wheel.

Interest in the lot. I'll open this up at £450.

At 450. 500. And 50. 600. In the room the bid.

-We're there.

-We need another bidder.

-650 now.

At £600, gentleman's bid. At £600. 650 surely now for this brooch.

At £600. Are we all done? At £600.

650. 700. At 650 beside me now.

At £650. Are we all done at £650?

£650! Phew, did it!

Yeah, we got it away for you.

-We've got the paint.

-Yeah, got the paint. I think you've got some wood,

-some screws, some nails. I think you've got quite a bit there...

-I've already got the tools.

Yeah, they're in the bottom of the box!

Well, how about that? Another great Flog It day out in the auction

room here in Darlington and we're coming to the end of the show now.

All our owners have gone home happy.

Probably spending the money on holidays, nights out,

doing up the house, pairs of shoes.

But that is what it's all about, turning unwanted collectables into spending cash.

I hope you've enjoyed today's show.

So until the next time from Darlington, cheerio.

For more information about Flog It, including how the programme was made,

visit the website at bbc.co.uk

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