Antiques Roadshow expert shocked by 'manky' item with huge valuation

An expert on the BBC version of Antiques Roadshow was gobsmacked by a "disgusting" item that came with a massive valuation.

A pair of guests presented two cases brimming with war medals from the early 19th century to expert Mark Smith, but they confessed they were uncertain on how to restore them, as they were in "horrible" condition.

Believed to be inherited from a father and son, the true identities of the medal recipients were unknown due to their condition.

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Smith began the appraisal by asking, "I've got to ask first of all, what have you done to them?" The guests admitted, "Well, we obviously haven't looked after them very well."

Among the collection, one medal was incorrectly displayed upside down. All were noticeably dirty.

Smith observed, "I can't see what it says around the rim because they're so dirty you can't actually read them." He discovered one medal from 1808 and others linked to the Syrian conflict in 1840.

The guests had a strange reaction to their collection, even describing the men who earned the medals as "pretty ugly."

However, Smith's excitement grew when he noted five clasps on a Syrian medal, exclaiming, "Three clasps - almost unheard of. Four, no. Five - wow. You have five, wow."

He passionately told the guests, "You have kept these in the most appalling condition that I have ever seen in any medals ever, and you need to give them to me so I can love them," highlighting the poor state of the medals."

When asked about restoration the medals would need, Smith advised, "Take the little screws off the back and see about returning them to their original spots."

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He then revealed, "I sat down and thought about this, that you've kept these medals in this awful condition, and they're worth £100,000 [$137,000]."

Despite describing the items as "horrible" and "manky," Smith left the guests speechless by unveiling the massive six-figure sum they could potentially earn from their family heirlooms, which they initially seemed indifferent to.

The pair was visibly stunned and speechless after being informed that their items exceeded even museum quality.

The expert explained that medals with five clasps are a rare sight, "even in naval museums."

Another guest on the BBC iteration of the show got a similar shock after she brought in a mysterious gold ring that she found in a badger hole. It turned out to be a centuries-old, rare, and valuable love token.

The guest, Sue Gilroy, from Ridley, Kent, found the odd gold band near the entrance to a badger hole while out on a walk. She cleaned it up and gave it to her daughter Charlotte, who loves wearing it.

However, still curious about its origins, Gilroy decided to take it to be appraised on the hit BBC show.

Experts on the show told her that it is a romantic "memorial ring" or "mourning ring" dating from the early 1700s. Rings such as these were often made and worn by the bereaved after the death of a lover.

The guest's particular ring contains a centerpiece that holds several strands of hair and a pair of initials.

There's also an inscription engraved inside that reads, "When this you see, remember me." The experts on the BBC show valued the ring at £1,000 [$1,350].

Gilroy told the Daily Express UK, "I spotted the ring only because I came across freshly-dug earth around a badger hole. We can make out that one of the two entwined initials might be a letter 'A.'"