Antiques Roadshow guest gobsmacked at true value of £1.50 charity shop find

An Antiques Roadshow guest was left heartbroken when he found out the true value of a £1.50 charity shop item as it wasn't worth as much as he thought.

BBC antique expert Ronnie Archer-Morgan was seen investigating a tribal African figure one of the guests had brought along to an auction at Wollaton Hall.

Initially, the expert had high hopes for the item, having seen some genuine pieces go for up to £200,000.

READ MORE: Antiques Roadshow guest admits 'bargain' price they paid for very valuable item

"When you unwrapped this, my heart really skipped a beat," Ronnie told the owner of the antique figure.

"It's one of my favourite tribal African figures. Where did you get it?"

Ronnie went on: "They are so highly revered in the art world, that they have one of these in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. They are such iconic examples of African tribal art.

"They hammer the metal over the wood sculpture and then they chase the metal with these designs and it's the geometric design of them that makes them so desirable.

"They also influence the greatest modern artists of all time. They are very, very sought after."

After hearing Ronnie's speech about the sought-after figure, the owner appeared to have his hopes up about the price of the item as the antique expert revealed that a couple of years ago, the same item made over £200,000.

However, his hopes were soon slashed when Ronnie confirmed that it wasn't the same case for his charity shop find.

"Unfortunately, this one is a very fine copy," Ronnie confirmed. "It's slightly the wrong size and this was probably made in 1980.

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"One like this is probably worth about £150. Unfortunately, not the quarter of a million that one of them actually made."

"Well, it's a lot more than I paid for it," the owner quipped after confessing to handing over just £1.50 for the figure in a charity shop several years ago.

"It's 100 times more than what I paid for it."

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