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An Antiques Roadshow guest was left so stunned that she struggled to catch her breath after learning the mind-boggling value of her ‘dunce’ grandmother’s gold Olympic medal.
Expert valuer Adam Schoon delivered the good news to Julia, who had brought along a collection of swimming medals.
The haul of impressive awards included a gold medal from the 1924 Paris Olympics that belonged to her grandmother Lucy Morton.
Julia explained Lucy had started swimming when she was 10 and had entered the Olympics in Paris but no one expected her to do very well.
Bringing along a photo, she said: ‘That’s my grandmother Lucy Morton, swimming, she started swimming when she was about aged 10.
An Antiques Roadshow guest was left so stunned she was struggling to catch her breath after learning of the mind-boggling value of her ‘dunce’ grandmother’s gold Olympic medal
The haul of impressive awards included a gold medal from the 1924 Paris Olympics that belonged to her grandmother Lucy Morton
Julia explained Lucy Morton had started swimming when she was 10 and had entered the Olympics in Paris and although no one expected her to do very well she won gold in the 200m
‘What happened was her dad said “you’re too much of a dunce at school, you don’t seem to be doing very well” and he decided “let’s try swimming.”‘
The BBC resident expert was intrigued by the haul and noticed that there were several medals from smaller races.
He said: ‘Back to her remarkable rise, because it’s covered in gold medals.
‘I noticed that there’s a number of medallions around here which she would have won for, I presume, county races, national races. She’s setting world records.
‘All of these are 15-carat gold but of course, all these smaller medals build up to really this one here.’
Adam then pointed to the largest medal, an Olympic gold and Julia was more than happy to explain its backstory.
She said: ‘In 1923, they actually became very interested in her and they asked her to start swimming in preparation for the 1924 Paris Olympics.
‘She trained and she went to Paris in 1924. She wasn’t expected to win or anything.
The valuer 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 her gold medal could be worth £15,000
Julia was shocked by the revelation that her grandmother’s medal collection could be worth at least £30,000 with the smaller medals fetching £15,000
‘Unfortunately, some of the Americans had got some sort of bug from what I heard.
‘She made the final race in breaststroke 200m and everyone was apparently cheering, she got to the end and she had a chaperone and the chaperone said ‘You’ve won!’
‘Pulled her out of the pool, put her bathrobe on. She was actually the first female swimmer to win a gold medal in swimming for Great Britain.
‘I’m really proud of her. At that age, that time, females weren’t doing anything like that and to have actually swam at the age of 27, I think it was quite old back then.’
The valuer was very impressed and told the guest that she was right to be proud and revealed that Julia could be in for a surprise at what just one of her grandmother’s medal could be worth.
He explained that the medal was quite rare, and although it was made of silver guilt, it was one of only 304.
He said: ‘It was designed in Paris by a man called Andre Rivaud, it was made in the Paris mint and there were only 304 made as far as I know.’
Julia shared that her grandmother Lucy continued in the world of swimming even after her own career had finished.
The impressive athlete coached for the Olympic team and acted as a chaperone for other swimmers around the country.
She said: ‘She just loved it. It was her life.’
Finally Adam revealed what he thought the medal were worth.
He told Julia: ‘So when it comes to the valuation, Olympic medal, £15,000?’
The guest was so stunned by the news she struggled to catch her breath but grinned at the huge sum.
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‘What? The one medal?’ she gasped.
The expert went on to suggest that all the other medals could be worth another £15,000 making Julia total treasure trove worth at least £30,000 but the valuer added that the most valuable thing was the record of Julia’s grandmother.
The sporting revelation comes after fans were left ‘screaming’ at their screens when an expert seemingly ‘ruined’ a guest’s rare scrapbook in an episode of the BBC show earlier this week.
In a repeat programme aired on Sunday night, gobsmacked viewers were quick to spot the mishap made by expert Fuchsia Voremberg.
A woman took to the ground of Salisbury Cathedral to find out the worth of her great-great uncle’s book from when he was in the army.
The delicate item was made from printed scraps and ferns from the 1890s which her family member sent back home from India, the woman revealed.