Oxford Flog It!

Flog It! is in the City of Dreaming Spires, Oxford,

and our venue is the university's splendid Sheldonian Theatre.

The Sheldonian Theatre was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in the 1660s.

Inside, the magnificent ceiling paintings show truth

descending upon the arts to expel ignorance from the university.

Our task today is to dispel any ignorance that this Oxford crowd

might be harbouring about

antiques and collectibles they've had lying around, and they don't want any more.

It's our job to give them the best valuation possible before we take them off to auction.

Leading our team of valuers and imparting their knowledge

are our experts, Charlie Ross and Tracy Martin.

As well as working in an auction house, Tracy has written about 20th century collectibles.

I'm really into social history.

She loves to rummage around for antiques.

What's in that bag there, young man?

And Charlie Ross, who, having spent a lifetime in antiques,

has seen and sold just about everything.

But it's weird, because I've never seen anything like it.

No. Can't say I have, actually.

Well, nearly.

-Might be worth a fortune, then!

-I don't think so!

Sometimes, you just never know and coming up, we've got some great lots going off to auction.

There's a quality Corgi toy that Geoff has had since he was nine.

I know you've been itching to play with it ever since we sat down at this table,

in fact, I've been trying to stop you.

Come on, show me how it works.

Jean wants to know if her early piece of porcelain was a costly mistake.

-What did your husband paid for it?

-£400.

-Where did he buy it?

In a Northampton house auction.

Right.

-By mistake.

-By what?

But there's no mistaking the quality of the gold pocket watch, brought in by Duncan and Gillian.

Can you see? It says 17 jewels.

-Most pocket watches will run on seven jewels.

-Oh, right.

So, the higher the jewel content, the more valuable the watch.

Stay with us to find out exactly what a jewel is

and how much this watch is really worth.

Everybody is now safely seated inside the Sheldonian, and what a wonderful interior.

We're going to be in for a cracking day.

Let's join up with our experts and it looks like Charlie Ross is first at the tables.

Elizabeth, I have seen some domes in my time, but I think

you have won the prize for the biggest ever dome on Flog It!

-Oh.

-It's absolutely charming, that's the dome.

I think the contents are awful.

They're rubbish!

It's not often I can meet somebody on Flog It! where

I can actually speak my mind and they don't hit me.

No, I agree.

-Where have hidden it all your life?

-In the attic.

-What a very sensible place.

-In the dark.

-But you haven't broken it.

-No, we've been very careful.

How did you get hold of it?

We had to clear my husband's aunt's house when she died, and that was there.

We took it home and put it up in the attic with other bits and bobs.

Did it have that gubbins inside it?

Yes.

-Because I don't think what's inside the dome has anything to do with the dome.

-No.

The dome is late Victorian, Edwardian,

1900, that sort of figure.

I suspect originally, it may well have had a little tree

growing up it with some branches and some stuffed birds in it.

The Victorians particularly loved stuffed birds.

I thought it should have birds in it, rather than that.

These are silk flowers, which somebody has taken a huge amount of time in making.

Incidentally, there's a free vase with this dome.

The vase is not English. I think it's Italian,

I think it's Murano glass, made in the little island of Murano off Venice.

Venetian glass, don't get excited by that, it's 20th century, not particularly exciting.

It's gilt decorated and it's got some enamelling on the front.

I think we've probably got a value

of £10 or £20 for the vase inside, which helps.

I think the dome is worth the best part of £100.

It's an interesting point as to what somebody would put it.

Stuffed birds aren't everybody's taste nowadays.

-You don't want to see it again, do you?

-No, thank you.

-As long as you live. Right.

We're going to put an estimate of 50 to 100.

-Don't tell Paul Martin but we're not going to put a reserve on it.

-No.

-No reserve.

-We'll be very grateful for whatever we get.

-For whatever comes. Thanks very much.

-Thank you.

No good hiding things from me, Charlie. I always find out eventually.

Next up, Tracy's playing around with Geoff.

-We've got a real boy's toy here, haven't we, Geoff?

-Yes, we do.

Is this something that you had as a child and you've just kept in such fantastic condition?

Yes, it was a Christmas present for about my ninth birthday, I think.

It was played with and put back in the box.

I love the box, I think the box is absolutely fabulous.

It's survived quite well.

You've been itching to play with it since we sat down at this table.

In fact, I've been trying to stop you.

Come on, show me how it works.

The cab comes out, like that.

That tilts, so you can have a look at the engine

if you feel that way inclined.

The back flips down.

That's a 1966 World Rally-winning Mini.

Various toys do different things.

The tailgate comes up on that.

How many cars have we got there?

Six cars. The headlights have got a fibre-optic headlight.

Show me how that works.

There's a little window here and when that's covered, and opened,

the fibre optics come through.

In itself, it's silly, but to me,

when you're a kid, that means everything.

You're going along and you're flashing your lights.

Totally, it's all the fun of it.

The other Minis, they don't exactly do anything.

You love playing, don't you? You love playing with these!

Yes, out it comes. It's just a stylised Mini.

I think it's absolutely fantastic and it's every boy's dream to have something like this,

especially with all the little gadgets and you can play with it.

Hours of fun and joy.

I just think it's absolutely fabulous.

Because it's so much childhood memories,

and like I said you've been itching to play with it again,

are you happy to part with it, to sell it?

Yes. It's been sitting in the bottom of a wardrobe now for years,

and it's pointless leaving it there.

-You want to pass it on to somebody else?

-It's time for it to go.

I have two children, they played with it and probably done the damage there is to it.

It's done what it was originally designed to do, and pass it on now.

As mentioned, there's some damage, obviously.

Some paint chips and things like that.

Corgi cars are very popular with collectors at the moment.

Lots of men like yourself, reliving their childhoods and wanting to buy back their childhood toys.

The toy market is quite buoyant at auction.

Have you got any expectations of the money you'd like?

Not really. It's never been about money,

it's always been about the toy.

OK, that helps me, to be honest.

I'd like to put a reserve of £80 on it.

I think it's going to get a little bit more, but we'll stick at 80,

that's what we call a come-and-buy-me estimate.

A pre-sale estimate of 80 to 150.

Hopefully we'll get the top end.

-Are you quite happy with that?

-Yeah, that's fine.

Hopefully there'll be loads of men desperate to relive

their childhood memories and will bid for this.

What a great toy, and I can see the collectors getting carried away over this one.

I've been pinned down by a lady with a very personal interest in British motoring history.

Hillary, fascinating little enamel badges.

Most of them are dated 1932-33. What are they for?

I think they were for visitors that went to Brooklands, the racing circuit, years ago.

They belonged to my uncle, Mr H Hubert Noel Charles,

who was the chief designer of the MG motor car.

Really, he designed the MG?

Yes, 1930-1935.

Gosh. Do you have an MG?

I don't, unfortunately, no. I should have done, years ago.

You missed out, you could have got one at half price!

I should have done, definitely.

And you've got lots of photographs and lots of memorabilia.

-Lots of photographs and books.

-Wonderful, how lovely.

-Do you have sons?

-I have two sons.

That's brilliant. They've got that to look forward to.

Definitely. One son lives and said, "Whatever you do, don't sell them."

"Don't sell them, Mum!"

You might be looking at around £40 to £50 per badge, so there's a lot of money's worth.

Yes, I think so. They have been in the MG museum in Abingdon.

They do belong there, you know that.

You must loan it to them again.

They do go there quite frequently.

-Good for you.

-I do have a carburettor at home as well.

Not so interesting to look at, is it?

No. A bit of old metal, that's how I look at it.

Thank you. I just wish you had an MG parked outside, you could take me for a ride.

I would do, definitely.

It's always a delight to meet so many charming and interesting people at our valuation days,

and it seems that everyone has a good story to tell.

Right now, it's Jean's turn to confess to Charlie about her painted piece of porcelain.

Jean, what have you got here?

Well, I think it's a very early inkwell.

-Yep. Do you know who made it?

-Haven't a clue.

Right. Do you know what it's worth?

I know what I paid for it, or I know what my husband paid for it.

-What did your husband pay for it?

-£400.

-Where did he buy it?

-In an Northampton house auction.

-Right.

-By mistake.

-By what?

-By mistake.

-Tell me more.

Well, we went to the house auction

and he wanted to buy a particular picture,

so he put £400 down on this picture.

-But we couldn't stay because I had to go back home.

-Yeah.

So in the morning I phoned up and I said, "Did we get lot number 123?",

whatever it was, and they said, "Yes."

I said, "How much?" "£400."

So we drove up to Northampton to get it.

When I got it, they presented me with this.

And I said, "No, no, we bought a picture."

So they looked up on their paper

and they discovered that instead of saying lot number 480, it was 488.

And so we bought this instead of the picture.

That cost us £400.

Fancy buying a picture and it turning out to be this.

-There you go.

-It's marvellous.

Now, this is Worcester.

It's got no markings on it.

I've had a look at the bottom of it.

And it's early 19th century.

So it's jolly nearly 200 years old.

And it's really in pretty good condition.

You can see these panels are hand-painted, as befits the best Worcester.

Of peacocks. Beautifully coloured.

Lift up the lid and we've got the inkwell inside.

-Badly crazed, isn't it?

-Yes.

-But I don't think that is terminal, really, because that's not the bit you see, is it?

-No.

If the crazing had been throughout the piece I'd have been more worried.

There is of course some crazing in some of these panels.

But by and large, not too bad.

-So this cost £400?

-Yes.

Even though you thought it was a picture.

I'm afraid I don't think it's worth £400.

I think it's worth about £250-£300.

-So, it's not too bad.

-No.

You never know, with two people on a good day with the wind behind them you may get your money back.

-Or someone making a mistake.

-Like you did. Yes.

-I'd like to put a reserve on it of £200, and estimate it £250-£300.

-Very good.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

Looks like Jean and her husband might have made a costly mistake.

We are now halfway through, time to put those valuations to the test.

You've seen the items, probably made your own mind up what you think they're worth.

Let's find out what the auctioneer thinks, shall we?

Or more importantly, the bidders.

And for our auction, we are heading out to town to a sale room

in Watlington, Oxfordshire.

It's about half an hour before the sale starts but look, it's absolutely jam-packed.

And that's a good thing for us because hopefully

it means there'll be competition amongst the bidders for our lots.

Going under the hammer we've got the glass dome of flowers that neither Charlie nor Elizabeth liked.

Geoff is hoping his Corgi cars will drive the bidders wild.

And finally Jean's selling her inkwell her husband thought was a painting.

And auctioneer Simon Jones thinks it might have been mistakenly identified by our expert too.

Great story here. This belongs to Jean.

-Her husband bought it by mistake in auction.

-Good place to buy things.

Charlie put £250-£300 on this.

But he dithered a bit because he put a reserve of £200 on it.

So his valuation really is £200-£300. What do you think?

I think...

A - that it's not early Worcester or early 19th century Worcester,

but it's super quality.

Yes, they'll get it away, but it will be a bit touch and go.

-OK. Away at the lower end?

-Lower end, yes.

Gosh. If it sells at £200, they've lost 50%.

If they'd bought a motor car they'd have lost 100%.

But I'm not sure that would be much of a consolation to Jean.

Anyway, first up it's Elizabeth's unloved dome.

Elizabeth and Doug, your glass dome is about to go under the hammer.

-Not literally.

-No, of course not!

We're looking for around £50-£60, hopefully £70.

Not keen on the flowers. They didn't start out life together, did they?

No, they're completely different, aren't they?

-It would look lovely with a skeleton clock in it.

-Ideal.

If it doesn't sell, we can take it home

and use the glass as a cloche in the garden.

It's got to sell! It has no reserve.

-I know.

-It's a good idea, isn't it, as a little cloche?

As a little bell cloche?

Let's get down to business, this is it.

There we go, nice flower arrangement.

Under the dome shape.

£50, £60 for it?

£40 to start me?

£40 I'm bid. 45 anywhere?

£40? You all happy at £40? For the flower arrangement, all done at £40.

-Yes, the hammer's gone down.

-Good.

£40.

-It's better than nothing, isn't it?

-Much better.

-That's good, isn't it?

-Yes.

-Happy?

-Yes, thank you.

Pleasure.

At least it's profit

and the glass dome is saved from being moved to Elizabeth's garden.

Jean's up next with her inkwell mistake.

This is a great lesson in being alert,

staying focused in a packed sale room.

Write the lot numbers down correctly!

Because things do go wrong. I've bought the wrong thing as well.

I've done that.

I was sent to buy a rosewood table once and bought a piano.

Anyway, OK.

The inkwell, it wasn't the picture you wanted.

-You paid £400 for it.

-Yes.

Charlie, you put a valuation of £250 to £300.

-Yes.

-Now, I had a chat to Simon just before sale started.

He thinks it might struggle.

So, you had a word with him, didn't you?

You've now lowered the reserve to £100.

I'm sure it's going to go for a couple of hundred. It's got to.

Let's think positively, OK?

-We need to.

-We do. Here we go.

Lot 46 is the porcelain inkwell there. Nice bone china one.

What shall we say,

a couple of hundred pounds for it?

£180 I'm bid, £190.

Straight in at 180.

-At £180 for the inkwell, all finished.

-The hammer's gone down,

-Straight in, straight out.

-I wasn't that far out.

-You weren't.

-No. You've got to be happy.

-I'm pleased with that.

-You've lost little bit of money.

-That was years ago.

-You haven't left a bid on anything today, have you?

-No.

I think Jean's now learnt her lesson,

to check the right lot numbers.

Geoff's up next with his toy cars.

Will he change his mind and keep them though?

£80-£150, somewhere around there we'd be happy with.

Who have you brought along, Geoff?

-This is my good lady, Carol.

-Hi.

Hi, Carol. Why is he flogging off his toys?

They should be carefully boxed up in the attic for the next generation.

That's what they've been for the last generation.

-You're having a clear out?

-Yeah.

We have two sons, so who would you leave it to?

-It goes.

-It goes.

I guess with two boys you'll be putting their stuff in the attic now.

You can't get in there.

I'm actually a bit concerned though because when we did the valuation,

Geoff, he wouldn't stop playing with his cars.

I don't blame him. That's what they meant for.

-I'm worried he doesn't want to let them go.

-Say goodbye, they're going under the hammer.

Lot 227, the Corgi car transporter.

With the six cars in its original box.

Here we go.

What can we say for that? £90 I'm bid, £95.

£90 then, you're all happy at £90?

£95. £100. £110. £120.

£130. £140.

£150. £160. £170.

This is good!

£190. £200. £190 then,

standing by the door at £190. All done at £190.

Brilliant result.

Well done, Tracy.

And well done you because obviously you've looked after it.

The box is so important.

I threw all my boxes away when I got my toy cars for Christmas.

You've got to take Carol out for lunch now, don't forget.

-Oh, is that the deal?

-That's the deal.

Well, it shouldn't be any old trucker's cafe for wife Carol.

The Corgi car transporter exceeded all our expectations

and was obviously a must-have for the toy collectors.

While in Oxford, I've come to find out about a book which we all take for granted,

yet which in its original form took 70 years to complete and ran to 10 volumes.

Today, we know it as the Oxford English Dictionary.

The Oxford English Dictionary was a great feat of Victorian ingenuity

and determination as great as any engineering achievement of that age.

And it still remains the ultimate authority on the English language.

When it was first published in 1928 by the Oxford University Press,

it listed over 400,000 words

and included not only their meaning but their historical route too.

To hear the story of this monumental undertaking icon to meet

the Oxford University Press's head of archive, Martin Moore.

So had the idea of the dictionary come about then, Martin?

Well, the dictionary was the idea of a group of academics in London in the 1850s.

They were called the Philological Society.

And to mark Queen Victoria's reign, they decided to make a dictionary that was bigger and better

than any made before, such as the great dictionary by Samuel Johnson in the 18th century.

The problem with Samuel Johnson's dictionary was that it only listed 43,000 words

and it was tainted by definitions that reflected his own prejudice.

Most famously, he defined oats as a grain given to horses in England

but which in Scotland supports the people.

It is perhaps ironic then that the great genius of the Oxford English Dictionary

was a Scot, James Murray, who took over as editor in 1879.

So how did the project change under the leadership of James Murray?

James Murray was a remarkable man, a schoolteacher from Scotland.

He never had the money to go to university and get a formal degree,

but it's quite clear he had a mind that would put most Oxford professors to shame.

Among many other accomplishments,

James Murray taught himself about 40 different languages.

-Really?

-He could speak, read and write them all.

And he sees that the dictionary requires far more organisation

and resources than the society had first thought.

It's Murray who puts out an appeal to readers in the English language

to come forward and to read texts for the dictionary.

We begin to talk about hundreds and hundreds of readers

sending in information to Murray and his colleagues.

The readers worked as word detectives, scouring every possible type of printed text

from medieval literature to scientific journals,

from song sheets to recipe books, even wills,

collecting words and their meanings.

They then sent quotations to Murray and his team

on half sheets of notepaper and within a short while,

over a thousand quotation slips a day

were arriving in an outbuilding in Murray's back garden.

And you had to obviously check every single form that came back?

Indeed. They have to take every piece of paper,

they have to go round libraries in Oxford or beyond...

Double-checking?

Double-checking. And then check that everything written out by hand

matches the printed version down to the very last full stop.

You can see at the top left of this slip, the word "emperorship" has been written out.

This is what dictionary makers call "the head word."

You'll see a sentence written out, showing how the head word, "emperorship",

has been used in a certain text and then you can see

a piece of information telling you where that sentence occurs.

It's mind-boggling, isn't it? It really is.

So, all the people that actually wrote in with these little forms were obviously academics themselves.

I guess at that time, half the population of the country couldn't read or write anyway.

Literacy wasn't as widespread as it is now, certainly.

But not everybody who contributed these slips

of paper to the dictionary was a professional academic.

One of the largest contributors to the first edition was a man called William Minor.

Minor was an American surgeon.

He served during the US Civil War and became very disturbed

as a result of the experiences he went through there.

He came to England to try and recover, but in fact he got worse and murdered somebody.

And as a result of that, he was incarcerated for life in Broadmoor Hospital.

Of course, Dr Minor had nothing else to do with his life but to read.

-Put pen to paper?

-Indeed he did.

Is one of these slips his?

And as we can see here,

this is one of the slips that he would send to Murray.

Gosh, look at the tiny writing.

He's one of the great invisible architects of the dictionary, as it were.

One of the main people behind the scenes,

contributing information to this amazing text.

Minor wasn't the only unusual contributor to the dictionary.

Murray had 11 children and they earned pocket money sorting the 3.5

million quotation slips that Murray and his team had to deal with.

Even so, it was obvious that the enormous task of cataloguing every word used in the English language

would take longer than anyone had thought.

-How long did it take him?

-Well, it even surprised Murray, for all his genius.

The first little part of the dictionary to five years to appear in print.

And that went from the letter A to the word "ant".

-You're joking!

-This is just a tiny part of the language.

Other bits of the language prove to be easier.

The dictionary picks up speed as it goes along.

But even so, sadly, James Murray did not live to see the end of the first edition of the dictionary.

James Murray died in 1915.

And by that time, the dictionary had got to the letter T.

So, he could see the winning post, he just did not live long enough to get to it.

It was left to other editors to carry on the work and so the

first edition of this amazing piece of scholarship is finished in 1928.

It does not take 10 years, it takes over 40 years to assemble this single text.

Wow.

Today, the complete Oxford English Dictionary contains over 500,000

entries and 100 new words are submitted for inclusion every month.

So it looks like the job Murray dedicated his life to will never truly be done.

Back at the valuation day in Oxford's Sheldonian Theatre,

we're busy collecting entries for the auction.

Look at that. Isn't that scary?

And Diana has come all the way from Sussex to get her dolls valued.

Di, little and large. And you've brought these along to Oxford and you don't live here, do you?

-No, I don't.

-On a little trip.

Yes, yes. I don't think they've ever been to Oxford so I thought they'd like a day out.

Have you ever been to Oxford?

-No, I haven't.

-That makes three of you. Fantastic.

So you're hoping to pay for your trip to Oxford.

-Indeed, yeah. Hope so.

-Where have these come from?

They were given to me by my mother, obviously when I was much younger.

But the thing is that because of their fragile nature...

They're porcelain-headed dolls, yes.

I wasn't allowed to play with them much.

Obviously they would break.

I know she had them for her childhood as well.

So they obviously go back a fair bit.

-And is she still alive?

-No, she's not.

-If she were, how old would she be?

She'd be 98.

That's interesting. I think she had them probably new as a child.

Do you know who made them?

-No.

-Do you know where they were made?

No. I know nothing else than that, no.

If you look at the back of the necks of the doll, it will usually tell you all you want to know.

-Oh, right.

-I have looked at the back here, and there are the initials AM,

which stands for Armand Marseille,

who was a very famous doll manufacturer.

Russian-born, emigrated to Germany and started a factory in Koppelsdorf,

and was making dolls up until 1930.

I'd think these are 1920 or thereabouts.

-So they're German-made?

-They're German-made dolls.

It's in reasonable condition.

When you lie her down, the eyes close.

But I'm afraid the eyelashes have gone.

There has been some damage to the hands.

It's a composition body, obviously, not a porcelain body.

Just the head is porcelain.

The damage goes against her quite a bit.

And fashion goes against her.

-10, 15 years ago, considerably more saleable than she'd be now.

-Really?

Yeah. But this is quite exciting, isn't it, this one.

If we lift her up, lift up her skirt, pardon her blushes,

mechanical - which you knew, presumably.

-Have you the key?

-I don't, unfortunately.

-No, but presumably, wind her up and she walks along.

-I think so, yes.

I'm surprised that she'd maintain balance, to be honest.

Her feet are quite small and they aren't really flat at the bottom.

You'd think she'd probably topple over.

But never the less, the fact that she's mechanical must add something to the value.

If we turn her over, look at the back of her neck,

we'll find something.

No maker's name, sadly, but the word Germany.

So there we are, another German doll.

And a number underneath - four and a half.

That's the size head.

Like a pair of shoes, the size of doll, going up to 13, 14 for a bigger-headed doll.

For a big head.

Exactly. So how much are we going to get you for them? How much do you want for them?

-That's a different matter.

-Well, as much as you can get, actually.

Of course we'll be doing that. Well, the auctioneer will.

I don't know. I thought perhaps 80 to 100 for each of them.

Right, I don't think you're far out, actually.

This is a doll, five to 10 years ago, that probably would have made £300. I know, I know.

But sadly not any more.

I think

80 to 100 isn't a bad estimate. That's about right.

I think this one has the potential to be worth more because it's mechanical.

But the condition is no better.

I'd like to estimate these dolls at 150 to 200 for the two, which is a

-bit below what you thought, and a reserve at £120.

-OK.

Are you happy - well, you're not happy but you're reasonably satisfied with that?

-I accept, yeah.

-I think it's the right money, to be honest.

They're not going to make three or four hundred pounds.

If they do, we'll have a very, very lucky day.

-We'll have a drink on it!

-We will!

Well, I think Diana's eyes were really opened to the true value of her dolls.

She was a little bit disappointed.

However I'm sure I'm not going to disappoint

Duncan and Gillian, who have bought in a stunning gold pocket watch.

So how did you come by this? This is a full-hunter.

Well, we found it in a drawer at my mother's after she died in 1985.

But I believe before that, it belonged to her brother.

But the history before that, I don't know a lot about.

It might have been grandpa's but I don't know the age of it at all.

-So where's it been, Gillian?

-In a drawer, in my jewellery box!

Did you ever use it at all?

Yes, I was in the Royal Air Force

-and I used to wear it on my mess kit.

-Did you?

-With a waistcoat.

God, I bet you were the envy of everybody there, weren't you?

-Yeah.

-This is lovely, a full-hunter which means it's built for hunting,

shooting, fishing, something like this, you can be practical with it.

A half-hunter would have just a little window in the front,

slightly more delicate just so you could see the face.

It's nice, it's got a subsidiary dial, look, a second hand.

This is nine-carat gold.

If you look on the back there, you can see the whole thing was made in

Birmingham, there's the assay mark for Birmingham, the anchor sign.

And there's the date letter, that was made in 1924.

Earlier pocket watches would have needed a key to wind them, which you'd find on your fob chain.

This is a self-winder. But looking at the back, if you can

see here, look at that, it's also marked Rolex there but can you see?

Look, it says 17 jewels.

Yes.

-Now, most pocket watches will run on seven jewels.

-Oh, right.

So the higher the jewel content, the more valuable the watch.

-But when they talk about jewels, they talk about these little rubies. Can you see them in there?

-Yes.

That's what the movement is mounted on.

Because they're so hard-wearing, they never wear down.

And that's why it keeps such accurate time.

One of these sold recently in auction in 2002 and it made £400.

-Right.

-A nine-carat one.

But you've also got the fob.

-That's lovely as well, that came with the watch, didn't it?

-Yes.

If I put that on here, look.

It's 51.2 grams.

The current price for gold right now is around £8.70 so if I put in

8.70 times 51.2 equals

445.

-so the chain alone is worth £445.

-Gosh.

In scrap value.

So put the two together, we've got around £800.

Gosh.

-I'm surprised.

-Yes.

What do you want to do, do you want to put that into auction or

do you want to keep it now you know it's worth a lot?

-I think we still want to sell it.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

Well if you're happy, I'd like to put this into the sale with a valuation of £600-800.

-OK? A bit of discretion on the 600 just to kick things off, get everybody excited. OK, happy?

-Yes.

-Yes.

-We'll see what this one does later on.

They often say you've got to have quality or quantity

and Evelyn's got lots of both with her cigarette card collection.

It includes some highly desirable cards from the tobacco manufacturer Taddy & Co.

In my line of business, I quite often see collections of cigarette

cards, Evelyn, but you've got the most amazing collection here.

Some of them in their original boxes and everything.

So how did you come to own such an amazing collection?

-They were my father's.

-Right.

He's died and we've been helping my mother sort out all the stuff he's left behind.

And all these cards were there.

And he was obviously an avid collector?

Yes, but I mean a lot of these are from his childhood as well.

So I presume they were his father's because this is only a sample of his collection.

Really? Just a sample, so how many have you got in the entire...?

-There are hundreds.

-Hundreds and hundreds.

And is there any particular sets that you like?

-I like this one, this Cries of London.

-Oh, Cries of London.

-I think this is an interesting one.

-And that's John Players' one.

Let's just pop one out. They're just wonderful pictures, aren't they?

-They are.

-And this is the sellers and the people that are

working the streets of London so just really, really lovely.

I have a little favourite as well because I've had a little browse through them.

And I love this Safety First.

But they're the 1920s and '30s cars and I love fashion, anything fashion-orientated and the great

thing about these is you can look at them and see what they were wearing.

You can see the ladies in the little fur-trim coats and just a lovely collection.

And I know that there are more than this so what sort of price did you have in mind?

-I really don't know.

-You don't know.

Well, I can tell you that what we have here are Taddy's and Taddy's, depending again on the imagery on

the front, whether it's a full set, whether there's a rare card in it, can make pretty good money.

-Here, we're probably talking sort of about £5 per card.

-Really?

-Yes.

-So are you quite pleased with that?

-Yes.

These are fab because they're in their original boxes.

And I haven't personally seen a huge collection of cards like this in their original boxes before.

But I want to put a fairly conservative estimate on it

to encourage people to come along, have a look.

-So I'm thinking of a region of around £100, £150 for the lot.

-OK.

In the hope that will encourage people to come along and cigarette card buyers, or collectors, they

-like to have a really good look and look at each individual card, check on condition, things like that.

-Yes.

-So I think these could fly, so if you're happy, we'll put them in at £100-150 and see how they do.

-OK.

We're only going to be selling this small part of Evelyn's collection but it should give her a good idea

of what the rest of the collection might be worth.

If you're starting to declutter and want to find out whether your antiques

and collectibles are worth anything at auction, why not bring them along to one of our valuation days?

Check the details in your local press or log on to bbc.co.uk/programmes.

Click F for Flog It, follow the links and hopefully we're in a town very near you soon.

If you've got any unwanted antiques or collectibles you want to sell, we'd love to see you. Let's Flog It.

Today we're selling our lots at the auctioneers Jones & Jacob

in Watlington in Oxfordshire and coming up...

We've got Diana's dolls which are looking for a new home.

Evelyn's got an awful lot of cigarette cards to sell and our final lot is the superior quality

gold watch, and heavy gold chain which our auctioneer Simon Jones has decided to split into two lots.

This belongs to Duncan and Gillian

and I understand why you've split them up because obviously it'll push

-the watch collectors if they've got a lot of Albert chains.

-That's right.

But deep down, something in my heart is saying to me I hope whoever buys the watch, buys the chain.

-Which way's it coming round first?

-Watch first, chain second.

I thought so. I hope they stay together, because they look good together.

It would be nice to think they would but I'll lay money that they don't.

No, but nevertheless, there's a combination here of around £600-800.

That's right, I mean the gold in the chain itself is over £400 worth in

the chain and there's probably jolly nearly the same in the watch itself.

I don't think we'll have any trouble, there's a lot

of really good silver and jewellery, gold in the sale and so they'll come and have a really good crack at it.

I'm sure Simon's done the right thing and by splitting them up,

we've a better chance of getting the top end of the estimate.

Before that, it's the sale of the two German dolls, brought in by Diana.

Unfortunately, the prospects for one meant this was a pair best kept together.

Beautiful, beautiful quality on the heads, though.

They always were, weren't they?

Lovely, lovely workmanship.

And one's slightly articulated, how does that work, do you know?

I don't know, I haven't actually ever seen it working but it's got a mechanical piece inside.

-The ordinary Armand Marseille bisque-headed dolls have really dropped in value.

-Have they?

Because they were fetching £200-300.

They were, but they don't seem to be any more but the mechanical ones are of more interest now.

OK. So fingers crossed, there's a collector here, that's going to want to add to their collection.

Or more than one collector.

Well, that's what we want, isn't it?

Exactly, you know the game! Let's find out, shall we?

Lot 240, it's the Armand Marseille bisque-headed doll.

And another one.

What can we say for those, 150 for them? 120 to start me, then.

120, I'm bid, 130 anywhere?

-Ooh.

-At 120, 130. 140, 150.

160. 170.

160, standing by the door at 160. Are you all happy at 160?

All done at 160?

Just, well done, Diana. 160.

-I'm pleased.

-Because you didn't want to take them home, did you?

-No.

-Where have they been anyway, since your mother passed away, in a drawer?

-Cupboard under the stairs.

-There you go!

Poor things! Hopefully they've gone to a collector who'll give them a little bit of TLC.

Now, we're selling a small part of Evelyn's cigarette card collection.

-We've got a few hundred here but I know there's how many, 10,000 or something?

-Altogether.

-Altogether.

-We haven't put 10,000 in.

No, I know but that's a lot of collecting, isn't it?

-That's grandfather and father?

-Yes.

You had so many, it was physically impossible for me to go through every one.

-And they're so particular, cigarette card collectors.

-Mm.

-Yes.

-There's probably one in there that could be worth hundreds.

A lot of money, the missing one to somebody's set, the incomplete one.

I think you should easily exceed the estimate.

Fingers crossed. Good luck.

The collection of Player's, Wills and other cigarette cards,

all sorts in there.

80, £90, start me for these?

£80 I'm bid. 85. 90 anywhere?

90, 95, 100. 110, 120.

120, 130. 140.

150. 160. 170. 160 then, seated at 160.

It is yours at 160. All done then, at £160, you all done?

-Hey, you were spot on.

-Yeah, wasn't bad actually!

-Excellent.

-Complete guess!

-£160. Well done, well done. Are you happy with that?

-Yes, very happy.

Does that give you a gauge on what the others might be worth?

It does, yes. Although hopefully there's a very rare one in there.

-Tucked away somewhere, yes.

-That would be nice.

What will you do with the rest of them? Are you going to carry on keeping them?

No, I'm not going to keep them permanently, no.

Maybe put them into auction here at another time?

-Yes, yes.

-Well, you've tested the market and it works.

-Yes.

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

Based on that sale, the rest of Evelyn's collection could easily make four figures.

Now it's time to sell the Rolex watch and chain brought in by Duncan and Gillian.

Simon Jones is having a break so the sale of

these final lots will be handled by auctioneer Francis Ogley.

I've been joined by Duncan because Gillian is down the front.

She's got her eye on something that she wants to buy,

it's a very close lot to the one where the watch is.

The auctioneer's decided to split them up, you know that.

He sent you a copy of the catalogue, the watch can go to a collector,

the Albert chain may go to the jewellery trade

but it may stay with the watch.

-That's right.

-I'm still hoping for that top end plus.

I'm really hoping for that top end plus, there's been some good sales this morning already.

-Flying out of the door, aren't they?

-They are.

-Great.

-And nothing's been unsold.

-No, nothing's sticking.

-A good day.

The auctioneer's happy. Right, let's make his day, shall we?

And yours. Here we go. This is it.

The Rolex full-hunter pocket watch, white enamel dial to it.

300 for that?

250, start me. 250?

250 I've got. 250, 260 anywhere?

260. 270. 270, 280. 290.

300. At £300, selling at 300.

-All done at 300? 310. 320. 330.

-That's better.

-Yeah.

-320 then. At £320?

All done at 320?

OK, hammer's gone down. 320.

Slightly less than I was hoping for.

Yes, a little bit. Let's see if we can make it up on the chain.

-See what happens with the chain.

-Here we go.

322, we have the Albert, a nine-carat gold Albert.

Went with the preceding lot, the watch. 300 for that?

290. 300. 310.

320. 330. 340. 350. 360. 370. 380?

At 370, at 370.

380. 390? At 380.

-380. 390? At 380, all done at 380?

-The hammer's gone down.

-That's better.

-That's better, isn't it?

£380, both sold in the room.

Interestingly enough, to separate bidders.

-Yes.

-So they did get separated.

-They did get separated.

That gives us a grand total of £700 which is pretty good because we said at the valuation, £600-800.

-So it's in the middle of the estimate.

-Yeah. Happy?

-Yeah, happy.

-That's good, isn't it?

Well, the watch has been sat in the drawer, it's been doing nothing,

and we've now turned it into something we can make some use of.

The value of gold has gone through the roof in the last few years, and Duncan and Gillian's watch

and chain have proved that you can get a great price at auction.

That's it, it's all over and what a fabulous day we've had here in Oxfordshire.

I hope you've enjoyed the show because I know our owners have, they've all gone home very happy.

So until the next time, from us it's cheerio.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd