Ryan Reynolds once came to Antiques Roadshow with a '$100 million' item - but there was one catch
"Antiques Roadshow" is known for showcasing items that are linked to famous personalities from history, but sometimes contemporary celebs also make their way to the show. Back in 2021, Ryan Reynolds appeared on the famous PBS show with an artifact that was valuable and relevant in pop culture as well. He brought one of the coveted Cleopatra’s Eggs, from his Netflix film, "Red Notice" to be appraised by the show's expert, Lark Mason. While the video was part of the movie's promotion, it was still interesting to find out the egg's value.
A Thief's Treasure
Netflix posted the video featuring Reynolds and Mason on the "Antiques Roadshow" set where the two were seated with Cleopatra's Egg placed in the middle. Reynolds was playing the character of Nolan Booth from the movie.
Booth introduces the egg as an antique that he borrowed from the museum without informing them. Mason then says that this would cause some regulatory problems and may impact the value of the artifact as well. The expert then delves into the details playing along with the film's plot explaining that the egg was commissioned by the Egyptian queen in the last days of her life. He says it was part of a triplet of eggs and was worth a lot of money.
Mason then talked about how he got the information about the egg from an FBI agent (the character played Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson) who was very muscular, handsome, and talented. "I am totally passing away here," the actor joked. Reynolds then asked the expert how much the item as rare as the egg would be worth. The expert hesitated at first but then went on to say that if Booth managed to clear all the complications tied to the egg, it would be worth at least a hundred million dollars. Like any other guest on the show, Booth's jaw dropped after hearing the valuation.
Real Jaw-Dropping Valuations
While the "Red Notice" episode was staged for promotion, experts on the show have genuinely stunned guests who had no idea how valuable their items were. In one of the most viral episodes, a US Army veteran was knocked off his feet after learning the true value of his Rolex bought in 1975. The guest, David brought the 1971 Paul Newman Rolex Daytona for it to be valued by an expert. The expert noted how remarkably David had preserved everything related to the watch, along with the order receipt, the final receipt, the unfilled warranty certificate, and more.
The appraiser explained that the model was popular among collectors as it was worn by actor Paul Newman in the racing movie, "Winnings." Thus, such models were going for $150,000 to $200,00 at auctions at the time. David's model was one of the Oyster models, which was different from the one worn by the actor. However, this only raised the value of the watch as it was one of the rarer timepieces. Thus, the expert estimated that the watch would sell for up to $400,000 at an auction. Hearing this, David dramatically fell to the ground.
As he recovered from the shock, the expert requested him to maintain composure as he was about to say something more astonishing. The appraiser said that with the pristine unworn condition and all the documentation, the watch would be worth between $500,000 to $700,000.
