Antiques Roadshow: 1904 Diego Rivera 'El Albañil' oil painting
WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Antiques Roadshow.
An Antiques Roadshow guest kept apologising for laughing at the whopping price tag given to the letter written by a football player with a tragic ending.
Expert Jasmani Francis had the job of appraising a 1939 Wisconsin vs Iowa programme, as well as two letters that had been written by the guest’s mum and twin sister as children.
“We were going through my grandmother’s attic after she passed away in 2004 and we found this in her belongings”, the owner began.
“I brought a programme from the Wisconsin, Iowa game and a letter.
“My grandmother was a big football fan and she and my grandfather went to the 1939 Wisconsin game.
“When they came back home, they brought the programme and gave it to my mother and sister." They were twins and each of them looked through the programme and decided to write to one of the players.
Read more: Antiques Roadshow guest refuses to sell childhood item despite six-figure value
“My aunt ended up writing to someone from Iowa and my mum wrote to someone from Wisconsin.
“For Iowa, my Aunt Jean wrote Nile Kinnick and my mother wrote for Bert Connelly [for Wisconsin].”
Francis stated that Kinnick was the Heisman Trophy winner of that year, with the letter written just one month prior to him being announced as the recipient.
He elaborated that after winning the trophy, Kinnick went to law school and was third ranked in his class but chose not to finish so he could enlist as a naval air reserve.
Unfortunately, this decision led to Kinnick’s “tragic end”, dying at 24 years old.
Don't miss...
Antiques Roadshow guest in disbelief as he discovers 5-figure value of old keys [REACTION]
Antiques Roadshow guest has ‘gleam in his eye’ at 'over the top' belt price tag [EXPLAINER]
Antiques Roadshow guest fist pumps at ‘rare’ but ‘less appealing’ poster's value [REVEALED]
Francis said: “On June 2, 1943, he was routine training, expedition, off the coast of Venezuela, his plane had an oil leak, he followed all procedures, everything he was trained to do, tried to land, ultimately died when he hit the water.
“Body never found and ultimately Kinnick became the fifth Heisman Trophy winner, the first to die, and what we have here today is the, because of the circumstances, the most rare Heisman Trophy autograph out there.”
The guest replied: “What a loss. Oh my gosh. I knew he was a Heisman Trophy winner but I didn’t know that.”
Francis said that he “loved the provenance” and while he valued the programme itself for just $100, he had a big shock in store for the Kinnick letter itself.
BBC Antiques Roadshow: Top 7 biggest valuations will leave you staggered
Antiques Roadshow has made some lucky Brits a pretty penny over the years.
Often viewers are left stunned when something left sitting in an attic is worth millions of pounds.
From a Faberge flower, to art by Banksy - here are the seven most expensive antiques discovered on the BBC's Antiques Roadshow.
Francis concluded: “We think that at auction, this piece could sell for $15,000 to $20,000.”
The guest’s mouth fell open: “You’re kidding. Oh my gosh, my husband’s going to be so excited! I’m excited! Are you sure?”
Francis said he was “pretty confident” with the guest continuing to laugh and apologise for her outburst.
He then said that she should insure the letter for $50,000 which caused more laughter.
“Oh my gosh. Sorry. Thank you, thank you”, she exclaimed before leaning in to fist bump Francis and saying: “Fist bump!”.
He commented: “When you came, I was very excited”, to which she replied: “I’m excited now!
“How am I going to get it home? Very carefully!”
Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on PBS.