An Antiques Roadshow expert demanded that an item be taken away from him for a very important reason. During a vintage episode filmed at Liverpool’s Sefton Park Palm House, antiques professional Matthew Haley was stunned when a guest unveiled one of the earliest vials of penicillin ever produced – but couldn’t have the item near him.
The penicillin, made at a factory in Speke, Liverpool, was thought to be one of the very first batches of the antibiotic, dating back to Christmas Eve in 1945. The guest shared that he had come across it when he had prevented it from going into a skip at the instruction of his manager. He had rescued it when he himself worked for the factory in which it was created. Sharing the tale of how the item came into his possession, the BBC guest shared: “I worked at that factory. I was in the human resources department, and the department had a small archive of articles from back when the factory first started.”
He continued: “A new manager came along into the HR department and said “We’re not running a museum, we’re running a pharmaceutical business. Arrange for a skip and have them disposed of.
“And I said to him, “Can I keep some of those items for my own because I really don’t think they should go in a skip.”‘
The guest went on to share that as well as the vial of medicine, he also managed to save an old visitors’ book – which even recorded a visit from Alexander Fleming, the scientist who discovered penicillin.
But as Matthew was about to inspect the item, he suddenly stopped and said that he wouldn’t be able to have it too close to him. “I’m going to have to keep this at arm’s length as I am actually allergic to penicillin,” he admitted. “So, I’ll keep that safely away from me.”
When it came to valuation, the guest shared that he thought the item would be worth about £200 and was stunned to discover it could sell for much more.
Matthew delivered the good news, saying: “We’ve got your story. You were there, you rescued it. But for me it just lacks that little letter or that little certificate from the time that would really have said ‘This was the very first.’
“I think it’s an absolutely fantastic story. Because of the interest in healthcare, I do think if you put this into auction, I would expect it to make probably between £2,000 and £4,000.” He added: “It’s fantastic. I’m keeping it at arm’s length, but I love it.”
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