Space Invaders treasure hunter Lucas Callaghan finds $32,000 worth of heirlooms in family's clutter
When a family's home is being decluttered and renovated on Space Invaders, collector and dealer Lucas Callaghan sifts through the piles of stuff in search of hidden gems.
Sometimes he finds goods only valuable to the person who owns them, but occasionally he hits the jackpot.
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That's exactly what happened when Lucas looked through boxes of family heirlooms Carolyn had inherited but never opened.
When Lucas added up all the collectible items he found, he estimated the total value to be $32,000.
Lucas uses a device to check whether the diamonds in Carolyn's rings are real. Nine
Of all the finds, the most exciting was a collection of rings, including an engagement ring from the 1920s, and Carolyn's mother's wedding ring.
"A lot of people inherit jewellery and it's really hard to know whether it's costume or the real deal," Lucas said.
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To test whether the rings are real jewellery, Lucas used a device to check each one. Most of the rings Carolyn had turned out to have real diamonds.
"And this stuff was just sitting in storage?" he said stunned.
Other valuable finds included a working Reuge music box handcrafted in Switzerland, and a first edition copy of Roald Dahl's first-ever book The Gremlins.
Roald Dahl's first book was hiding amongst Carolyn's family heirlooms. Nine
"First editions are generally considered the holy grail but not all are collectible it comes down to three things; how rare it is, it's condition and what the demand is," Lucas explained.
The next step was for Lucas to research the items he found to work out their value.
He estimated the Roald Dahl first-edition book to be between $600-700 in its current condition.
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The Reuge box is at least $1,000 and just two of the rings are worth $6,000.
"Enjoy those, because after I added up the book, jewellery, all the little bits and pieces that you have around your house, the final tally is mind boggling: $32,000," Lucas told Carolyn and her family.
The family is shocked to realise how much their heirlooms are worth. Nine
The jaws of Carolyn, her husband Lee and daughters Ellacoco and Zahra dropped to the floor.
"I had no idea that precious things are actually worth so much. They've always been special to me and they always will be, but to have them worth so much it's just amazing," Carolyn said.
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