Antiques Roadshow’s biggest ever blunders – from £40k valuation error to ‘£1 million loss’

THE beloved Antiques Roadshow has been on our screens since 1979, but as well as the whopping evaluations there has been many awkward price blunders.

The hit BBC One show doesn’t always go to plan – as we take a look at guests who have suffered the biggest bargain blunders.

One Million Pound Painting

BBC

A guest was gutted his portrait was a copy[/caption]

One guest was left devastated after finding out their painting that shared its name with famous 17th century portrait painter Sir Peter Lely was a copy not the original.

Despite the painting’s impressive backstory, the expert revealed that it was likely a copy rather and valued it at around £5,000 to £10,000.

The guest was disappointed he missed out on £1 million, but took it in good spirits, stating that he still loved the painting and would be keeping it.

Student Art

BBC

Stephen was left embarrassed after a major blunder[/caption]

Expert Stephen Fletcher was left red in the face when he wrongly valued a “Pablo Picasso” style face jug at a huge price between $30,000 and $50,000 (£40,000).

However, a viewer got in touch with the show to reveal that the “grotesque jug face” was made by a friend of hers at school back in the 1970s.

The expert was forced to admit his mistake and he told The Guardian: “Obviously, I was mistaken as to its age by 60 to 80 years. I feel the value at auction, based on its quality and artistic merit, is in the $3,000-$5,000 range. Still not bad for a high schooler in Oregon.”

Fake Emerald

BBC

A couple were devastated the emerald was in fact glass[/caption]

A couple brought expert John Benjamin a six-piece jewellery set that dated back to the Victorian period which featured an emerald – or so they thought.

John had to break the news that it wasn’t a real emerald. He said: “I wish it was. It could be worth an absolute fortune. It would be worth, I don’t know, £100,000… but it’s glass.”

The pin was only worth £10, but the rest of the pieces were diamonds, meaning the collection was still worth between £15,000 and £20,000.

Fabric Fortune

BBC

Builders make a detrimental mistake throwing out what they thought was waste[/caption]

A guest came with an archive of fabrics that builders threw into a skip – missing out on a massive quarter of a million pounds.

Expert Ronnie Archer-Morgan revealed that they belonged to a very influential post-war textile designer named Althea McNish.

He said: “I know that half a square metre of certain of her designs can be £2,500; or a textile design itself can be that sort of money. I think this archive that you’ve brought to us here is worth in excess of £250,000.”

Antiques Roadshow airs on BBC One and iPlayer.