An guest fought back tears when he found out the staggering value of his family war medals.
On Sunday (December 15), the hit antiques show returned to our screens with broadcaster Fiona Bruce at the helm. This week, the 60-year-old broadcaster took a trip to Belfast’s Botanic Gardens where she welcomed locals to bring in their prized possessions to be appraised on the show.
Towards the end of the show, expert Mark Smith welcomed an excited guest onto the show with his collection of wartime medals. Alongside the collection of nine miniature medals, he also brought in a letter of authenticity and a silver folk which featured the German swastika on it.
And it’s fair to say the expert antiques guru was equally impressed by his possessions. He confessed: “My friends say to me, ‘You must see some amazing things when you do the Roadshow’, and today I’ve seen an amazing thing.
“We’ve got a miniature set of medals here, a set of medals that you wear in the evening on your evening dress when you go out to dinner.
:
One unlucky Antiques Roadshow guest missed out on a £1m valuation (Image: BBC)
“So, these are the miniatures of Lieutenant Blair ‘Paddy’ Mayne, one of the founding soldiers of the SAS – special air service – and these were given by his niece.
“I know you’ve got lots, lots more stuff but we couldn’t fit it round the table because you’ve brought tons.” In awe of the proud owner’s collection, Mark informed viewers of the importance of the brave soldier during World War II.
He explained: “Some people have an idea of what this man did. He is part of the very beginnings of the special air service when the amalgamated with a long-range desert group.
“They are going behind enemy lines and they are blowing up convoys and air bases and all sorts of things. And as the way continues, he goes on many, many more SAS missions. All of them you could have considered on the day that you were not going to come back from.”
The owner added: “And as you mentioned, the first fledgling SAS, the first operation failed and in the second operation, this fork here, he took this as a souvenir from the mission which he destroyed from the aircraft.”
Don’t miss… [REACTION] [EXPLAINED]
The collection of miniature medals were valued at £50,000 (Image: BBC)
The expert added: “And this sealed the SAS in the World War II, and that’s what starts it all off. It’s an incredible story.” Unfortunately, ten years after the war came to an end, Lieutenant Blair ‘Paddy’ Mayne died at the age of 40 when his vehicle collided with a lorry in the early hours of the morning in 1955.
Reflecting on the owner’s collection of miniature medals, and his enormous collection of antiques, he shared his eye-watering valuation. He revealed: “If you had the big ones, they are monumental enough to command a million pounds.
“That would easily be the price because of who this man is. The miniatures and the other things that you have, are around about £50,000.
“For someone like me who has read about these people for all of my life, it is such a privilege to see such a set of medals. Thank you so much for bringing those along.”
Antiques Roadshow airs on Sundays from 8pm on One or catch up on iPlayer.