Antiques Roadshow expert Marc Allum had quite the surprise when he accidentally clipped his finger examining a guest's penknife on the show that aired on Sunday night (August 18). The 48-piece penknife left him taken aback and feeling a little inferior with his own tool. He appreciated the fascinating artefact, confessing to the guest: "So I am a bit of a boy scout really.
" Marc added, "And I wouldn't dream of going out on any given day without my own multi-tool which I literally use on a daily basis, this one knocks mine into an absolute cocked hat, doesn't it." He continued, thrilled by the tool: "It is the most exceptional multi-tool I have seen for a long time. Please tell me where it comes from," leaving the puzzled owner to respond saying: "All I know is my father acquired it, but I know nothing at all about the history of it.
" The owner then gave more information about the knife, adding: "I have a theory. I think it may have been some salesman tool when he went round the local, asking if they wanted pen knives made and these were the options they could have made into a pen knife", reports the Express . Prompt to share his opinion about what the penknife was used for, Marc disclosed: "You're not a million miles off the mark to be honest with you because this is not something that is really made to be used in the sense that my multi-tool is made to be used.
"This is really a force of the cutler's art, and it is an exhibition piece. It was primarily made just to show how good a particular company was when this is a 48-blade multi-tool. Now I say blades because of course there is a massive kind of variety of tools on this, everything from scissors, to gun cartridge removers, to bone saws, the sky is the limit really.
"But 48 blades, do you know they made these with up to 100 blades? Sometimes even 200 blades. I studied it very carefully and I did manage to find a makers mark on it and it says Godson, Sheffield." Marc then revealed that such knives could fetch a staggering £2,000 to £3,000 at auction, leaving the guest utterly stunned.
As he wrapped up his appraisal, Marc thanked the guest for bringing the item along. However, while doing so, his finger brushed against one of the blades causing him to yelp in pain. He exclaimed: "Thank you so much, for bringing it along.
Sugar! I just stabbed myself!" Fans took to social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter , to share their thoughts on the knives. One viewer tweeted: "That's an inspector gadget Swiss army knife!!!!" Another added: "I haven't watched an #antiquesroadshow in ages that's a hell of a swiss army knife think a museum would like that." Antiques Roadshow airs Sundays at 8pm on BBC One.
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