Antiques Roadshow guest astounded at value of Live Aid poster

An Antiques Roadshow guest was astounded by the value of a poster he rescued from the bin at the famous 1985 Live Aid concert during Sunday’s episode of the show.

The instalment of the BBC series, which took place at Newby Hall in Skelton-on-Ure, North Yorkshire, saw a man bring in a piece of memorabilia which he collected after working at the fundraising event.

The large plastic poster showed a white guitar with the main body of the instrument being the continent of Africa.

Across the neck of the guitar was the words ‘Live Aid’ in white block capital letters.

The multi-venue benefit concert was held simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London, where it was attended by about 72,000 people, and at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, where it was attended by 89,484 people.

Keepsake: The instalment, which took place at Newby Hall in Skelton-on-Ure, North Yorkshire, saw a man bring in the memorabilia which he collected after working at the fundraising event

It was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for the relief of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia, with the movement being started with the released of the 1984 charity single Do They Know It’s Christmas?

The Antiques Roadshow guest said he had found the item when he was looking for his clothes at the concert after they were thrown away.

He said: ‘I was feeding the crew, they had been there all week and needed feeding, poor guys.

‘I remember during the show going looking for certain items which had been thrown out of my personal laundry, someone threw it out thinking it was rubbish.’

Expert John said: ‘So you sent laundry off to be cleaned and someone thought it was junk?’

The man responded: ‘At the refuse area, that was where I found this, I didn’t find my laundry but I did find this, which did make up for it slightly.’

The expert said he believed the poster was in the background when Bob Geldof gave a television interview when he encouraged people to donate to the cause.

His passionate speech was said to have raised donations to £300 per minute, with millions being raised in total.

Good cause: Live Aid as organised by Bob Geldof (pictured) and Midge Ure to raise funds for the relief of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia

Saved: The Antiques Roadshow guest said he had found the item when he was looking for his clothes at the concert after they were thrown away

Giving his verdict on how much he thought the item was worth, John told the guest: ‘If you ever decided to sell it, I would have thought at auction today you would get between £8,000 to £12,000.

‘How much was your washing worth?’

The guest said: ‘That’s incredible… about 60p!’

Antiques Roadshow continues next Sunday on BBC One at 9pm. 

Big money: On how much he thought the item was worth, John said: ‘If you ever decided to sell it, I would have thought at auction today you would get between £8,000 to £12,000’