Woman ‘shocked’ after pawnbroker reveals the true value of her late grandmother’s mirrors

A woman was stunned after a pawnbroker revealed on TV how much her late grandmother’s mirrors were really worth.

Holly Willoughby and Dermot O’Leary were joined by pawnbroker Dan Hatfield, who appraised a number of items live on Monday’s This Morning.

Sally called the show to ask Dan if he could tell her about the mirrors and how much they could be worth.

The caller was shocked to discover that her grandmother’s mirrors, bought for £200, were valued at £8,000.

She said: ‘They were bought in the 90s for around £200 but when she died there was a chip so they wanted to skip them, and I took them out of the container. So I said I’d get in touch and see if Dan can tell me anything about them.’

Dan replied, “Very interesting, these mirrors are beautiful, very intricate, now I would personally have to look at them again to make sure they are what I think they are.”

‘But do you have a chair to sit down because you could be in shock, if these ended up in a dumpster it would have been a mockery.

He continued: ‘By design they are Rococo design, we are looking at about 1750, they are George II, very nice detail and I can date it from the 1740s to the 1750s.

‘Mirrors were worth a fortune then, they were like the Rolex or the Rolls-Royce of their time, they were a status symbol that not everyone could afford.

He concluded: ‘Now I have to look in person, but I think they’re worth £6,000 – £8,000.’

Elsewhere in the show, Louise called to ask the value of her late mother’s jewelry and to find out the history of a drawing she had found.

Louise said, “My mother was a mystic and she left me a jewelry box, I mean that jewelry box has mystical rings and mystical chains and she did fortune telling with this ring, she was really connected to this box.

“I feel energy with the jewelry as opposed to the monetary value.”

Dan referred to the items as “a pawnbroker’s dream,” saying, “Some of this stuff we can sell as items, but some can melt down and see how much the gold is worth.”

Louise said she thought the jewelery was only worth around £200 but admitted she is not interested in the monetary value as it is sentimental to her.

Dan said, “I think it’s maybe 100 to 150 grams of gold, some of it could be 9 carats, some of it maybe 18 carats, gold costs about £18 a gram right now, if you weighed all of that you’d be looking to £3,000.”

Louise also said she found an old drawing of Liverpool at the bottom of the jewelery box.

Dan said, ‘This looks like a drawing of Lowry to me, the scribbling here is Lowry’s signature, I’m not saying it’s definitely that, but I’d have to look a little closer.

The pawn expert added some doubt to his original claim, noting that there are some unusual markings in the photo.

He said: ‘The smoke in the picture is coming out on the right, Lowry usually has smoke on the left.

Also the shadow on the water is a bit different from how Lowry would do it. I’m not 100% saying this is Lowry, but I’m 50/50 on it.”

The expert revealed that if it’s a Lowry drawing it would be worth £7,000, but he wanted to meet Louise to confirm it was by the famous artist.

Laurence Stephen Lowry was an English artist whose drawings and paintings mainly depict Pendlebury, Greater Manchester and Salford and its environs.

Lowry is famous for painting scenes of life in the industrial districts of North West England in the mid-20th century.

Elsewhere on the show, Jan called to find out the value of a fish-shaped Gucci bottle opener she found in her home.

The expert estimated the unusual item to be between £300 and £400.

Fay and her husband Garth found a necklace buried while they were renovating their garden.

Dan could tell it was “an Albert chain” that would have been attached to a pocket watch.

The silver chain dated back to the 1870s and Dan valued the item at £200.