A man lucky enough to have received a letter from Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien was gobsmacked to discover it was worth a fortune.
Charles wrote to the legendary author in 1957 in the ancient language of runes having read The Hobbit.
Incredibly, Tolkien replied with a detailed letter praising his fan’s use of the language.
“Your runes letter was correct and readable,” the author explained on yesterday's Antiques Roadshow (April 25).
Charles managed to keep the sheet of paper and its envelope in perfect condition, saying: “At 14 and a letter from Tolkien, I wasn’t throwing anything away.”
And it clearly impressed book expert Clive Farahar, who gave it a staggering five-figure valuation.
He said: “He did write a lot to his fans but to find a letter like this which is completely handwritten with his wonderful signature and to explain the ruins is incredible.
“I think it is the top of Tolkien letters. It’s extremely good. It’s worth about £10,000.”
Charles was understandably amazed at the value of his prized possession, saying: “Good lord, I’m astonished.”
But, despite its huge worth, he revealed he would not be selling the letter any time soon.
“I regard it as a family treasure,” he continued. “Since it’s addressed to me and has my name on it I would not dream of selling it.”
Antiques Roadshow guests can often be pleasantly surprised by the value of their items.
A previous episode saw one man being overjoyed after learning the value of a £5 boot sale painting.
But it doesn’t always go to plan for hopeful collectors.
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One woman was left devastated in a recent episode after discovering her treasured sapphire ring wasn’t worth quite what she thought it was.
Jewelry expert Susan Rumfit revealed: "Well they are sapphires, but they're not natural sapphires; they're actually what we call synthetic sapphires, which is actually grown from aluminium-oxide which is of course what sapphires are made of.
"But they are grown in a laboratory environment, so when you look inside the stones, the growth lines of a natural sapphire will be parallel to each other."
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