Family heirlooms are often unique and special items, but one man certainly wasn’t expecting his late father’s gift to turn into a $400,000 fortune.
In an episode of Antiques Roadshow – which you can stream for free on 9Now – the guest presented expert Marc Allum with a selection of very unique walking sticks.
Stream episodes of Antiques Roadshow for free on 9Now.
“My father left this stick to me in his will,” he began, pointing to a stick with a large dog head for a handle.
“He’d always talked about walking stick manufacturing and I thought, ‘I need to know more about this.'”
He learned that his great-great-grandfather was the renowned operator of Henry Howell & Co, the world’s largest walking stick manufacturer in the late 19th century before the company “sadly went bust in 1936”.
Alongside the sticks, he also shared an album from the late 19th century that shows the production and design process at the factory.
Marc was absolutely floored by the photographs in the album, showing the company’s process for creating more than one-and-a-half million sticks per year.
“This is absolutely mind-boggling,” he said as he turned the pages.
Then, Marc turned his attention to the canes.
”Now this is an absolute treasure,” he said, picking up a stick with bulldog head as a handle.
“That bulldog is to me the epitome of English 19th century canes. Ivory, glass inset eyes, looking at the patination on that,” he gushed.
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He only became more impressed as he looked through further photos in the album and more canes, including one with a greyhound head handle and another an upside down shoe.
Then it came time for valuation, and Marc said some designs stood out more than others.
The bulldog and the greyhound, for instance, would fetch between $3100 to $4100 at auction with today’s exchange rate from British Pounds to Australian Dollars.
He suggested that when taking into account lesser valued canes as well, the man’s collection averaged out to about $1000 each.
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But what made this number especially impressive was the vast array of canes the man had acquired.
At the valuation, he had brought along about 30… but that wasn’t all he owned.
“You said you’ve got 400?” Marc said, stunned. “400 at an average of £500 [$1042] each is £200,000 [$416,000].”
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The guest was clearly shocked by the incredible math, shaking his head in disbelief.
“That’s ridiculous,” he reacted with a smile.
You can watch the full valuation in the video below.
Stream episodes of Antiques Roadshow for free on 9Now.
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