Antiques Roadshow guest baffled by incredible value of 13th birthday present

Antiques Roadshow: Guests stunned over valuation

An Antiques Roadshow guest was over the moon to find out that his signed vintage baseball, a gift from his 13th birthday, is now worth an estimated $100,000.

The episode, which aired on Monday evening, saw the team in Texas where they were presented with a variety of unique antiques.

In the final part of the show, the guest shared a lovely memory from his 13th birthday on August 27, 1961.

He had been gifted a baseball signed by Babe Ruth, and after the game, his coach disappeared for a while only to return with additional signatures from baseball legends Mickey Mantle and Roger Marris.

Leila Dunbar, a professional appraiser, was visibly shocked by the incredible antique.

Read more: Antiques Roadshow guest gets staggering valuation for ‘rarest of items’

She said: “Well we’ve got Ruth 31 right here, here’s Mantle and it shows Mickey Mantle 1961 on there, and then we flip it around and there is Roger Marris. And did you know what was going on that summer?”

The man was thrilled and said: “Oh yes! It was all the news – Mickey Mantle and Roger Marris and their home run duel to break Babe Ruth’s record.”

Dunbar responded: “That’s right. And that’s what I love about this baseball.

“Here you have Babe Ruth who of course broke his own home run record in 1927 – setting it at 60 home runs in a single season – broke his home run record of 1921 where he hit 59 home runs and you fast forward to 1961 and you have the MandM boys.”

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Sports enthusiast Dunbar was amazed by the find and told the guest: “In all my years in sports, and I’ve been a sports fan all my life – I’ve been looking at baseballs for many many years.

“I’ve never seen a baseball signed by Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and Roger Marris let alone a ball signed by Ruth in the hayday of his career in 1931 and Mantle and Marris during the summer that they salted Ruth’s homerun record.”

She continued: “At an auction I’d put it up at about $30-50,000 (£24-40,000).”

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The man was surprised and said: “That much? I didn’t even anticipate that.”

She added: “And I would put insurance value on it for at least $50,000,” and then said: “Who knew what you were going to get for your 13th birthday.” He replied sincerely: “I never dreamed of this.”

At the end of the segment, it was revealed that the baseball, which was worth between

$30-50,000 in 2008, had doubled in value to an estimated $50-100,000 (£79,800) by 2023.

An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story.

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