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A guest on the Antiques Roadshow was left in shock after learning the huge value of the gold coins she found in her attic, as an expert confirmed they were real.
In an episode of the BBC show which aired over the weekend, antiques collectors took to Tarvit Mansion Fife, Scotland, to get their items valued.
Furniture expert Cristian Beadman was presented with a haul of gold coins, brought in by a woman who revealed she had found them in her attic, and was keen to know whether they were 'real'.
Looking at the coins that had been laid out on a cushion the table, Cristian admitted he was shocked to be valuing a coin collection and not pieces of furniture.
But that didn't stop him from giving the woman a mammoth valuation for the 23 solid gold coins, leaving her in total shock.
Cristian began: 'When you came to my table and said you had a coin collection, I thought, 'Oh dear, she hasn't read the blurb that we don't have a coin specialist or a stamp specialist.'
A guest on the Antiques Roadshow was left in shock after learning the huge value of the gold coins she found in her attic after an expert confirmed they were real
Cristian gave the coins a mammoth price as he took a close look at them in the show's most recent episode, filmed in Fife, Scotland
'A single coin collection can take a day to go through so we don't normally look at coins unfortunately. Then when I saw them, I thought I would have a go at these.'
The visitor revealed how she had discovered the coins in an ice cream tub that was tucked away in her loft - and with two of the coins stamped with Queen Victoria's image, presumed they were dated from the 1800s.
Cristian was quick to point out that the coins had been crafted from gold bullions, a high-grade gold with exceptional levels of purity.
'Nice attic find. I wish I'd bought your house,' Cristian joked. 'These are Gold Sovereign, you've got 21 Gold Sovereigns and two half Sovereigns.
'In theory, they are legal tender. You could spend it, but they're used as a form of storing wealth effectively.
'Now, something that's important is the dating on them because some of the earlier ones can fetch more for their collectible value than for their gold weight.
'The earliest ones here are late Victorian. The rest are either Edward VII, George V and George VI.
'They're largely late 19th and early 20th century. There are also some that have got a bit thumb worn, but there are still 21 Gold Sovereigns and two half Sovereigns.
The guest was left in total shock after Cristian revealed the price tag
Cristian admitted he was 'shocked' to be looking at the coins, given he's a furniture expert
You can get fakes that aren't gold, these are gold. Gold has outperformed everything for a few years now.'
The expert then revealed that while coins had been priced at around £400 per item around a year ago, they would now bag around £550 a piece.
It meant the guest's coins were worth between £10,000 and £15,000.
Cristian added; 'Who doesn't dream of running their fingers through chests full of gold coins, and you got it!'
The guest was seen celebrating: 'That's amazing! Absolutely amazing. They are absolutely beautiful coins as well.'
It comes after one of the experts on Antiques Roadshow was left physically shaking after a guest presented him with a 'heart-stopping item'.
Antiques expert Mark Hill was presented with an 18th-century microscope.
He admitted: 'When I saw this box coming down the queue, I was sitting down but my knees started to shake, because I know what's in this box.'
Examining the microscope, the excited expert said: 'What a beauty.'
The guest then explained that she'd inherited the item from her grandparents because she works in science - although she has always been too scared to actually use it.
She said: 'It's older than I thought it was, it was my grandparents', they left it to me.'
The guest continued: 'My grandparents had it for longer than my mum was alive, I don't really know the story behind it.
Mark went on to explain the mechanics of the microscope before adding: 'It's a wonderful instrument, it really makes my heart skip a beat.'
After a brief discussion, the all-important valuation was given by Mark, who said that the family heirloom could fetch a lot more than a pretty penny.
'This is a bit of a living room decoration, it's a cureo in your house, connected to your career,' he said. It's also £1,200 to £1,800.'
Antiques Roadshow airs Sundays on BBC One and is available to stream on iPlayer.
