An Antiques Roadshow guest was left utterly speechless after learning the true value of his gorgeous hidden gem, which he had picked up for just $5 (£3.79). The BBC antiques weekend programme is loved up and down the country and quickly became a mainstay following its debut in 1979. The beloved show later spawned an American spin-off series for fans across the pond.

In a throwback episode, when the show visited Minneapolis in 2011, one lucky guest brought along two paintings that he had picked up from an antiques shop for less than £5. He told the appraiser: "I went to a farm auction about five or six years ago, about 20 or 30 miles west of Minneapolis here. They were in a box here together, and I bid on them, and I ended up getting them for $5."

The painting specialist went on to reveal that the first painting would fetch approximately "$100 to $200 (£75.89 to £151.79)" at auction. Meanwhile, the second painting, which was in desperate need of a cleaning, was worth a lot more.

She explained: "The second painting, were you able to read the signature on this? The name is in the lower right, and it's by Victor Higgins. He grew up on a farm in Shelbyville, Indiana. He was born in 1884 and died in 1949.

"He's a well-known artist, and he's actually a member of what's called the Taos Society of the Artists. The date of this painting is not exactly known; however, the painting itself is on Masonite, and Masonite was not widely used until after 1926.

"So, we can say that this was definitely painted after 1926, and if it were cleaned, the sky would be bright blue. The frame is original, it's very typical of what he would use, and you can see it's a painted frame as opposed to gold leaf."

It was at this point that she dropped the bombshell of what the landscape piece was really worth. She revealed: "If this were for sale in an art gallery in Santa Fe, for example, which is where he probably would sell best, I think it would sell in the range of $75,000 (£56,920)."

Taken aback at the painting's sky-high valuation, the proud owner mumbled: "Wow, you blew me away. $75,000? I don't believe it." The TV presenter urged the owner to get the painting professionally cleaned, explaining that it could even reach as high as six figures if done properly.

She added: "Well, if it were cleaned, it could even be up closer to $100,000 depending on how it cleaned up." After sharing the clip on Instagram ahead of the weekend episode, fans soon flooded the comments to share their surprise online.

One user penned: "Wow!!!! One man's junk is for sure another man's treasure!!! [two money bag emojis]" as another added: "That's a good $2.50 investment [applause emoji]."