Since 2006, David Dickinson has been travelling up and down the country helping people get the best price for their unwanted items. And on Monday, July 18 he took viewers of Dickinson's Real Deal through some of his personal favourites deals.
The spin-off ITV show, Dickinson's Biggest and Best Deals, featured ex-serviceman John who had a collection of no-ordinary medals. Ex-special forces, John, played a crucial role in the Iranian embassy siege in 1980 and also served in Northern Ireland and the Falklands.
Among the medals on offer were the UN medal, the Northern Ireland medal, the Falklands medal, and the South Korea medal. Mark, the dealer was upfront with how much he wanted the medals. The independent valuation was £2,000 to £3,000, and the dealer initially offered a whopping £4,000. Yet, in a shocking turn of events, dealer Mark offered a staggering £10,000.
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However, due to the personal nature of the items Mark guaranteed £10,000 regardless, but agreed to send the medals to a specialist auction house for military goods. If anything over £10,000 was earned, the money would be split between Mark and John.
John was shocked at the generous offer. He said: "I didn't expect that much. You know it's very good and it's given me the feeling that maybe they are worth something. I'm looking forward to this auction.
"Originally I wasn't (selling them), I brought them to your show (Dickinson's Real Deal) to have them valued. When I found out how much they were worth, my daughter was heavily pregnant so I thought put a lot of it away just for her university education you know."
TV, telephone and newspaper interest was rife in the build up to the auction, and the stage was set for Real Deal history. Remarkably, the medals sold for a whopping £17,000.
Dickinson couldn't hide his excitement, saying: "I'm very excited and I have to tell you, I'm very relieved. Fantastic, what a result!"
Elsewhere, Dickinson introduced us to Barry who collected hundreds of super hero magazines over the years. Cheryl, the dealer advised him to go to auction, and Barry split the comics into seven lots. Overall, Barry's comics sold for a whopping £945.
A real trash to treasure story came later on in the show, couple Glenn and Meg brought in a broken gold piece of jewellery, which they found in the back of their drawer. The couple originally thought the item was worth nothing, however after discovering it was worth 18-22 carat gold, they got £600 for it. A timely reminder not to throw away possessions too quickly, you never know what they might be worth.
In 2018, a hopeful turned up with a battered old teddy bear, that turned out to be from the start of the 20th century. Simon, the dealer at the time offered £120, Gisella decided to take her bear to auction, a decision that payed off, as she took home £697.
John and Sylvia drove a hard bargain, for a club from Sylvia's grandfather. It turned out to be a Fijian club, that was handed down from generation to generation. The dealer James' initial offer was already £100 over the £400 they wanted, but they drove the dealer all the way up to a whopping £1,000. A hard deal, but the couple left with £600 more than they originally wanted.
Watch's don't come cheap, especially when they're made by Cartier. In 2015, Vijay brought in a watch he was given a watch as a gift by a friend. The watch had 30 diamonds, 18 Carat's of gold and was 'exquisitely made'. After driving a hard deal, Vijay walked home with a whopping £3,700.
Dickinson's Real Deal airs on ITV at 2pm on weekdays
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