Mysteries Unearthed with Danny Trejo - Season 2 Episode 01- National Treasures
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00:00Mysteries can be buried anywhere, under the earth, beneath the sea, or even right under
00:14our own feet. And when we stumble upon them, sometimes what we find can change history.
00:22Tonight, lost national treasures from a Grand Slam score at a garage sale.
00:33Most people wouldn't give this old wooden bat a second look, but Bruce grew up watching
00:39the game, and something about this bat just seems really familiar to him.
00:44To an American masterpiece sealed behind a secret wall.
00:48He's afraid of losing the painting in the settlement, so he secretly makes a copy.
00:55Even the staff at the Norman Rockwell Museum thought they had the original.
00:58To a discarded piece of Hollywood history.
01:01This thing is incredibly detailed, and it doesn't really seem like a trash can at all.
01:08It gets Todd thinking, could this be a prop from the actual Star Wars movie?
01:13Join us now, because nothing stays hidden forever.
01:28Everyone knows tripping houses comes with risks.
01:32But for one man, a routine renovation leads to something unexpected.
01:38A discovery that blows the roof off his expectations.
01:43In 2013, in the small town of Elbow Lake, Minnesota, a guy by the name of David Gonzalez buys a home
01:51that was built in 1938 for $10,100.
01:56He's a house flipper, and while the house has good bones, that's about it.
02:03He begins demo on the investment property, but he soon notices something strange within the walls.
02:09The house isn't insulated like you would expect.
02:13It's not foam or fiberglass.
02:15There's a lot of crumpled newspapers in between the studs.
02:18Now, for David, this is just another day at the office.
02:20So he starts pulling out the crumpled pieces of newspaper section by section until he sees something colorful in between all of that black and white.
02:30He pulls it out from the newspapers and realizes it's a comic book, and on the cover is none other than the Man of Steel himself, Superman.
02:39The comic is showing its age.
02:44It's beat up on the corners.
02:46It's yellowed.
02:47But David immediately notices something startling.
02:50The date on the cover.
02:52June 1938, the same year the house was built.
02:56David isn't a comic book collector, but he obviously knows that Superman is one of the most iconic comic book heroes of all time.
03:05So he figures a really old Superman comic has to be worth something.
03:10David leaves the newspapers in a pile and jumps online.
03:15What he finds nearly knocks him off his feet.
03:18In David's hands is Action Comics number one.
03:23This is the holy grail of comic books.
03:29This comic isn't just the origin story of Superman.
03:33It's like the Big Bang for the modern day superhero genre.
03:37Without Action 1, you don't get Batman.
03:40You don't get Wonder Woman.
03:41You don't get Spider-Man.
03:42You don't get all of DC Comics, Marvel Comics.
03:45You don't get superhero comics at all.
03:47But before it kick-started a billion-dollar superhero empire, Action Comics number one was just another novelty on the newsstand.
03:58Back in 1938, when Action Comics number one was released, it was selling for about 10 cents a copy, which in today's money is around two bucks.
04:06At the time, nobody would have thought anything of its worth beyond its inherent entertainment value.
04:13You read it, you enjoy it, you throw it out, or in this case, stuff it inside the walls of a new house.
04:19Around 200,000 copies were originally printed, and today, only about 100 are believed to still exist.
04:26So David could be sitting on a gold mine worth far more than the house flip.
04:31Needless to say, the man is thrilled.
04:34And so he brings it home, and he wants to show it off to his family, and they're all just as excited.
04:39They invite friends and more family to come over and see this rare find, and everything is going well until his wife's aunt shows up.
04:49She grabs Action Comics number one and starts waving it around.
04:55David attempts to grab it back.
04:57In the chaos of the moment, the back cover rips.
05:04Damaged or not, this is still one of the most sought-after comic books in the world.
05:10So David puts it away for safekeeping until he can put it up for sale at auction.
05:15Even in less than perfect condition, it sells for a whopping $175,000.
05:20But experts think that the tear cost David anywhere between $50,000 and $75,000.
05:30So without that tear, this copy of Action Comics number one could have sold for a quarter of a million dollars.
05:37Thanks, Auntie.
05:39It was a costly mistake, but David bought the house for just over $10,000,
05:44and he's walking away with more than 17 times that from something that he literally pulled out of the wall.
05:51All in all, it's a much better return than any house he could have flipped.
05:59Meanwhile, in the heart of Iowa, another sharp-eyed citizen makes a major league discovery, hiding in plain sight.
06:07In 2013, Bruce Kopecky visits a garage sale in Des Moines, Iowa.
06:16He's a history buff, and he likes to see if there's anything of historical value that he can then resell for pocket money.
06:24He's not looking for anything in particular, but as he comes to the table full of sports gear, he spots something interesting.
06:30It's an old, beaten-up, wooden baseball bat tucked underneath a few other metal ones.
06:37The price tag for this bat is a dollar.
06:40Now, most people wouldn't give this old, wooden bat a second look,
06:44but Bruce grew up watching the game, and something about this bat just seems really familiar to him.
06:52The grip of this bat is very distinctive.
06:55It has a thick handle and base with a unique knob.
06:58And that's when it hits him.
07:01He's seen a bat like this before.
07:04Bruce is a baseball nut.
07:06He knows most players' names are burned into the barrel of the bat,
07:09and he has a sneaking suspicion of whose name is on this one.
07:14Excitedly, he approaches the woman running the sale, Sue McAnee.
07:18He asks for a pencil.
07:19She hands one over, and Bruce gently rubs the pencil over the barrel of the bat.
07:24Suddenly, something extraordinary happens, as if by magic, a name slowly appears.
07:34Jackie Robinson.
07:37In the 1940s and 50s, Jackie Robinson played 10 seasons in Major League Baseball.
07:43He was a lifetime 313 hitter, a World Series champion, and now a Hall of Famer.
07:48But today, he's much more known for breaking all kinds of barriers.
07:53Jackie Robinson was the first Black American to play Major League Baseball in the modern era.
07:59So he changed not only baseball, but the country forever.
08:05Robinson's legacy is legendary.
08:07So how did his bat end up at a Midwestern garage sale?
08:11Turns out, Sue's uncle, Joe Hatton, also known as Lefty Joe, pitched for the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1946 to 51.
08:20When Bruce discovers Jackie Robinson's name on the bat, Sue starts to connect the dots.
08:27Her uncle Joe played five seasons for the Dodgers alongside Robinson,
08:31and was even the starting pitcher on the day that Robinson broke the color barrier during his Major League Baseball debut.
08:37The two weren't just teammates, they were friends.
08:41They even roomed together on the road, something a lot of Jackie's white teammates wouldn't do at the time.
08:48Sometime in their playing days, he must have been gifted the Jackie Robinson bat or traded for it,
08:54because he ended up with it.
08:55It seems crazy, but Sue just assumed that this was just one of Uncle Joe's old bats.
09:02She even let her kids use it to hit balls and rocks around when they were younger.
09:07Thankfully, all that backyard batting didn't take a hit on its value.
09:12Sue gets the bat appraised, and the result is a grand slam.
09:16In its current condition, it's worth about $20,000.
09:19But it could be worth even more if she has it professionally restored.
09:25Sue has no plans to sell the bat, saying it's something that belongs to our family.
09:29It's incredible to think how close she was to parting with this precious artifact.
09:36But thanks only to the kindness of a stranger who was doing the right thing,
09:40this American treasure remains in her family's hands.
09:43Sometimes the most valuable finds are the ones we overlook.
09:53Take this next story about a rare piece of American history.
10:03March 1962.
10:0556-year-old George Walton is driving in heavy rain in North Carolina.
10:10When his car collides head-on with another vehicle, tragically, he doesn't survive the crash.
10:20The police arrive, and it's a mess.
10:24There's glass, there's metal, there's just debris everywhere.
10:28But there's something unusual scattered around the highway.
10:34Dozens upon dozens of coins, but these aren't just regular nickels and dimes.
10:39The coins look old and really unfamiliar to the officers,
10:42so they pick them up along with George's other belongings.
10:46George was a bachelor, and so his estate gets managed by his siblings,
10:50and ultimately his coins get sent to an auction house to sell.
10:53It turns out, George's quiet hobby is worth a fortune,
10:58and his collection sells for a staggering $875,000.
11:03But not all the coins are sold.
11:05One of them is a 1913 Liberty nickel, one of the rarest coins in history.
11:12This five-cent piece is engraved with a likeness of Libertas,
11:16also known as the goddess of liberty, whose image originates from ancient Roman coins.
11:24Liberty nickels officially stopped being released in 1912.
11:28But in 1913, a mint employee named Samuel W. Brown
11:32ended up secretly striking five of these to sell on the black market.
11:36Over the years, four of them have been located,
11:40but the elusive fifth Liberty nickel has yet to be found.
11:43The nickel has all the markings of a historic discovery
11:48until experts take a closer look.
11:52Unfortunately, the coin is determined to be a fake.
11:55George's siblings take the forgery, put it in a closet, and forget about it.
12:01Dismissed and forgotten, the nickel stays buried for decades
12:04until a 2003 coin convention in Baltimore puts it back in the spotlight.
12:11The main attraction is that this coin convention is featuring
12:16the 1913 Liberty nickel.
12:21The organizers of the show put out a call to the public
12:24hoping that someone might come forward with the final coin.
12:28And that's when George's family starts to wonder.
12:31Should they give the fake coin one last look?
12:34So they dig it out, head to the convention,
12:38and in a secret room at the Baltimore Convention Center,
12:40six experts compare their nickel with the other four,
12:45including one that has been authenticated by the Smithsonian.
12:49And it turns out the so-called fake is actually real
12:54and one of the most sought-after coins in history.
12:57In the 1940s, George purchased the coin for $3,750.
13:04He held onto it for years, and in 1962,
13:07he packed it up alongside his collection
13:09and drove them to a coin convention.
13:12Sadly, he never made it, dying in that fatal car crash.
13:16In 2013, George's family puts the Liberty nickel up for auction,
13:22and it sells for $3.2 million.
13:25All told, George's collection brings in over $4 million.
13:32A nickel everyone thought was worthless turns out to be priceless.
13:38So, as they say, don't take any wooden nickels,
13:41but buy all the rare ones you can.
13:45Not all treasures shine.
13:47Some are hiding on a dusty shelf,
13:50just waiting for the right person to find them.
13:55On February 19, 1988,
13:57a fisherman wanders into a New Hampshire book barn.
14:01It's basically an old rustic shop full of used books.
14:06Amid all the mundane stacks of old and used whatever,
14:11he finds a beaten-up old copy of Tamerlane and other poems.
14:16But strangely, the author is not listed by name.
14:20It says it was written by a Bostonian.
14:25It just so happens that the fisherman had recently read about Tamerlane,
14:29which happens to be one of Edgar Allan Poe's earliest works.
14:33So, he figures for $15, he might as well own this 40-page poem.
14:38Back home, the fisherman's curiosity gets the better of him,
14:41and he can't get past the fact that if this is an Edgar Allan Poe book,
14:45why is it not attributed to Edgar Allan Poe?
14:47There can't be two 40-page epic poems called Tamerlane.
14:54So, he starts doing a little bit of digging.
14:57When he first published Tamerlane in 1827,
15:01Poe was an 18-year-old nobody,
15:04so he published it anonymously under the pseudonym of Bostonian,
15:08hoping it would lend air of mystery.
15:11He only has about 50 copies printed,
15:14and he sends them off to critics,
15:16and ultimately, no one is really interested,
15:19and most of the copies sort of vanish into obscurity.
15:24By 1988, there are only 11 known copies to exist.
15:29Later publications of Tamerlane do include Poe's name on it,
15:33but this first edition is so rare,
15:36so sought after by collectors,
15:37they call it the Black Tulip of Literature.
15:41Could it be possible this is one of those rare first editions?
15:46The fisherman doesn't know for sure,
15:48but the book looks old,
15:49and his research has been exciting him,
15:51so he calls the Sotheby's Boston office.
15:54Their response is immediate.
15:57They dispatch an armored car to his house
15:59and take the book to their New York City headquarters.
16:03The Sotheby's experts meticulously compare his version
16:07with the other 11 known versions.
16:10They check the paper quality,
16:12the typography, even the binding.
16:15And when they're done, the verdict is clear.
16:17This is the genuine, real deal,
16:22authentic, rare first edition of Tamerlane.
16:26This is massive.
16:30We all know that Poe goes on to become
16:32one of the great American authors,
16:34which makes a rare edition
16:36of his first ever published work
16:39an incredibly valuable find.
16:41So the fisherman decides to put his 150-year-old copy
16:46of Tamerlane up for auction,
16:48and that fisherman's little old $15 book
16:51sells for $198,000.
16:55Now that is a really good catch.
17:06Imagine you're cleaning out your father's estate
17:09with your brother,
17:10sorting through years of memories,
17:12then hidden among it all,
17:14you find something that doesn't belong here,
17:17something that should be hanging on a museum wall.
17:21In 2006, Dave and Don Trachty
17:26are sorting through some things
17:28in their late father's home.
17:30Their father, Donald Trachty Sr.,
17:32was a well-known cartoonist,
17:33and they're just going through his estate
17:35to see what they want to keep
17:37and what they want to sell.
17:39They've been through these rooms hundreds of times,
17:41but as they're talking about their dad's life
17:44and reminiscing,
17:45something odd catches their eye.
17:48It's a bookcase that their father built himself,
17:50but it looks a little off.
17:53The brothers notice a gap
17:54in the wood-paneled wall behind it,
17:56and when they press into it,
17:59the wall slides open.
18:03Behind the false wall,
18:05they find paintings,
18:07and not just any paintings.
18:09These are by artists
18:11that were very prominent
18:12in publications like the Saturday Evening Post.
18:15You're talking about artists like Mead Schaefer,
18:18George Hughes, Gene Pelham,
18:19and while those paintings are interesting,
18:22there's one piece in particular
18:23that stops the brothers' cold.
18:26It's Breaking Home Ties
18:28by Norman Rockwell,
18:29one of America's most renowned artists
18:32from the middle of the 20th century.
18:34The brothers are confused.
18:36They're very familiar with the painting,
18:38and they know that it's supposed to be
18:40at the Norman Rockwell Museum,
18:41and that's because back in the 1970s,
18:43their dad donated to them,
18:45and it's been on display ever since.
18:47To solve the mystery,
18:49the brothers turn to experts,
18:51and what they uncover
18:52raises more questions than answers.
18:56After testing and brushstroke analysis,
18:59it's determined that the painting
19:02in their father's secret room
19:04is authentic.
19:05The brothers are stunned.
19:07They work with investigators
19:08to try to put the pieces together,
19:10and soon a picture starts to emerge.
19:13Back in the 1950s,
19:15their father,
19:16a cartoonist that was known
19:17for his comic strip Henry,
19:19lived in Arlington, Vermont,
19:20and his neighbor was none other
19:22than renowned Americana artist
19:24Norman Rockwell.
19:26The two men became friends,
19:28and at one point,
19:29Tracty bought Breaking Home Ties
19:30from Rockwell for $900.
19:32It then hung proudly
19:34in the family home for years,
19:35alongside other works
19:37the cartoonists had collected.
19:39But in 1973,
19:41Tracty and his wife
19:42go through a contentious divorce,
19:44and he's afraid of losing
19:45the painting in the settlement.
19:47So as a talented artist
19:49in his own right,
19:51he secretly makes a copy,
19:53a near-perfect one.
19:55Even though Tracty wound up
19:57getting to keep the painting
19:58in the settlement after all,
19:59he was still paranoid
20:01that someone would try
20:03to take it away from him.
20:04So he donated the copy
20:06of the Norman Rockwell painting
20:08to the museum,
20:09all while secretly keeping
20:11the actual painting in his home
20:13so that no one would go looking for it.
20:15His copy was so good
20:18that even the staff
20:19at the Norman Rockwell Museum
20:20thought they had the original.
20:22That is, until the Tracty brothers
20:24discovered that hidden space
20:25up in Vermont.
20:29In late 2006,
20:30the Tracty family decides
20:32to sell the original painting,
20:34and it nets an amazing sum
20:36of $15.4 million.
20:39It's certainly an American story,
20:41just not the type
20:42that Rockwell painted.
20:43Next, another work of art
20:48uncovered in an even more
20:50unlikely place, church.
20:56In the fall of 2022,
20:58a carpenter named Paul Brown
21:00is walking through an old church
21:02in West Philadelphia.
21:04It's being renovated by new owners,
21:06and they're gutting the place,
21:08getting rid of many
21:08of the building's old fixtures.
21:10Brown's attention is immediately
21:12drawn to two large
21:14stained glass windows.
21:16They're covered in grime
21:17and encased in the wall,
21:19but even under all that dirt,
21:21there's something about them
21:22that speaks to him.
21:24The church is just planning
21:26on throwing these old windows away,
21:28but he hates the idea
21:29of them just ending up
21:30on some trash heap somewhere,
21:32so he offers to buy them.
21:34Back home,
21:35he wants to clean them up
21:37and restore them,
21:38but he's not quite sure
21:40how to handle
21:41delicate stained glass,
21:43so he calls up
21:44a local auction house
21:45for advice.
21:46They tell him
21:47he didn't just buy
21:48some pretty windows.
21:50He now owns custom pieces
21:52handcrafted
21:52by Tiffany & Company.
21:56Founded in 1837
21:58by Charles Lewis Tiffany,
22:00the company becomes
22:00an iconic name
22:01in American luxury.
22:03And while Charles was known
22:04for his glitzy jewelry,
22:05his son,
22:06Lewis Comfort Tiffany,
22:07developed a particular knack
22:09for crafting
22:10stunning stained glass lamps.
22:13What's not as well known
22:14is that Tiffany also crafted
22:17church windows
22:18during America's Gilded Age.
22:20In 1901,
22:22as Philadelphia's
22:23St. Paul's Presbyterian Church
22:24was under construction,
22:25they turned to Tiffany
22:27to create two
22:28eight-foot rose-shaped windows.
22:32But over the ensuing decades,
22:35the special origins
22:37of these windows
22:38get completely forgotten.
22:40By the time
22:41the new owners take over,
22:42nobody recognizes
22:44these gorgeous treasures
22:45that are hanging
22:46in plain sight,
22:48at least until
22:49Paul Brown walks in.
22:50But the Lord works
22:52in mysterious ways.
22:53After the Tiffany
22:54attribution is confirmed,
22:56Brown sells the windows
22:57for over $250,000.
23:01And he ends up donating
23:02a portion of the proceeds
23:03back to the very church
23:05that almost threw
23:06the windows away.
23:07For one woman,
23:13a regular morning stroll
23:14with her dog
23:15turns into something wild
23:17when she picks up
23:18what she thinks is trash.
23:22In the summer of 2022,
23:24an accountant named
23:25Maria Carrillo
23:25takes her daily break
23:27to walk her dog.
23:28She steps out
23:29the back door
23:30of her Anaheim office
23:31and into the alley behind.
23:32Now, normally this alley
23:34is sort of full of squatters
23:36and she also uses
23:38the opportunity
23:39while walking the dogs
23:40to straighten up
23:41and take care of
23:42any of the trash
23:43that they might have
23:43left behind.
23:45As she stops
23:46to clean up
23:47after her dog,
23:48she spots something
23:49on the ground.
23:50It's a crumpled up
23:50McDonald's bag,
23:52something that she's seen
23:53a number of times before
23:54and just thrown away.
23:56She picks it up
23:57to take it
23:57to the nearest trash can,
23:58but she realizes
23:59something's off.
24:01This bag is much heavier
24:03than it should be.
24:04Curious,
24:05she uncrumples the bag
24:06and looks inside.
24:08This is no leftover Big Mac.
24:09There,
24:10besides some ketchup packets
24:12and leftover French fries,
24:13is something that's gold.
24:16Maria pulls it out
24:17and she reads it
24:18and she can't believe her eyes.
24:20Etched into the side,
24:21it says,
24:22Games of the 32nd Olympiad,
24:25Tokyo 2020.
24:27A real deal
24:29authentic Olympic gold medal.
24:34Maria calls her husband
24:35and asks what he thinks
24:36they should do.
24:37They have a friend
24:38who works for
24:39the Anaheim Police Department,
24:40so they decide
24:41they should call him.
24:43It turns out
24:44this is the break
24:45Anaheim PD
24:46has been waiting for
24:48because four weeks earlier,
24:50an Olympic gold medal
24:51was reported stolen.
24:53But the story
24:54of how it got there
24:55and who earned it
24:56is even more surprising.
24:59In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,
25:03the U.S. women's
25:04indoor volleyball team
25:05took home the gold
25:06for the first time
25:07in the program's history.
25:09It's an incredible achievement
25:11and Jordan Poulter,
25:13dubbed the best setter
25:14of the tournament,
25:15was a huge part
25:16of the team's success.
25:17When Jordan got home,
25:19everyone wanted to see
25:20and touch and hold
25:21an authentic Olympic medal.
25:23Could you blame them?
25:24So she started
25:25toting it around with her
25:26to show off
25:28and show her friends.
25:31I mean, honestly,
25:32who can fault her?
25:33This is a generational achievement,
25:36the first women's volleyball medal
25:38for the United States,
25:40and you're part of that success?
25:41But one day,
25:43she left it in her car
25:44and forgot to lock it.
25:48And someone stole
25:50all her belongings
25:50from the center console,
25:52including the gold medal.
25:53A few weeks later,
25:55the perpetrator
25:56is found and arrested,
25:58but not with the medal.
25:59Police believe
26:00that he was attempting
26:00to sell the gold medal
26:02at a pawn shop
26:03down the street
26:03from Maria's office,
26:04but when he was turned away,
26:06he abandoned it
26:07in the alley.
26:08Thankfully,
26:09this story has a happy ending.
26:12For Jordan and her teammates,
26:14that medal is priceless.
26:15She's so grateful
26:16to have it back,
26:17she actually gives Maria
26:19and her husband
26:19a $1,000 reward.
26:22And very wisely,
26:23she says from then on,
26:25she's going to keep
26:26the medal at home.
26:292,000 miles away,
26:31another golden discovery
26:33is made
26:33at an equally odd place,
26:36this time buried in a field.
26:39In early 2023,
26:42a Kentucky farmer
26:43is finishing up
26:44a hard day's work.
26:46As he walks back
26:47to his truck,
26:48he looks out
26:48across the dirt,
26:49as he's done
26:50countless times before.
26:52But this time,
26:53the setting sun
26:54throws up a glint
26:55off something
26:56on the ground.
26:57He walks over
26:58and he sees
26:59a small, round,
27:00yellowish shape
27:01in the dirt.
27:03He picks it up,
27:05wipes it off,
27:06and he realizes
27:07it's a gold half dollar.
27:09The farmer
27:10tosses the coin
27:11in his pocket
27:12and keeps walking.
27:14But that's when
27:14he sees another glint
27:16coming from the dirt.
27:18It's another gold coin.
27:20And then he keeps walking
27:21and he finds
27:22another one
27:23and another one
27:24and another one.
27:26There's a trail
27:27of shiny little dots
27:28in the dirt.
27:29This is the most
27:30insane thing ever.
27:32And look,
27:33I'm still digging them out.
27:34There's five,
27:35two, three,
27:36four, five,
27:37six.
27:38Six more gold coins.
27:39After about 45 minutes,
27:41he's found
27:41more than 700 coins,
27:43all dated from
27:44between the 1840s
27:45and the 1860s.
27:48He reaches out
27:49to a coin dealer
27:50named Jeff Garrett.
27:51Garrett is astonished.
27:54Most of the coins
27:55are $1 gold pieces,
27:57known as
27:57Indian princess dollars.
27:58But mixed in
27:59are also
28:0020, $10
28:01Liberty Head Eagles
28:02and 8, $20
28:04Liberty Double Eagles.
28:06The Liberty Double Eagles
28:08are especially unique.
28:10Mended in 1863,
28:12fewer than
28:12150,000
28:13Double Eagles
28:14were ever created
28:15and most of them
28:16were never circulated
28:17due to widespread hoarding.
28:19So today,
28:19they're exceptionally rare
28:21and highly sought after
28:22by collectors.
28:23The discovery
28:24becomes known
28:25as the Great Kentucky Horde.
28:27But no one's sure
28:29how it got here.
28:30Some speculate
28:31that the coins
28:32might have been hidden
28:33by a landowner
28:34who didn't trust
28:35the security banks
28:36of the time
28:37could provide.
28:40Remember that
28:41in the early 1860s,
28:42the Civil War
28:43is raging.
28:44Kentucky declares
28:45itself a neutral state,
28:46but it's caught
28:47between Union
28:48and Confederate forces.
28:51Kentucky's banks
28:52and homes
28:52were frequent targets
28:54of Confederate raids.
28:56So perhaps
28:57the owner of the coins
28:59was just burying them
29:00in his field
29:01to keep them safe.
29:03Others think
29:04that it could have been
29:05raiders themselves
29:06who buried the treasure.
29:07It could have even been
29:08the infamous Confederate general
29:10John Hunt Morgan,
29:11notorious for his violent raids
29:13in Kentucky
29:13and other states.
29:15Luckily,
29:15the coins now belong
29:17to the farmer
29:17who found them.
29:18And it turns out
29:19these gold dollars
29:20are worth more
29:21than a pretty penny.
29:23They have a face value
29:24of $1,200,
29:26but when he puts them
29:27up for auction,
29:28they net him
29:29over $3 million.
29:31Now,
29:31that's a remarkable find.
29:39When most people
29:40move into a new house,
29:42they hope they don't find
29:43the last owner's trash.
29:45But what one
29:46Long Island man finds
29:47is priceless.
29:49It's 1994,
29:54and a machinist
29:55named Bruce Campbell
29:56is cleaning out
29:57the basement
29:57of a cabin
29:58on Long Island
29:59that he's just purchased.
30:01It's a mess
30:02filled with
30:02the former owner's belongings.
30:05As he's cleaning
30:05out the basement,
30:06he comes across a box
30:07that's filled with what,
30:08to him,
30:09first look like
30:10old home movies.
30:12But on closer inspection,
30:14these turn out
30:15to be amortated.
30:16This is a reel-to-reel
30:18audio technology
30:19used in the early
30:2020th century.
30:21With no idea
30:22what's on them
30:23and with no way
30:24to play them,
30:25Campbell reaches out
30:25to an audio expert
30:26who might have
30:27the equipment
30:27that will get
30:28the job done.
30:30Bruce takes them over,
30:32and together,
30:33they have a listen.
30:33But the audio
30:34that comes out
30:35of the speakers
30:35is not what Campbell
30:37was expecting.
30:40Here we go again.
30:41Another plane
30:42to come over.
30:43The audio starts
30:44with whizzing airplanes,
30:46yelling,
30:47gunfire,
30:48and the occasional explosion.
30:49Cutting through it all
30:50is a steady voice
30:52describing the horrific scenes
30:54of a beachfront
30:55invasion in battle.
30:56Bruce has stumbled upon
31:05an original recording
31:06of radio correspondent
31:08George Hicks'
31:10D-Day reporting
31:11from the coast
31:12of Normandy.
31:13On June 6, 1944,
31:15Hicks was aboard
31:16USS Ancon
31:17just off the coast
31:18of Normandy.
31:19He speaks into
31:20a primitive tape recorder
31:21called a record graph,
31:23reporting on the D-Day invasion
31:25as it happened.
31:26Something funny
31:27is falling down
31:28through the sky.
31:29Maybe a Hicks plane.
31:31Amid the chaos of war,
31:33Hicks delivers
31:34a gripping play-by-play
31:36in a calm, clear voice.
31:40There we go.
31:41They got one.
31:42His report was just
31:4313 minutes and 29 seconds long.
31:46But when the recording
31:47hit the American airwaves
31:49later that night,
31:51it conveyed the intensity
31:54of the fighting
31:55to the American home front.
31:57The press hailed it
31:57as the greatest recording
31:59of the war.
32:00It's been decades
32:01since anyone has heard
32:03these recordings.
32:04So how did the originals
32:05end up in the basement
32:07of a cabin in Long Island?
32:11Bruce does some digging
32:12through property records
32:13and discovers
32:14that the former owner
32:15was once an executive
32:16at a record graph company.
32:18That's the recording system
32:19that the reporter Hicks
32:20used on that fateful day.
32:21The executive was a bit
32:23of a collector
32:24and it turns out
32:25he'd been using his cabin
32:27as storage
32:28for old recordings
32:29and relics
32:30from the record graph industry.
32:32When he passed away
32:33in 1992,
32:35the collection
32:35just remained
32:36in the basement
32:37waiting for the next owner
32:38to find.
32:39In 2019,
32:40Bruce donates the tapes
32:41to the National D-Day
32:42Memorial Foundation,
32:44ensuring that the sounds
32:45and voices
32:46from one of the war's
32:46most important battles
32:48will continue to be heard
32:49and never forgotten.
32:51George Hicks speaking,
32:52I now return you
32:53to the United States.
32:58I guess one man's trash
33:00is another man's treasure,
33:02which is literally
33:03the case in our next story.
33:07In 1993,
33:09Todd Franklin
33:09and a couple of his buddies
33:10are walking through
33:11this country western music venue
33:13in Missouri.
33:14The venue is closing down,
33:15it's going out of business,
33:16so everything inside
33:18is up for sale.
33:20Among the clutter,
33:21Todd spots a trash can
33:23that he just can't
33:24take his eyes off.
33:26It's overflowing
33:27with garbage,
33:28but the bin itself
33:29looks a lot
33:30like the Death Star.
33:34Every Star Wars fan
33:36knows what the Death Star is,
33:37the famous moon-sized
33:38planet-killing weapon
33:40that Luke Skywalker
33:40and the other rebels
33:41blow up at the end
33:42of Star Wars.
33:43Todd is quite the sci-fi buff,
33:45and while he's seen
33:46a lot of Star Wars
33:47merchandise over the years,
33:48he's never seen
33:49a Death Star trash can before,
33:51so he approaches
33:52the owner and buys it.
33:54When he gets it home,
33:56he takes a closer look.
33:57This thing is incredibly detailed,
34:00and it doesn't really seem
34:01like a trash can at all.
34:03While it does have
34:05a small opening,
34:06the inside isn't
34:08completely empty.
34:09there's all these metal
34:11cross beams
34:12to keep it perfectly spherical.
34:15So not only does this
34:16make it a pretty
34:17ineffective trash can,
34:18but it gets Todd thinking,
34:19could this be a prop
34:21from the actual
34:23Star Wars movie?
34:25Todd reaches out
34:26to the one place
34:27that can tell him for sure,
34:29Lucasfilm,
34:30the producers
34:30of Star Wars.
34:32When he finally gets
34:33someone on the phone,
34:34they tell him that the props
34:35were stored off-site
34:36in a warehouse.
34:37But after production finished,
34:39they didn't want to continue
34:40paying storage fees,
34:41and so they had
34:42everything thrown out.
34:43Lucasfilm tells him
34:45he must be in possession
34:46of some sort of replica.
34:47They don't think much of it,
34:49so they're like,
34:50bye, Todd.
34:51Regardless,
34:52Todd hangs on
34:53to the strange object
34:54as a conversation piece.
34:57A few years later,
34:59Todd attends a lecture
35:00by Mark Thorpe,
35:02a model maker
35:03from Industrial Light and Magic.
35:05This is the company
35:06George Lucas used
35:07to make the props
35:09and special effects
35:10for the Star Wars films.
35:12After the lecture is over,
35:14Todd approaches Mark
35:15and tells him
35:16about this Death Star model
35:17that he has
35:18in his possession.
35:20Now, Mark has
35:21first-hand knowledge
35:22of how the Death Star
35:23was built,
35:24and the details
35:25surrounding this replica
35:26sound very similar.
35:29Todd tells Mark
35:30that Lucasfilm
35:31insisted that all the props
35:32were destroyed
35:33at the end of production.
35:34But Mark's not so sure
35:36about that,
35:37and he thinks
35:38the Death Star trash can
35:39might be the real deal.
35:42Mark recalls
35:43that there were
35:43these rumors
35:44that there was
35:45an employee
35:45at the warehouse
35:46who allegedly
35:47took the Death Star
35:49model home.
35:50Instead of destroying it,
35:51he kept it
35:52for nearly a decade.
35:54Then,
35:55in the late 1980s,
35:56he'd moved to Missouri
35:58and stored the prop
35:59in his mother's
36:00antique shop.
36:01there it stayed
36:02for years
36:03until the owner
36:03of the music venue
36:05bought it.
36:07Fueled with new information,
36:09Todd decides
36:10to give Lucasfilm
36:11one more call.
36:12This time,
36:13they are shocked.
36:15Now,
36:16even they believe
36:17that Todd has
36:18the actual Death Star model
36:20from the original movie.
36:22So Todd decides
36:23that now would be
36:24the time to sell
36:25his prized discovery.
36:27Generously,
36:27he offers Lucasfilm
36:29the first shot
36:30at purchasing it from him.
36:31They offer him
36:32a tour
36:33of the Lucas Ranch
36:34and an autographed picture
36:36of George Lucas.
36:38It's a cool offer,
36:39to be sure,
36:40especially if you're
36:40a Star Wars fan,
36:41but Todd is convinced
36:42that somebody
36:43is going to pay him
36:44a whole lot of cash
36:45for this model.
36:46So,
36:47he declines.
36:49So eventually,
36:50in 1999,
36:52he sells the prop
36:53to mega-fan,
36:55super-collector
36:56Gus Lopez.
36:57While the details
36:58of the sale
36:59are never released,
37:00some estimate
37:01that the value
37:02of the Death Star model
37:03could be as high
37:04as a million dollars.
37:06But Gus
37:06doesn't keep it
37:07for himself.
37:08He loans it
37:09to the Museum
37:09of Pop Culture
37:10in Seattle
37:11so now
37:12it can be enjoyed
37:13by aspiring Jedi,
37:16Wookiees,
37:16and Stormtroopers
37:17for years.
37:18We've all walked
37:24into a thrift store
37:25not expecting
37:26to find much more
37:27than a small bargain.
37:29But one find
37:30turns out
37:31to be a relic
37:32tied to the birth
37:33of a nation.
37:37In 2022,
37:38workers at a Goodwill
37:39in Washington, D.C.
37:41do what they do
37:42day after day.
37:43They sort
37:44through
37:45incoming donations.
37:47As the workers
37:48dig through
37:49a bag
37:49of donated clothes,
37:51they find
37:52a dusty,
37:53old,
37:53torn-up rag
37:54with red trim.
37:56They're about
37:56to toss it
37:57when someone
37:58notices
37:58a piece of paper
38:00attached to it.
38:01They glance at it
38:02and see a name.
38:04George Washington.
38:06This gets
38:08their attention
38:09and they look
38:10closer and see
38:10it is a handwritten
38:12note indicating
38:13that this piece
38:14of fabric
38:15is a fragment
38:16of a tent
38:17used by
38:19the Revolutionary
38:20War hero
38:20and first president
38:21of the United States,
38:23George Washington.
38:24It seems hard
38:25to believe,
38:26but the workers
38:27save the cloth
38:28from the trash heap.
38:31They decide
38:32to put it up
38:32for sale
38:33on a Goodwill
38:34auction site
38:35where people
38:35can bid
38:36on items
38:37found in Goodwill
38:38stores across
38:38the United States.
38:40And that's
38:40where it catches
38:41the eye
38:42of an American
38:42history buff
38:43named Richard Moore.
38:45He decides
38:46to take the gamble
38:47and he buys it
38:48for $1,700.
38:50But he's so uneasy
38:51about it
38:52that he hides
38:52the purchase
38:53from his wife.
38:55The prospect
38:56of owning
38:57a piece of a tent
38:57used by George Washington
38:59is very compelling,
39:01but Moore
39:02is unsure
39:03since a handwritten
39:04note
39:05is not exactly
39:06rock-solid documentation
39:08that this is real.
39:10Anxious to figure out
39:11if the fabric
39:12is the real deal,
39:13Moore contacts
39:14Philadelphia's
39:15Museum of the
39:17American Revolution.
39:18They tell Moore
39:19that Washington
39:20used two main tents
39:21during the war.
39:22There was a large tent
39:23that he used
39:24as both his office
39:25and sleeping quarters,
39:26and that's on display
39:27at the museum.
39:29And then there was
39:30a smaller dining tent,
39:31which is currently
39:32stored at the Smithsonian
39:33in Washington.
39:34Moore sends this piece
39:35of cloth
39:36to the museum
39:37in Philadelphia
39:37for analysis.
39:40When it's compared
39:42to the tent
39:43that's on display there,
39:44it turns out
39:45it's not a match.
39:46Holding on to hope,
39:48he sends the cloth
39:49to the Smithsonian,
39:50and when they compare
39:51it to Washington's
39:52smaller tent,
39:53it turns out
39:54to be a perfect match.
39:55But now that it's
39:58authenticated,
40:00everyone still wants
40:01to know how a piece
40:02of George Washington's
40:04dining tent
40:04ends up in a
40:06goodwill store.
40:08After Washington's death,
40:09the tent was passed
40:10down to his family,
40:11and they would often
40:12display it publicly.
40:13In 1907,
40:15the tent was put
40:16on display
40:17in Norfolk, Virginia,
40:18to celebrate
40:19the 300th anniversary
40:21of the founding
40:21of Jamestown.
40:22It was there
40:24that someone named
40:25John Burns
40:26allegedly cut
40:28a six-inch piece
40:30of fabric
40:30from the tent
40:31and attaches a note
40:33explaining its origin.
40:34Historians believe
40:36that the piece of cloth
40:37that Burns cut
40:38from the tent
40:39is the same
40:40as the one
40:40that Richard Moore
40:41purchased from Goodwill.
40:43But to this day,
40:44nobody knows
40:45how it got
40:46from Burns
40:47to Goodwill.
40:48The value
40:49of the tent piece
40:49has been estimated
40:50to be in the tens
40:51of thousands
40:52of dollars,
40:53but for Moore,
40:54it's a piece
40:54of family history.
40:57Moore could trace
40:58his family tree
40:59back to a Revolutionary
41:01War soldier
41:02who served
41:03under Washington
41:04at Valley Forge.
41:06This means
41:07that the fragment
41:08of cloth
41:08was part of a tent
41:09that his ancestor
41:11may have seen
41:12or even dined in
41:13during the war
41:14that won
41:15America's freedom.
41:17A mysterious stash
41:19of buried
41:20Civil War coins,
41:21a relic
41:22that belonged
41:23to our country's
41:24first president
41:24and a hidden
41:26artistic masterpiece
41:27worth a fortune.
41:29These incredible finds
41:31really are
41:32surprising national treasures.
41:35I'm Danny Trejo.
41:36Thanks for watching
41:37Mysteries on Earth.
41:39Mysteries on Earth.
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