An Antiques Roadshow guest was left so stunned she struggled to catch her breath when she learned the staggering value of her “dumb” grandmother’s Olympic gold medal.
Expert appraiser Adam Schoon gave the good news to Julia, who had brought with her a collection of swimming medals.
His haul of impressive prizes included a gold medal from the 1924 Paris Olympics that belonged to his grandmother Lucy Morton.
Julia explained that Lucy had started swimming when she was 10 and had participated in the Paris Olympics, but no one expected her to do very well.
Carrying a photo, he said: ‘That’s my grandmother Lucy Morton, swimming, she started swimming when she was about 10.
An Antiques Roadshow guest was left so stunned she could hardly catch her breath after learning the staggering value of her “silly” grandmother’s Olympic gold medal.
The haul of impressive prizes included a gold medal from the 1924 Paris Olympics that belonged to his grandmother Lucy Morton.
Julia explained that Lucy Morton had started swimming when she was 10 and had competed in the Paris Olympics and, although no one expected her to do very well, she won gold in the 200m.
‘What happened was that her father said to her: “You’re very stupid at school, you don’t seem to be doing very well” and she decided: “Let’s try swimming.”
The BBC’s resident pundit was intrigued by the haul and noticed there were several smaller racing medals.
He said: ‘Let’s go back to your remarkable rise, because you are covered in gold medals.
“I noticed there are a number of medals around here that she would have won, I suppose, in county races, national races. She’s breaking world records.
‘These are all 15-carat gold, but of course all these smaller medals add up to this one here.’
Adam then pointed to the largest medal, an Olympic gold one, and Julia was more than happy to explain her story.
She said: ‘In 1923, they really took a keen interest in her and asked her to take up swimming in preparation for the 1924 Paris Olympics.
‘He trained and went to Paris in 1924. He wasn’t expected to win or anything.
The appraiser was very impressed and told the guest that she was right to be proud and revealed that Julia could be in for a surprise and that her gold medal could be worth £15,000.
Julia was shocked to discover that her grandmother’s medal collection could be worth at least £30,000 and that smaller medals could fetch up to £15,000.
‘Unfortunately, from what I heard, some of the Americans had caught some kind of virus.
‘She did the final race in the 200-meter breaststroke and everyone was apparently cheering her on, she got to the end and had a partner and the partner said to her ‘You won!’
‘I took her out of the pool and put her robe on. She was actually the first swimmer to win a gold medal in swimming for Great Britain.
“I’m very proud of her. At that age, in that era, women didn’t do anything like that and having swum at 27 I think was quite old at that time.”
The appraiser was very impressed and told the guest that she was right to be proud and revealed that Julia might be in for a surprise when she found out what just one of her grandmother’s medals could be worth.
He explained that the medal was quite rare, and although it was made of silver, it was one of only 304.
He said: ‘It was designed in Paris by a man called André Rivaud, it was made at the Paris Mint and only 304 were made as far as I know.’
Julia shared that her grandmother Lucy continued in the swimming world even after her own career had ended.
The impressive athlete coached the Olympic team and acted as a mentor to other swimmers from around the country.
She said: “He loved it. It was his life.”
Finally, Adam revealed what he thought the medal was worth.
He said to Julia: ‘So, in terms of valuation, Olympic medal, £15,000?’
The guest was so shocked by the news that she had trouble catching her breath, but she smiled at the huge sum.
—What? The only medal? —he gasped.
The expert went on to suggest that all the other medals could be worth another £15,000, making Julia’s total hoard worth at least £30,000, but the valuer added that the most valuable thing was Julia’s grandmother’s record.
The sporting revelation comes after fans were left “screaming” in front of their screens when a pundit apparently “ruined” a guest’s rare scrapbook on an episode of the BBC show earlier this week.
In a repeat show broadcast on Sunday evening, stunned viewers quickly realised the mistake made by expert Fuchsia Voremberg.
A woman went to the grounds of Salisbury Cathedral to find out the value of her great-uncle’s book from when he was in the army.
The delicate item was crafted from printed scraps and ferns from the 1890s that her relative sent home from India, the woman revealed.
