Antiques Roadshow: Rare design for King Charles' 1969 coronet surprises experts

What did you miss?

Filmed this week at Swanage Pier, Antiques Roadshow has been finding interesting stories for nearly half a century and Sunday night's episode was no different.

The most notable historical artefact to pop was the original designs for the coronet for King Charles for when he was annointed as the Prince of Wales in 1969.

Created by master goldsmith Louis Osman, the coronet now exists on permanent display in the Tower of London but any piece of fine jewellery has to start with a design and that's exactly what one Swanage resident brings on the show to have examined by expert Geoffrey Munn.

Most notable from the viewing was the fact that King Charles' coronet features a ping pong ball. In the centre of the coronet is an orb but unable to find a round piece of gold, the makers got a ping pong ball and sprayed it gold before engraving it with the Prince of Wales' insignia.

What, how, and why?

The person that brought on the designs was related to Osman through marriage and had been gifted it.

Designed in watercolour, it is thought that the designs are rarer than the actual items due to the fact most plans and designs get thrown out when the build is completed.

Because of its rarity and historical importance – the coronet was the central piece of jewellery in the ceremony that appointed Charles heir to the throne – expert Munn said that the designs, which were already framed for display, could fetch between £8000 and £10,000 at auction.

The owners were shocked at the figure, with one proclaiming: "I didn't think it would be worth that much."

What else happened on Antiques Roadshow?

There was something of an Antiques Roadshow first in the sense that one woman was in possession of stones that were millions of years old and still had dinosaur footprints in.

Swanage is known for being on the Jurassic Coast and the owner brought them onto the show not knowing what they're worth or even if they had any value at all. It turns out fossils and dinosaur footprints can show up at auction and it was estimated that this collection of footprinted stones would fetch between £1000-1500 if they were ever sold.

Antiques Roadshow airs on BBC One on Saturdays at 8pm. It can also be streamed on BBC iPlayer.

Read more: Antiques Roadshow

• Antiques Roadshow guest in tears after learning incredible value of father's war medals

• Antiques Roadshow reveals astonishing value of Omega watch damaged in lawnmower

• Antiques Roadshow guest's shock at true value of charity shop find with £250k potential