AR: Waterloo medals valued up to £12,000 During a classic episode of Antiques Roadshow, one guest refused to part with his beloved war medals despite their eye-watering valuation. Expert Mark Smith instantly commented on the guest's "incredible collection" and asked where he got them from. The guest explained the medals were passed down to him after his dad had died.
"He had a very good eye," Mark praised before going on to explain the history of the items. He shared: "If we look at this one here, for example, it has the Battle of Waterloo on the back, and it has the word Wellington. Now this is really the first ever medal that the British forces ever gave to anybody.
"Before that, we gave out things like coins, they didn't have your name on, you couldn't wear them, you put them in your pocket. But at the end of the Battle of Waterloo, this medal was instituted to be given to every soldier, and instead of it being made in different metals for different ranks, so a gold one for the Generals, on this particular occasion, Lord Wellington said they should all be exactly the same because they all did exactly the same job. "So Lord Wellington got one of these, and so did the 10-year-old drummer boys who were on the battlefield.
" READ MORE Antiques Roadshow expert Clive Farahar's co-star wife and heartbreaking struggle [LATEST] Antiques Roadshow: The guest said he would never part with his beloved medals (Image: BBC) The expert picked up another medal from the collection called a M.