'Antiques Roadshow' expert values chessboard at $600 but predicts it won't turn up in an auction

While the experts on "Antiques Roadshow" are famous for delivering big appraisals, sometimes they make bold predictions too. That's exactly what veteran appraiser Ronnie Archer-Morgan did when he evaluated a mechanical chessboard he believed was worth a small fortune. After appraising it at £500 (~$676), he quickly predicted that it would never go up for auction. And as it turns out, he was right.

In the episode from 2022, a mother-son duo brought the custom chessboard to the show. The owner explained that it was made by her father decades ago, using mechanical parts and bolts. "My father was a flight engineer flying Sunderland flight boats from Pembrokeshire dock, and in his downtime, he modelled this chess set out of nuts and bolts and spare parts from—dare I say—the engineer's store. And he played with it in wartime, and we've played with it as children, and my son now plays with it, so it's survived the test of time, and we've still got all the pieces," she shared with Archer-Morgan. 

The expert then asked her to explain why her grandfather had chosen to handcraft the board out of spare parts. She shared that the Air Force veteran had a habit of never buying anything that he could build himself. "I think this kept them entertained. Chess can take a long time, but also making it would have taken up some of his downtime as well," she said. 

Impressed by the ingenuity, Archer-Morgan told the guest that he loved the item. Examining the construction of the board and the pieces, he made a note of the various items that were cut and molded. "This looks like a spark plug or something, and he's just sawn the turrets of the castle in there. I don't know where he got these balls to put on the end there, but he's obviously sawed these balls, and he's cut this ball to make the Bishop like that. I mean, it really is clever," he said. 

The expert then asked the guest about the medals and the documentation she had brought. "This is the Atlantic star medal, which he was given for flying the missions against the U-boats. He didn't like to talk about it too much, so I can't really tell you too much about that," she explained. Archer-Morgan then added that men like her grandfather were extremely brave as they fought fiercely in the war. 

Before coming to the appraisal, the expert asked the audience if they found the item fascinating. "To some people it might look scruffy, I don't know, what you guys think?" he asked. When the crowd responded positively, saying they loved it, Archer-Morgan was relieved. "With the story, with that connection with the flying boats, I think someone would give £500 for that if it ever came up for auction," he said before quickly adding, "...which it won't."

While the prediction was bold, it proved to be accurate. In her interview, the guest confirmed that they had no intention of selling the chessboard and planned to pass it down through the family.

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