An Antiques Roadshow guest was gobsmacked when she discovered the staggering value of her three Jimi Hendrix Experience autographs from over 60 years ago.
During the show’s visit to Belfast’s Botanic Gardens, expert Raj Bisram couldn’t hide his excitement upon seeing the signed tickets.
He exclaimed: “Well I recognise these signatures, this one’s Jimi Hendrix, this is Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell.”
“The three of them were the Jimi Hendrix Experience. I mean, Jimmy was one of the greatest musicians that ever lived.”
“He was from Seattle originally and they met up in 1966. How did you get these?”
Antiques Roadshow guest exclaims What?! as she discovers value of memento from night she met Jimi Hendrix (Image: BBC)
An Antiques Roadshow guest brought in signed tickests from members of the Jimi Hendrix Experience: Jimi Hendrix, Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell. (Image: BBC)
The owner recounted: “I had a friend whose name is Gerry Fox and she was a great Hendrix fan because he had a song called Foxy Lady.
“She had a friend who managed to get us not only tickets but backstage press passes for the concert.
“It was part of the Queen’s University festival in Belfast, we were up at the front, it was very loud but it was a great concert.
“He did all his usuals at the end, playing the guitar with his teeth and I can’t really remember but I think he smashed a guitar at the end as well.”
“But he was quite famous for smashing guitars and set light to guitars but this particular concert was an unusual concert, because it was his birthday”, Bisram noted.
The guest recalled meeting the musician on his 25th birthday, sharing how the festival organisers had arranged for a birthday cake to be presented to him.
Chuckling at the memory, she said: “Don’t think he was eating the cake, from what I remember he was drinking from a bottle of whiskey”.
The girls didn’t have autograph books on them so hey had the band members scrawl their signatures on the back of their tickets instead.
Antiques Roadshow expert Raj Bisram valued a set of three Jimi Hendrix Experience autographs for at least £5,000. (Image: BBC)
Bisram was notably impressed, remarking, “And to have them all these years, to keep them in such good condition.”
After she revealed she safeguarded the mementos in an envelope, the appraiser responded: “I mean people do that but people forget where they put the envelope so to actually remember it and to keep these is absolutely lovely, because unfortunately he died very young which makes some of this memorabilia that he’s left behind even more valuable.”
When it came time to appraise the priceless autographs, he concluded: “As far as valuation is concerned, obviously Jimi Hendrix is the more valuable one but putting all three of them together, if these went into auction, they would somewhere between £5,000 and £7,000.”
The owner was visibly shocked by the value, gasping, “What?!” with Bisram coolly confirming, “Yes.”
“You’re joking,” she said, still flashing a grin, to which the expert assured her he was serious.
The segment concluded with the audience applauding the valuation, and the lady beaming in disbelief as she declared: “That’s crazy. Crazy, crazy, crazy.”
Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on One and iPlayer.