This battered bowler hat, worn by the deadly hitman 'Oddjob' in 1964's James Bond film Goldfinger, was valued up to £30,000 on last night's episode of Antiques Roadshow.
The steel-rimmed hat was part of a collection of James Bond memorabilia brought to the show filmed at The National Botanic Garden of Wales last summer. The owner of the hat was a life-long fan of the James Bond film franchise, and his brother-in-law had been a driver for Aston Martin during the filming of Goldfinger. As a parting gift, Pinewood Studios gave him Oddjob's bowler hat - but insisted that the metal rim be taken out first.
'As a young lad, everybody wanted to throw the Oodjob hat, and if you look at it, everybody did throw the hat because it's absolutely in pieces because it didn't have the steel in it anymore, so therefore whenever it landed it damaged it,' explained the owner.
Despite this, Antiques Roadshow expert Marc Allum described the piece as an 'iconic part of Bond history' and valued the hat between £20,000 and £30,000.
While handling the collection of Bond memorabilia for the first time (which also included an unused 007 Aston Martin numberplate), Marc said: 'I'm shaking with anticipation and excitement. This, I think, is an amazingly iconic collection of objects and an amazing story too.'
The owner of the infamous hat explained that he would carefully store the piece, but that he may, eventually, be interested in selling.
This episode of Antiques Roadshow aired on Sunday 3rd May at 19:15 on BBC One.
