Bargain Hunt star left gobsmacked after discovering unassuming £1m object in cardboard box

Daily Record

22-05-2025

BBC Bargain Hunt expert Richard Madley was left speechless when he uncovered the item in a cardboard box and discovered its staggering value.
A BBC Bargain Hunt expert was left gobsmacked when he uncovered a priceless artefact in a cardboard box - which he went on to sell for £1M. Antiques guru Richard Madley was quizzed about the most eye watering profit he's ever made as an expert in the field - and the star had the perfect response.
Richard recalled: 'I found a gold medal in a cardboard box which I sold for £1million, and a small lead Henry Moore sculpture I found in a Wiltshire farmhouse made £320,000. Oh yes - I found and sold some old rugby jerseys and photos found in an airing cupboard which I sold for £60,000. But who's counting!'
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On Bargain Hunt specifically, Richard's best find was a 'vintage scratch-built green painted toy train c.1930, which cost me all of £5 in Cardiff Antiques Market and went on to sell very well at auction in Carmarthen.' Richard's hobby of collecting rare finds started from a young age and developed into a skill which proved profitable enough for him to purchase his first home.
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Explaining how he turned his hobby into money, he told the BBC: 'I started with stamps then moved to coins but became hooked on bottles (all by the age of 11). My father bought me a box of Britains lead soldiers which I added to, then sold them all to buy my first house.
'I built up an impressive collection of postcards which I sold to re-roof that first house. I built up an even better collection of Poole Pottery over twenty years which I sold to pay school fee
My current area of collecting is Wisden Cricketers' Almanacks, which I will probably sell to finance my nursing home fees!'
Richard's find is not the only £1M item that's been uncovered on Bargain Hunt as his co-star Christina Trevanion was equally as stunned when she was informed that a set of tribal masks could sell for as much as £2M, at auction, the Express reports.
She spied expert Sam Hanbury-Maiden's collection, which was 'highly desirable for collectors'.
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In the episode, she spoke with expert Sam Hanbury-Maiden, about the complexities of determining the age and origin of tribal art pieces.
Intrigued by the collection, Christina asked Sam: "This looks like a fascinating collection. But what do we mean by the term tribal art? "
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He replied: "Essentially Christina we are talking about pieces that are of a non-European nature. Tribal art is a term that covers North and South America, Africa, and certain parts of Asia."
Sam then provided Christina with a tour of some tribal art examples, including everyday items such as tools and jewellery, explaining that they qualify as tribal art because "they are made by artisans. "
Turning to the face masks, Sam continued: "These masks are from about the 1400s to the 1460s. One of the biggest giveaways with the mask is actually not the front, it's the back.
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"You're looking at signs of wear that essentially comes from being worn on the side of the face or on top of the head.
"This mask for example from the Yoruba Tribe has probably been painted several times as well. Looking with a magnifying glass you'll probably be able to see the different layers of paint."
He added:"This Yoruba mask, maybe a bit more, maybe £600 something like that. The big money-makers are things like the fang masks from Gabon (in central Africa).
"Again highly copied today, but a fang mask with a good providence today, dating from the 19th century could be a couple of million pounds."
Gobsmacked by the value of one item, a shocked Christina gasped: "£2 million, wow."