Are you sitting on a fortune?

ARE you sitting on a small fortune? It’s the 64,000-dollar question that will be answered by antiques experts in Malmesbury next month.

Valuers from Moore Allen & Innocent in Cirencester are bringing their services to Malmesbury Town Hall on Wednesday, September 30 from 3pm to 7pm in aid of the local branch of the National Osteoporosis Society.

They are secretly hoping to repeat the success of a similar valuation event three years ago, when a Northleach couple brought along a box, which “they thought might be worth something.” The box, which turned out to be by Faberge, later sold at auction for £64,000.

North Wiltshire and Cotswold residents are invited to dust off their family heirlooms and bring them along to the valuation roadshow.

Moore Allen will charge £3 per item examined, or £5 for three items, and all proceeds will be donated to the National Osteoporosis Society to fund research into the condition.

If they find an item of interest, the experts will share their considerable knowledge and advise the owners on a sale or insurance value.

“We can’t promise to make everyone rich,” said auctioneer and valuer Philip Allwood, “but we can promise that people will go away better informed about the treasures from their own homes, while raising much-needed funds for a really worthwhile cause.”

Osteoporosis is a disease that weakens bones, making them more prone to fractures. Although it is most common in women after the menopause, men and young people can develop the condition too.

Sue Marshall, chairman of the Malmesbury branch of the National Osteoporosis Society, which has 30 members in and around the Malmesbury area and attracts sufferers from as far afield as Cirencester and Chippenham, said: “One-in-three women and one-in-five men are at risk of developing osteoporosis. It’s a horrible condition and all the money raised will be used in the diagnosis, treatment and cure of the disease.”

A Faberge box ‘discovered’ during a Moore Allen & Innocent valuation day which
later went on to make £64,000 at auction.