Occasionally, Antiques Roadshow features someone with an item they acquired not because they believed it to be rare or old, but because it had some value for them as a contemporary memento. Through the passage of time, that item then becomes a collectible, and the owner brings it to the Roadshow to see what it's worth. That's the situation we're dealing with today - if you believe Dale's account of events. (All names are made up, because Antiques Roadshow is too cowardly to tell you who these people really are.)
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Dale's doing something very cunning with this explanation.