BBC Antiques Road Trip expert stunned as household item sells for record-breaking sum

Antiques Road Trip's Paul Laidlaw was gobsmacked after he stumbled upon a rare vintage camera in an antique shop. The camera later fetched a whopping £20,000 at auction.

Paul had snapped up the camera for a mere £60 and was left stunned alongside competitorKate Blissat the Bury St. Edmunds auction in Suffolk when the hammer fell at such an astronomical price, especially after watching the bidding increments soar, reports the Express.

The specialist found the camera while hunting for curiosities and collectables in Margate, Kent. The shop owner explained: "Three floors, the upstairs is mainly furniture, but there's stuff everywhere. And on this floor, there are four rooms through, and in the middle, there's a staircase which goes down to a room full of chairs and another room full below!"

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Faced with the daunting task ahead, Paul joked: "Don't send the cavalry, okay?" After spending a considerable amount of time rummaging through the treasures, Paul returned to the counter and proposed: "In your cabinet over there, optical instrument... £75 on that, I bid you £50.

"Give me £60 and I'll shake your hand, but I'm not doing any better than that, I'm afraid," the proprietor responded. "Shake my hand!" Paul retorted, and the owner added, "Good man, deal done."

He then turned to the camera and revealed: "What do you get for your money when you open it up? That looks like a peepside and it is!".

"I think this is a very early camera. If I'm right, that could be quite exciting. The photographic market is very much in the ascent, it's a hot market, I think that's a good thing."

Auctioneer Edward Crichton was immediately drawn to the unique item up for auction. He commented: "The sub-miniature camera - I have never seen one, in fact, we have carried out some research and cannot find any other example which has sold at auction, we were very excited to see this and it has certain potential to make a significant profit."

As the bidding kicked off, Edward declared: "We must open - we've got five phones on this - we must open the bidding at £1,000. 11, 12, 13, 14."

An individual communicating with a bidder over the phone chimed in: "Two," to which Edward confirmed: "£2,000."

"They're not messing around," Kate murmured as Edward continued: "£3,000, £4,000."

Paul observed the change in bidding pace and noted, "He's now taking £1,000 increments," and Kate added, "Which is a very rare thing." "£10,000 online!" The auctioneer exclaimed. "£11,000 is next, £12,000, £13,000.

"He's not slowing down," Kate observed, while Edward clarified to those present: "It's not a record price, a record price for a general sale is £15,000, for a home and interior sale £16,000. £17,000, £18,000, £19,000. £20,000." But the bidders didn't go higher. "At £20,000 online, at £20,000 if we're all done, £20,000."

"I'm over the moon. I am genuinely flabbergasted," an elated Paul exclaimed, reflecting on the unexpected turn of events. "Most items in this sale make between £50 and £500, so £20,000 is staggering, wonderful," Edward chimed in.

"What an incredible result, I am so chuffed for Paul," Kate added, while the original buyer confessed: "I really was shocked, when he bought it, he knew he bought a good thing, but I don't think he realised. And he said 'It looks like a camera' but we didn't know it was a camera."

The lucky camera was snapped up for £20,000 four years ago by a private collector in Switzerland. Paul's whopping profit of £19,940 outshines the previous record: a Tibetan bronze deity purchased for £50 by Anita Manning, which sold for £3,800 in 2016.

All profits from the series were generously donated to Children in Need.

You can relive all the excitement of Antiques Road Trip on BBC iPlayer.