A VASE bought for just £8.50 at a Leigh charity shop and used as a doorstop is tipped to sell for thousands of pounds after being identified as a valuable Chinese relic.
Mary Lawler, 23, spotted the double green celadon antique while going around charity shops in the town.
She had been tasked by her mum Amy Lawler, 49, with finding an ornament to go in the re-decorated downstairs toilet.
Mary, a cafe worker, picked up the 10 inch tall object as she liked the look of it, unaware of its significance.
She sent a photo of it to get her mum's approval before parting with the cash as they had only planned 'to spend a fiver'.
The vase had a stint in the downstairs toilet before being used as a doorstop in the porch.
They only learned of its value after seeing a similar vase on BBC Antiques Roadshow, which was valued at £10,000.
Mary took it into the auctioneers, and they have identified the vase as dating from the Ming dynasty between 1368 and 1644.
It is now going under the hammer with a pre-sale estimate of £4,000.
Amy, a supply teacher who has moved to Norfolk, said: "We were decorating the downstairs toilet about three years ago in a 1970s style, and my daughter went around some charity shops to find something to put in it.
"She sent me a picture of the vase, and I said yes, so she paid £8.50 for it and brought it home.
"We had only planned to send a fiver!
"We put it in our downstairs toilet and after a while, moved it to the porch to be used as a doorstop.
"When we saw the vase that appeared on the Antiques Roadshow, we thought: 'that is exactly like ours'.
"We took it into the auctioneers, and it is both shocking and exciting to learn how much it is worth.
"Mary needs to do up her old Volkswagen Golf, so I think the bulk of the money will go on that."
The vase is going under the hammer at Lockdales Auctioneers, of Ipswich, who expect it to make 470 times what Mary paid for it.
They say there is a huge demand among Chinese collectors to reclaim their lost heritage, which could drive up its price further.
Liza Machan, Lockdales specialist, said: "Mary bought it at a charity shop because she liked it.
"It was when she happened to be watching the Antiques Roadshow and saw a similar vase being valued that she clicked that her vase looked just the same and that she had in fact paid the same money for it as the gentleman had on the TV."
The Antiques Roadshow episode aired last September, with expert Lars Tharp valuing that item at between £5,000 and £10,000.
A Lockdales spokesperson added: "We wonder if they were once a pair, which somehow ended up in the charity shop system, having been cleared from a house without the original owners realising what they had.
"There is a strong market for Chinese antiques so anything could happen."
The sale takes place on July 13.
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