Antiques Roadshow viewers 'feel sick' after finding out how much famous human hair was worth

You can see all sorts on Antiques Roadshow which is pretty weird, but every now and then something comes along which not only takes the proverbial biscuit but helps itself to the rest of the pack as well.

It's pretty amazing when you think about the stuff people have buried in some bottom drawer in their homes gathering dust for years, and what counts as an antique these days.

Pokémon cards and Air Jordans are apparently old enough to make it onto Antiques Roadshow now, but every now and then someone does bring in something that is legitimately quite old.

People have all sorts lying around the home which might be an undiscovered goldmine so it's always worth going through the cupboards for antiques which could be worth something.

One thing you wouldn't forget about owning is a selection of clippings of human hair from famous people of yesteryear but Antiques Roadshow viewers were stunned to discover how much they were worth.

BBC

On Sunday's (11 June) episode of the show, hosted this time at the Eden Project, one of the items being appraised was a collection of clippings from well-known poets.

Envelopes containing human hair from poets such as William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge were examined by Justin Croft, who found multiple hair samples including one which much have been taken from a person's deathbed.

The expert said: "If we want to talk value with the picture and with the locks of hair I think without a shadow of a doubt we're looking at £30,000 to £40,000."

The hair clippings had been something of a family heirloom, with the hair's owner being descended from one of the famous poets and coming into possession of them after they were handed down the generations.

Upwards of £40,000 for some clippings of dead people's hair from the 19th Century sounds crazy, regardless of how famous they were, and plenty of Antiques Roadshow viewers agreed.

BBC

One person slammed it as 'valuing some old Victorian pubes' while another thought 'this hair stuff is a bit off kilter'.

Someone else said poking through the samples of hair which were well over a century old made them 'feel sick' and the idea of taking valuable clippings didn't go down well with many.

"If I'm dying and you start cutting my hair you are f**king going with me," another person wrote.

They were clearly not a fan of the idea that one of the envelopes was filled with famous hair snipped from someone either in the last moments of their life or their first moments of being an ex-poet.