#fullmovie #engsub #tvseries #trending2026 #dramaseries #romancemovies #fullhd #Historys Greatest Picks with Mike Wolfe - Season 1 - Episode 07: Backyard Treasures EngSub
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00:08I'm Mike Wolf, and I've spent my life traveling the world chasing forgotten objects and the
00:14histories behind them. People everywhere are turning up artifacts every day, often by chance.
00:23And if you're lucky, some of these finds can be worth serious money. Tonight on History's Greatest Picks.
00:35Not all treasures are buried away in some far-off place. Some might be hiding in your very own backyard.
00:42We're talking epic movie history forgotten in a woodshed. Jack Nicholson's character wanders
00:49maniacally around the halls of this hotel holding this axe. Rock and roll riches rescued from a
00:56dumpster. I mean, these are Led Zeppelin's drumheads. How cool is that? The estate sale find worth nearly
01:05half a billion dollars. This thing is as historically significant as the Mona Lisa itself. So the real
01:13question, what's hiding in your backyard? So sit back and let me tell you the stories behind some
01:21of history's greatest picks. Back in the day, two kids in L.A. were playing in their backyard
01:33and dug up a 1974 Ferrari Dino GTS. You heard me right. And a couple in Sierra Nevada unearthed a
01:43huge amount of gold coins worth an estimated 10 million bucks. And then there's the guy who had
01:49something hiding in his woodshed for the better part of 40 years.
02:00Here's the story. This guy has this land he wants to clear. For this, he's going to have to chop
02:04some
02:04trees down. He's going to need an axe. It just so happens that where he works is having an auction,
02:09like a secondhand sale. And one of the lots is an axe just like the kind that he needs.
02:17So he puts in a bit of five pounds for the axe, which is about $7. And guess what? He
02:24wins it.
02:24And then, like so many other homeowners, he eventually never gets to this project where
02:30he was going to cut down all this wood on his property. He puts the axe in his garden shed
02:35and
02:35forgets all about it. It would stay in that shed with the blade unused for decades.
02:42It's in exactly the same condition as it was when it was used by its previous owner.
02:51Now, the thing you've got to know about this axe is the guy who used it first.
02:59It's been a 12-month-long, brutal schedule of filming that they've been through on Stanley
03:04Kubrick's latest effort, which is a psychological thriller, a horror film.
03:09And the lead role is played by Jack Nicholson. His character is named Jack Torrance, and the film,
03:15of course, is The Shining.
03:18In this movie, Jack Nicholson's character becomes this homicidal maniac, and he wanders maniacally
03:24around the halls of this hotel looking for his family, looking to murder them, holding this axe.
03:32The most famous scene in the whole movie of The Shining is when Jack Nicholson takes the axe
03:37and smashes it through the door, sticks his head through the door, and says,
03:42Here's Johnny!
03:45And this makes the axe almost as much of a star as Jack Nicholson himself.
03:52For the wide shots, they can use a prop axe made of foam painted to look like the real thing.
03:58But for close-ups, Kubrick needs a real axe. He can't, you know, have a homicidal maniac using
04:03a prop. It's got to be the real deal.
04:06The props department custom makes the hero axe. So they make a genuine fire axe that's 35 and a
04:13half inches long. The axe head is 11 and a half inches wide.
04:18And the blade is ground to make it shine on camera, and it's also very, very sharp.
04:26In the famous scene where Nicholson chops through the bathroom door with the axe,
04:32they use a fake prop door at first.
04:36In a previous life, Nicholson had been a volunteer firefighter in the California Air National Guard.
04:41So even though he wasn't a murderous psychopath, he's still pretty darn good with an axe.
04:46So this prop door won't hold up.
04:48So a real wooden door is substituted, and Nicholson swings the axe.
04:55And the axe got a little worn. It was a little wear and tear on it.
05:00At the conclusion of shooting, the film production does what film productions do.
05:05They clear out all the props, and everything has to be disposed of and sold.
05:10The props have served their purpose.
05:12The movie's over, and they would just end up in the trash unless someone wants to take them.
05:16All the props are auctioned off, and this is where this guy gets this axe for $7.
05:24The guy never used the axe to chop anything, and that means it remains in the exact same condition
05:31of the last time that it was used by Jack Nicholson when he chops through the door during The Shining.
05:38As movie member-feely goes, it's really valuable.
05:43In 2019, one of the fake foam axes is put up for auction.
05:48By now, The Shining has achieved classic cult horror status, and it sells for $57,000.
05:54When the real hero axe hits the auction block later that very same week, it sells for just
06:00over $200,000, which isn't bad for an initial investment of just $7.
06:12You never know what might be hiding in your garbage, like the guy who found the equivalent of a small
06:20fortune.
06:27Al Aronowitz has a houseguest.
06:30His houseguest is up doing something throughout the night.
06:34When Al gets up in the morning, he goes to see what he's been up to.
06:39Next to the typewriter, the ashtray is overflowing, and there's a completely filled waste paper basket next to it.
06:48And this, by the way, is one of the big advantages of a typewriter over a computer,
06:52because with a typewriter, you've got artifacts.
06:55He smooths out some of the sheets of paper, and he sees a song or a poem starting to take
07:01shape.
07:03So he goes, I'm going to keep a couple of these as a souvenir.
07:07It would prove to be a very profitable thing to do, because the houseguest was a guy by the name
07:14of Bob Dylan.
07:20In spring of 1964, Bob Dylan had just broken up with his longtime girlfriend, Suze Rotolo.
07:27She's the one famously pictured on the album cover of the freewheeling Bob Dylan.
07:34After the split, Bob Dylan spent some time staying with his friend Al.
07:39Now, Al is a music journalist, and he knows better than anyone what a rare talent Bob Dylan has.
07:46And maybe it's his intuition as a journalist, but you have to think that when somebody's going through something like
07:52that,
07:52and they're an artist, maybe some greatness is being created in those moments.
07:58Usually his songwriting process is a rush of inspiration, and it's done.
08:04But this one, he's laboring over.
08:07And Aronowitz notices in these sheets, one, two, three different versions of the same song.
08:14And the song is Mr. Tambourine Man.
08:22You cannot overstate the importance of this song.
08:25Mr. Tambourine Man, when covered by the birds, single-handedly ignites the folk rock movement.
08:32It shoots to number one.
08:34The late 1950s and early 1960s saw a resurgence of folk music.
08:40Bob Dylan was at the spearhead of this movement.
08:43But all of a sudden, when it moves to Southern California, and it gets this injection of rock music, it
08:49hits the mainstream.
08:51Now it's played on radio.
08:53It's Bob Dylan's only number one hit, and he did not record it.
08:57And there it is, found in a waste paper basket.
09:01Al's a music journalist.
09:03I mean, he's part of that 1960s music scene.
09:06He was the original manager of the Velvet Underground.
09:09He introduced Dylan to the Beatles.
09:11According to friends and family, Al always used to tell the story of how he rescued the original lyrics to
09:18Mr. Tambourine Man out of the trash.
09:20It's part of the family lore.
09:27When Al dies in 2005, his son Miles cannot find Mr. Tambourine Man.
09:34He knows that his father filed them.
09:36Were they lost?
09:37Was this story made up?
09:39Were they stolen?
09:40Al leaves an archive that is just vast.
09:43It's 250 banker's boxes full of documents.
09:49It takes his son Miles literally years to sort through all of the archives, paper by paper by paper.
09:56But eventually, he finds them.
10:00The lyrics rescued from Al's archives are sold at auction in 2025 and are snapped up for $508,000.
10:08That's a profit of half a million dollars for scraps of paper originally tossed into the garbage.
10:21We all know how the story goes.
10:23A woman walks into a thrift store and buys a painting for $30 to cover a hole in her wall.
10:28And then it turns out to be the lost masterpiece that sells for over a million bucks at an auction.
10:33It's a true story, just like the next one.
10:36Except this time, we're not talking about a painting worth a mere million bucks.
10:40We're talking hundreds of millions.
10:48It's 1958, and a couple are on a trip to London.
10:53Warren and Minnie Kuntz from New Orleans are small-time art collectors.
10:59Just before they head back to the States, they do what any good collector does.
11:02They just poke their head into an auction house just to see what's happening.
11:07There's a collection of 136 paintings up for sale.
11:12One of the lots is called Salvatore Mundi.
11:18It's a Renaissance-era painting attributed to Giovanni Peltroffio.
11:23Who was a student of Leonardo da Vinci.
11:27It shows Christ holding an orb in one hand and giving a blessing with the other.
11:31The painting is showing its age.
11:32Its varnish is cracked.
11:34I mean, it's 500 years old.
11:36And not only that, at some point, the face was retouched or restored.
11:41But it was done so badly that one critic says it looks like a drug-crazed hippie.
11:48But this doesn't dissuade Warren and Minnie.
11:50They have an eye for old art, so they decide to place a bid.
11:54No one else puts in a bid, so they snatch up the Beltroffio painting for 45 pounds.
12:00The equivalent of $120 back then.
12:06They're not big art dealers.
12:08Nobody knows about them in the art world, so this doesn't make a huge splash.
12:12And so it goes back to Louisiana with Warren and Minnie.
12:15Warren and Minnie pass the painting on to a nephew who hangs it in a stairwell in his house in
12:23Baton Rouge.
12:24And it sits there collecting dust for years.
12:28When the nephew passes, the painting by Beltroffio hits the auction block in 2005 for a second time.
12:36This time, it sells for just over $1,000 to a couple of art dealers from New York.
12:42The art dealers know that there are at least 30 different versions of Salvatore Mundi attributed to Leonardo's workshop,
12:51including this one by Beltroffio.
12:53This is how it worked in the Renaissance.
12:55The masters, the Michelangelos and the Leonardos of the time, did not work in isolation.
13:01They had teams of young artists who came as apprentices and would often finish and assist the master with their
13:10own works.
13:11It's all about the brushstrokes.
13:14You can't emulate the brushstrokes.
13:18It's like a signature.
13:19It's like a fingerprint.
13:21Once you identify the brushstrokes of the master, it's unmistakable that this is not of a student.
13:31The dealers want to find out a little bit more about this work.
13:36So they take it to Diane Modestini, an expert in Renaissance art.
13:41Her job is to clean it, stabilize it, and see what's underneath all those years of grime and cracked varnish
13:48and that horribly done touch-up.
13:51The restoration process is slow and painstaking.
13:55It takes months or even years.
13:57A moment comes when Diane tries to retouch some damage on the figure's upper lip, but she can never quite
14:04get it right.
14:05So, as a guide, she's going to take inspiration from the master himself.
14:09She puts it side by side with a copy of the Mona Lisa.
14:15It's then, for the first time, that she sees the remarkable resemblance.
14:21As she looks at the lip of her restoration of Salvatore Mundi and looks at the lip of Mona Lisa,
14:28these are a one-to-one match.
14:31She suddenly believes that what she's looking at isn't a copy of a Leonardo.
14:37It is an original Leonardo.
14:40This thing is as historically significant as the Mona Lisa itself.
14:46What follows rings like a thunderclap through the art world.
14:54There are only so many Leonardo da Vinci paintings in existence.
15:01For another one to come on the scene is earth-shattering.
15:14What follows is years of analysis, radiography, x-rays to ensure that its provenance of the hand of Leonardo himself
15:27is verified.
15:28And there are claims and counterclaims.
15:32Some say it's not a Leonardo, others say it's partly by Leonardo, and others still say it's a Leonardo masterpiece.
15:44Even though no one agrees, it still heads to auction.
15:52When it reappears back at auction in 2017, a bidding war breaks out.
15:57$190 million, give me $200.
16:00$200 million is bid.
16:01These guys are throwing down.
16:03$264 million.
16:04$300 million.
16:07$370 million.
16:08We're still not done.
16:09And when the gavel drops,
16:11it sells for, get this,
16:16$450 million, $300,000.
16:24It's always important to pay attention to your surroundings
16:27because you never know what you might be stepping over.
16:31Like the two guys that were on a hike in the mountains
16:33when they spotted a metal box poking out of the ground.
16:37Inside were nearly 600 gold coins worth $340,000.
16:43Or the guy in the next story who discovered a silver mine
16:47and some unexpected treasure within.
16:53The desert of Nevada contains hundreds of abandoned silver mines.
16:58Time capsules locked up from the day hundreds of years ago
17:02when the very last prospector picked up his shovel and left.
17:07Michael Allen Harris is a bit of a mine archaeologist.
17:10And over the years, he has visited dozens of these abandoned mine sites.
17:14He's found newspapers dating to the 1800s.
17:17He's found handwritten letters, even hand-drawn crude pornography.
17:23He's even found old whiskey bottles from that time period,
17:26which collectors will pay upwards of $100 for.
17:29But as he claws through the dirt in the back of one mine,
17:33he finds this heavy fabric just caked in dirt and dried in mud.
17:38He keeps digging until he finally reveals
17:40a pair of worn and torn blue denim pants.
17:46They're a little frayed.
17:48The hems are a little busted.
17:50But they're mostly intact.
17:52On the back right hip is a label.
17:55Although faded over time, it can still be read.
17:58Levi Strauss and Company, copper-riveted clothing.
18:03Patent, May 20th, 1873.
18:10The jeans are a creation of two men.
18:13Levi Strauss, who gave them their name,
18:15and Jacob Davis, a tailor from Reno,
18:18who really created the structure and engineering of them.
18:22Since the start of the silver boom in the 1860s,
18:25thousands have flocked to Nevada in hopes of making it rich.
18:29And so they rush into it,
18:31but their big problem is that they have to be equipped
18:33for the rough experience of mining.
18:36And the rough experience of mining takes its toll on clothing.
18:40And so Jacob's repair business has never been busier,
18:42because now there's suddenly more demand than ever
18:45as miners are flocking to places like Nevada
18:48in the search for silver.
18:50He's running a thriving business,
18:53repairing clothing as it gets worn
18:55through the demanding physical conditions of mining.
19:00So he decides to come up with something tougher,
19:04a strong pair of work pants,
19:07reinforced with copper rivets,
19:09the same technology used in saddle making,
19:12that'll give these miners a long-lasting piece of work clothing.
19:16And he finds that it's a winning combination
19:18and that it works well.
19:20It really makes pants that hold up to the rigors of mining
19:23very effectively.
19:28There, an immediate success and orders explode.
19:32Davis is so paranoid that someone will steal his idea
19:35that he contacts his fabric supplier in San Francisco,
19:39Levi Strauss,
19:40and asks him to file a patent for copper riveted work pants.
19:46The vintage Levi's found by Michael Harris
19:49are a perfect time capsule of these old mining days,
19:53down to the copper rivets
19:55and even the wax stains from the candles
19:59that miners would use to light their way.
20:02But the question now is,
20:05just how old are they?
20:08They have suspender buttons,
20:10but no belt loops,
20:12which weren't introduced until 1922.
20:15And there's only one back pocket.
20:18The second pocket was introduced in 1902.
20:21So they're older than that.
20:24And there's one more disturbing clue
20:27as to how old these jeans are.
20:29He finds inside the left front pocket
20:31that there's a message printed
20:33and it says best value,
20:35best finish,
20:37best materials.
20:39And at the bottom,
20:40there's a message that's a little disturbing
20:42by today's standards.
20:44It says made by white labor.
20:49Levi's added this line in 1882
20:52after Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act.
20:56At a time when many people felt
20:59that there were too many Chinese laborers
21:01who were working for mining operations
21:03and on the railroad.
21:05It was a way of identifying
21:07that Levi's was not using Asian labor
21:10to produce its mining ware.
21:12But the company's policy eventually shifts
21:14and they abandoned using that message
21:16in the 1890s.
21:18So the date of these jeans
21:20can be narrowed down
21:22to a couple of years
21:23in the early 1890s.
21:26In other words,
21:27they're among the oldest Levi's
21:29known to exist.
21:33In 2022,
21:35Harris decides it's time
21:36to turn history into cash
21:38and he sends them to auction
21:39where they fetch a staggering
21:41$88,000.
21:43and apparently,
21:44they're still wearable.
21:51Hidden treasures
21:52can be found
21:53absolutely anywhere
21:54and maybe
21:55even in your backyard.
22:00For the last 15 years,
22:01at this small market town
22:04in England,
22:04there have been
22:05these two figures
22:07standing
22:08at the bottom
22:09of this couple's garden.
22:10They're instantly recognizable,
22:11though they're basically
22:13mini models
22:13of the Sphinx,
22:15the famous Sphinx
22:16from Egypt.
22:18Now the couple
22:18had originally bought these
22:20at a country house sale
22:21for 300 pounds,
22:23which is the equivalent
22:23of around 500 U.S. dollars today.
22:26So you look at these
22:27and yeah,
22:29they're not terribly remarkable.
22:32So they may be like
22:33two feet high,
22:34maybe like three feet in length.
22:37Eh,
22:37you're not even that big.
22:39They show their age.
22:40One of them,
22:40the head became detached
22:42and it's been stuck
22:42back together with cement.
22:47So there comes a point
22:48when the couple
22:48are downsizing
22:49and they're going to
22:51take these two Sphinxes
22:52along with a lot
22:53of other things
22:53from their home
22:54and they're just going
22:55to take them
22:55to the local auction house
22:56and try to raise some money.
22:58In the auction catalog,
22:59they've listed this
23:00as a pair of 19th century
23:03carved stone garden models
23:06of Egyptian Sphinx.
23:08They have an estimated value
23:09of somewhere between
23:10300 and 500 pounds
23:12and the opening bid
23:13is 200 pounds.
23:15And this is where
23:16it gets interesting
23:17because this auction
23:19is online
23:20and people in the know
23:21have been sniffing around
23:23the auction catalog
23:24and they've smelled a bargain.
23:27slowly the price
23:29begins to creep up
23:30and then it creeps up again
23:32and it creeps up again
23:34and again
23:34and again
23:35and a bidding war
23:37breaks out.
23:39The auctioneer
23:40and the couple
23:40have had no idea
23:42what's been sitting
23:43at the bottom
23:44of their garden
23:44for the last 15 years
23:46but some of the bidders
23:47clearly do.
23:50Among the bidders
23:51are international
23:52gallery owners
23:53antiquity dealers
23:55people who know
23:56their stuff.
23:58The clues have been
23:59staring them in the face
24:00all along.
24:01For one thing
24:02they're made of a limestone
24:03that is consistent
24:04with ancient Egyptian artifacts.
24:07But then the other thing
24:08is that all that weathering
24:10might look like
24:11it's from decades
24:12of English weather
24:13but it's actually
24:14from centuries
24:15of desert weather.
24:18The clincher
24:19is the size of the head
24:21relative to the rest
24:22of the body.
24:22When you look at it
24:23from the side
24:24or head on
24:24it looks weirdly big
24:26like the head is swollen
24:27but that's exactly
24:29how the ancient Egyptians
24:30would build these things
24:31because they usually
24:32had them sitting
24:32in a way
24:33that people would
24:33look up at them
24:34and when you look up
24:35from an angle
24:36the head looks
24:37just right.
24:39So get this
24:40the bidding
24:41which begins
24:42at 300 bucks
24:43reaches 200,000
24:45and after 15 minutes
24:47to this back and forth
24:48the Sphinxes
24:49are sold
24:49to an anonymous museum
24:51for their final selling price
24:53of 300 grand.
25:02We all know
25:03the old saying
25:03one person's trash
25:04is usually
25:06another person's trash
25:07but against all odds
25:09this next guy
25:10proves that wrong.
25:11You just gotta be
25:12in the right place
25:13at the right time.
25:20In the east end
25:21of London
25:22there's a transport
25:23and logistics company
25:24called Edwin Shirley Trucking
25:26or EST.
25:27They're known
25:28for transporting equipment
25:30and stages
25:30and things.
25:31Their client list
25:32is sort of like
25:33the Rock and Roll
25:34Hall of Fame.
25:35Bruce Springsteen
25:36Bob Dylan
25:36the Rolling Stones
25:37The Hood
25:38Deep Purple
25:40They don't just supply
25:41the trucks
25:42for the tours
25:43they provide
25:44storage space
25:45for the equipment
25:46that goes on the trucks.
25:47And after years
25:48and years
25:49of this business
25:50things coming in
25:50and out
25:51there comes a point
25:52where they've got
25:5350,000 square foot
25:54of storage
25:54but it's all
25:56full up
25:56to them
25:57at this point
25:58it's just trash.
26:03A team of workers
26:04is now cleaning out
26:05all these abandoned
26:06shipping units
26:07and storage containers
26:08and their instructions
26:10are
26:10if no one's claimed it
26:11just get it out of there
26:13and burn it.
26:15So that's what they do.
26:16Classic bits
26:17of theatrical rock shows
26:19like Alice Cooper's
26:20guillotine
26:21are being broken down
26:22and thrown on a bonfire.
26:25They eventually
26:25get to the road cases
26:27associated with
26:28Led Zeppelin
26:29and when they pull them out
26:30they find that
26:31some of the cases
26:32contain drum heads.
26:34The skins that go
26:35over the drum
26:36they're still left
26:37over from
26:38Led Zeppelin's
26:38last tour.
26:39I mean these are
26:40Led Zeppelin's
26:42drum heads.
26:43How cool is that?
26:45So one of the guys
26:46on these crews
26:47he plays drums himself
26:49he's like hey
26:50do you mind
26:51if I just take these?
26:52And they're like
26:53sure.
26:54This isn't just
26:55a cool discovery
26:56it will prove
26:57to be a valuable one.
26:59What makes this one
27:01so special?
27:04Let's rewind to 1971
27:07and the release
27:08of One of Rock's
27:09greatest albums ever.
27:11Led Zeppelin's
27:12third studio album
27:13receives mixed reviews
27:14from the critics.
27:15So going into
27:16the fourth album
27:17Led Zeppelin decides
27:19they're going to have
27:19a little bit of fun
27:20with the critics.
27:21So this album
27:22when it comes out
27:23it doesn't have a title
27:25it doesn't list
27:26the band members' names
27:27or the band's name
27:29it doesn't even
27:30have a catalog number.
27:31The only identifying
27:33marks on this
27:33entire album cover
27:34are just these
27:35four symbols
27:36and each one of them
27:38has been chosen
27:39by a different
27:40member of the band.
27:42The band was built
27:43on mysticism
27:45and the occult.
27:47Led Zeppelin was
27:48this mythical
27:49magical
27:50rock and roll band.
27:52The band's drummer
27:53John Henry Bonham
27:54decides to use
27:55symbols called
27:56the borrow me
27:57in rings.
27:58It's an ancient
27:59symbol that dates
28:00back thousands
28:00of years
28:01but since 1971
28:02it's only been
28:03associated with
28:04one thing
28:04and that is
28:05one of the
28:06greatest drummers
28:08in rock and roll
28:09history.
28:11John Bonham
28:12was the driving
28:13force for Led Zeppelin
28:15and this album
28:16is the most
28:16successful Zeppelin
28:18album ever.
28:19This album will
28:20include songs
28:20that will become
28:21classics
28:22like Black Dog
28:23and Stairway to Heaven.
28:24Stairway to Heaven
28:25will become
28:26everyone's final
28:26prom song
28:27for the next
28:28I think 30 years.
28:29From 1971
28:30to 1975
28:31they are playing
28:31to sell out crowds
28:33in stadiums
28:34around the world
28:35including
28:36the now legendary
28:37gigs at Earl's Court
28:39in London.
28:40It's a whole unique
28:41setup.
28:41You have to build
28:42stages
28:43all custom made.
28:44Each tour is different
28:45than the one before
28:45and these guys
28:47do it better
28:48than anyone.
28:48They work with
28:49the biggest acts
28:49in the world.
28:51Bonham plays
28:51with a translucent
28:52orange drum kit
28:54that is centered
28:55around a 26-inch
28:57bass drum
28:57that has on
28:59the front skin
29:00a borrow me
29:01and ring symbol.
29:03This tour
29:03is the only time
29:04in his career
29:05that he uses
29:06the drum head
29:07with the rings
29:08on it.
29:09When John Bonham
29:11dies in 1980
29:12at the age of 32
29:13the rest of the group
29:15decides to disband.
29:17And seven years later
29:18their old equipment
29:19is thrown out
29:21except for
29:22Bonham's drum heads.
29:26So this young guy
29:27he's got these drum heads
29:28he's taken them home
29:29but eventually
29:30he stops playing
29:31the drums
29:31and he's got
29:32these things
29:33packed away.
29:35So it's only
29:36after 37 years
29:38that he really
29:38opens up this case
29:40and decides to look
29:41at these drum heads
29:43and he picks one up
29:47and he sees
29:48the unmistakable
29:50symbol
29:51of John Bonham.
29:54The drum head
29:55has dents on it
29:56that match photos
29:57from their iconic tour.
29:59They're even visible
30:01in their film performance
30:02the song remains the same.
30:05In 2024
30:06he decides to sell
30:08with a reserve price
30:10of 3,000 pounds.
30:11They end up selling
30:12for 10 times that much
30:14the equivalent
30:15to $40,000
30:16and once their
30:17true value
30:18is recognized
30:19there is nowhere
30:20to go but up.
30:21One year later
30:22the drum head
30:23is flipped.
30:24One of the most
30:24iconic rock artifacts
30:26that has ever
30:28crossed the auction block.
30:29We're looking
30:30for $75,000
30:32and this time
30:33goes for a whopping
30:34$87,500.
30:45If you're planning
30:47a renovation
30:47you've got
30:49to be prepared
30:49to find something
30:51unexpected
30:51something old
30:53and maybe
30:54hopefully
30:55something of value.
31:02The Redland Hotel
31:04is up for renovation.
31:05The builders
31:06are in
31:07and demolishing
31:08every room
31:09to update it.
31:11All the fixtures
31:12and furniture
31:13are being removed
31:14and tossed
31:15in the parking lot.
31:18They get to
31:19the honeymoon suite
31:19and there's this
31:20old four-poster bed
31:22and it's junk.
31:23It's in the way
31:24so they unceremoniously
31:25rip it apart
31:26throw it in the big
31:28junk pile out front
31:29with everything else.
31:30A local man
31:31is walking by
31:32and this catches
31:34his eye.
31:34the bed
31:35looks special
31:37but he's not
31:38just any passerby
31:39he's an auctioneer.
31:41So he rescues it
31:43from the trash pile
31:43and he puts it up
31:44for auction
31:45and he builds it
31:46as a profusely
31:47carved
31:48Victorian
31:49four-poster bed
31:50with armorial
31:52shields.
31:56Ian Coulson
31:57is a collector.
31:58He sees this auction
31:59online for this bed
32:00that looks amazing.
32:02He wins it
32:02without even
32:03seeing it in person
32:04and as it turns out
32:05he wins it
32:06for 2,200 pounds
32:07about $3,000.
32:09When it arrives
32:10he sees it's
32:11in even worse shape
32:12than it looked
32:12in the online pictures.
32:14The thing is crusty
32:15and covered in rot
32:16but he immediately
32:17realizes
32:18that it's older
32:19than anyone imagined.
32:21The deep oxidization
32:22of the bedpost
32:23would have taken
32:23centuries to develop
32:25and there are
32:26saw marks
32:27on the wood
32:28that show
32:28that this has been
32:29cut with manual tools
32:31not the kinds
32:32of mechanized tools
32:33that existed
32:34in the 19th century.
32:35This is even
32:36older than that.
32:39So he brings in
32:41historians
32:41and scientists
32:43to analyze
32:44this bed further.
32:46So they do
32:46a DNA analysis
32:47of the timber
32:48and they can show
32:49that it's European oak
32:50and not just
32:51any European oak
32:52it's a subspecies
32:53that is typical
32:54of the finest
32:56slow-grown oak
32:57used by master
32:58craftsmen
32:59in the Middle Ages.
33:01They discover
33:02traces of
33:03ultramarine
33:04on the bed.
33:05It's an
33:06ultra-blue pigment
33:07that was used
33:08hundreds of years ago
33:09and back in the day
33:10ultramarine
33:12was considered
33:12more precious
33:13than gold.
33:14This bed's
33:15not Victorian
33:15it's medieval.
33:18So now
33:19things get
33:19very interesting.
33:23It's got
33:24three lions
33:25and three
33:26fleur-de-lis.
33:27This is the
33:28royal coat of arms
33:29of the kings
33:30of England.
33:32On the one hand
33:33somebody
33:34could have
33:35faked it.
33:36On the other hand
33:37what if it truly
33:39is the royal
33:39coat of arms?
33:40There are also
33:41these other
33:42ornate carvings.
33:43You've got
33:43Adam and Eve
33:44you've got
33:44a dragon
33:45you've got
33:46a lion
33:46you've got
33:47acorns
33:48those are a
33:49symbol of
33:49fertility.
33:50And critically
33:51the Lancastrian
33:52rose.
33:57In the 15th
33:59century
33:59during the
33:59War of the
34:00Roses
34:00these roses
34:01are symbols
34:02of the
34:02competing
34:02claims
34:03for the
34:04English
34:04throne.
34:05The
34:06Lancastrians
34:07are represented
34:08by the
34:08red rose
34:09the Yorkists
34:10by the
34:11white.
34:12In 1486
34:13the two
34:14houses
34:14are united
34:15under
34:16Henry
34:16the
34:16seventh
34:17the
34:17Lancastrian
34:18king
34:18who
34:19weds
34:19Elizabeth
34:20of York
34:20and they
34:21adopt
34:22the
34:22Tudor
34:22rose
34:23symbol
34:23of the
34:24two
34:24roses
34:24blended
34:25together.
34:29As
34:30Ian
34:31digs
34:31through
34:32the
34:32archives
34:32he
34:33finds
34:34records
34:34of
34:35the
34:35bed
34:35in
34:36the
34:36medieval
34:36palace
34:37of
34:37Westminster.
34:38That
34:38same
34:39exact
34:40bed
34:40was
34:41in
34:41the
34:41palace
34:42on
34:42January
34:4318,
34:441486.
34:45Now
34:46that
34:46is
34:47the
34:47exact
34:47same
34:48date
34:48as
34:49Henry
34:49the
34:49seventh
34:50marriage
34:50to
34:51Elizabeth
34:51of
34:52York.
34:53This
34:53is
34:53the
34:54royal
34:54bed
34:55which
34:56means
34:56honeymooners
34:57at
34:57Redland
34:58Hotel
34:58for
35:00$150
35:01were
35:02sleeping
35:02in the
35:03same
35:03bed
35:04where
35:04future
35:05kings
35:05of
35:06England
35:06were
35:06conceived
35:07including
35:08Henry
35:09VIII.
35:13This
35:14bed
35:14was
35:14built
35:15to
35:15be
35:15taken
35:15apart
35:15so
35:16that
35:16it
35:16could
35:16follow
35:16the
35:16king
35:17and
35:17queen
35:17as
35:17they
35:17traveled
35:18around
35:18their
35:18kingdom
35:19they
35:19wouldn't
35:19have to
35:19stay
35:20in
35:20different
35:20beds
35:21they
35:21could
35:21stay
35:21in
35:21their
35:22nice
35:22comfy
35:22bed
35:23it
35:23was
35:23the
35:23original
35:24flat
35:24packed
35:24furniture
35:25finally
35:26the
35:26bed
35:27ended
35:27up
35:28in
35:28the
35:28northwest
35:28of
35:29England
35:29and
35:29centuries
35:30later
35:30served
35:31as
35:31the
35:32centerpiece
35:32of
35:33a
35:33honeymoon
35:33suite
35:34only
35:35to
35:35be
35:35tossed
35:36aside
35:36in
35:36a
35:42Ian's
35:42restoration
35:43of
35:43the
35:43bed
35:44to
35:44its
35:44original
35:44glory
35:45takes
35:4513
35:46years
35:46but
35:47it
35:47is
35:47worth
35:47it
35:48given
35:48its
35:49history
35:49its
35:49provenance
35:50and
35:50its
35:50beauty
35:51the
35:51bed
35:52has
35:52now
35:52been
35:52valued
35:53upwards
35:53of
35:5430
35:54million
35:55dollars
35:58you
36:01can
36:02find
36:02George
36:02Washington's
36:03signature
36:03on his
36:04personal
36:04copy
36:05of the
36:05U.S.
36:06Constitution
36:06which
36:07sold
36:07for
36:07nearly
36:0810
36:08million
36:08dollars
36:09and
36:09you
36:09can
36:10find
36:10Babe
36:10Ruth
36:10signature
36:11on
36:11a
36:11baseball
36:12which
36:12sold
36:13for
36:13nearly
36:13$400,000
36:15but
36:16what
36:16about
36:17a
36:17set
36:17of
36:17signatures
36:18found
36:18at
36:18a
36:18demolition
36:19site
36:19what
36:20value
36:21could
36:21they
36:21have
36:27the
36:27old
36:28jail
36:28in
36:29Birmingham
36:29Alabama
36:30is
36:30being
36:31demolished
36:33inside
36:33the
36:33administration
36:34office
36:34a
36:35worker
36:35is
36:36being
36:36told
36:36to
36:36go
36:37through
36:37all
36:37the
36:37paperwork
36:38and
36:38just
36:38get
36:38rid
36:39of
36:39it
36:39it
36:39it's
36:39all
36:39destined
36:40for
36:40the
36:40landfill
36:42amidst
36:43all
36:43this
36:43pile
36:44of
36:45trash
36:45he
36:46comes
36:46across
36:46an
36:47old
36:47hinge
36:47notebook
36:48and
36:49takes
36:49a
36:49look
36:49inside
36:49it
36:50measures
36:50about
36:517
36:51by
36:5211
36:52and
36:52a
36:52half
36:53inches
36:53the
36:54pages
36:54are
36:55manila
36:55and
36:55ruled
36:56in
36:56blue
36:56with
36:57hand
36:57written
36:57entries
36:58each
36:59line
36:59records
37:00a
37:00letter
37:01or
37:01package
37:01of
37:02something
37:02that
37:02was
37:03received
37:03at
37:03the
37:03jail
37:03it's
37:04basically
37:04a
37:05log
37:05book
37:05the
37:07demolition
37:07worker
37:07casually
37:08flips
37:09through
37:09this
37:09log
37:09book
37:10and
37:10it
37:11covers
37:11a
37:12time
37:12period
37:12that
37:12includes
37:13the
37:14month
37:14of
37:14April
37:141963
37:16and
37:17there's
37:17one
37:17signature
37:18that
37:19just
37:19jumps
37:19off
37:19the
37:20page
37:20so
37:21he's
37:22doing
37:22his
37:22job
37:22he's
37:23told
37:23to
37:23throw
37:23all
37:24this
37:24stuff
37:24out
37:24and
37:24he
37:24does
37:25but
37:25he
37:25pulls
37:26out
37:26two
37:26of
37:27these
37:27pages
37:27from
37:27the
37:27log
37:28book
37:28as
37:28a
37:28keepsake
37:29everything
37:30else
37:30goes
37:31in
37:31the
37:31junk
37:31file
37:34the
37:35thing
37:35you've
37:35got to
37:35know
37:36about
37:36Birmingham
37:36jail
37:37is
37:38that
37:3825
37:38years
37:39earlier
37:39its
37:40most
37:40famous
37:40inmate
37:41had
37:41been
37:41Dr.
37:42Martin
37:42Luther
37:42King
37:43Jr.
37:48Birmingham
37:49Alabama
37:49has
37:50become
37:50a
37:51flashpoint
37:52for
37:52the
37:52civil
37:53rights
37:53movement
37:53a
37:54court
37:54injunction
37:55has
37:55banned
37:56protests
37:56but
37:56Dr.
37:57Martin
37:57Luther
37:57King
37:57Jr.
37:58has
37:58led
37:58a
37:58peaceful
37:59march
37:59through
38:00Birmingham
38:00protesting
38:02segregation
38:02this
38:03should
38:03cause
38:04us
38:04to
38:04go
38:04out
38:04more
38:05determined
38:05than
38:06ever
38:06before
38:07to
38:08achieve
38:09our
38:10right
38:12now
38:13he
38:13did
38:13this
38:13knowing
38:14exactly
38:15what
38:15would
38:16happen
38:16he
38:17would
38:17be
38:17arrested
38:24he
38:24spends
38:25the
38:25next
38:25eight
38:25days
38:26in
38:26jail
38:26with
38:26his
38:26only
38:27connection
38:27to
38:28the
38:28outside
38:28world
38:28being
38:29what
38:29he
38:29receives
38:30through
38:30the
38:30mail
38:30and
38:31there's
38:31a
38:31real
38:31flurry
38:32of
38:32activity
38:32while
38:33MLK
38:33is
38:34incarcerated
38:36on
38:36April
38:3717th
38:37he
38:38receives
38:38this
38:39special
38:39delivery
38:40two
38:41days
38:41later
38:41he
38:41receives
38:42a
38:42Western
38:42Union
38:42telegram
38:43and
38:43a
38:43regular
38:43letter
38:44and
38:44he
38:44signs
38:44for
38:45both
38:45over
38:46the
38:46course
38:46of
38:46eight
38:46days
38:47he
38:47signed
38:47the
38:47logbook
38:48a total
38:49of
38:4912
38:49times
38:52one
38:53of
38:53those
38:53packages
38:53contains
38:54a newspaper
38:55clipping
38:55and
38:56an open
38:56letter
38:56from
38:57eight
38:57white
38:58pastors
38:58who
38:59are
38:59writing
38:59King
39:00in
39:00protest
39:01of
39:01his
39:01actions
39:03essentially
39:04telling
39:04him
39:04to
39:04calm
39:05down
39:05they
39:06were
39:06accusing
39:07him
39:07of
39:07being
39:07an
39:07outside
39:08agitator
39:08they
39:09were
39:09basically
39:09telling
39:10him
39:10to
39:10stop
39:11it
39:12tone
39:12it
39:12down
39:12leave
39:12it
39:13alone
39:15King
39:16decides
39:16to
39:17write
39:17an
39:17open
39:17letter
39:18in
39:18reply
39:18but
39:19he
39:19has
39:19nothing
39:19to
39:19write
39:20on
39:20so
39:20he
39:21starts
39:21to
39:21scribble
39:21on
39:21the
39:22margins
39:22of
39:22a
39:23newspaper
39:23that's
39:23been
39:24smuggled
39:24into
39:25him
39:25by
39:25a
39:25sympathetic
39:26guard
39:26so
39:27all
39:27these
39:27bits
39:28and
39:28pieces
39:28which
39:28are
39:28smuggled
39:29out
39:29get
39:30compiled
39:30into
39:30what
39:31is
39:31known
39:31now
39:31as
39:32letter
39:32from
39:33a
39:33Birmingham
39:33jail
39:34written
39:34by
39:34Martin
39:34Luther
39:35King
39:35junior
39:36in
39:37this
39:37letter
39:37he
39:38essentially
39:39lays
39:39out
39:39his
39:40views
39:40on
39:41the
39:41purpose
39:42of
39:43peaceful
39:43civil
39:44disobedience
39:46it
39:47is one
39:47of the
39:47fundamental
39:48documents
39:48of the
39:49American
39:49civil rights
39:50movement
39:50never mind
39:51American
39:51history
39:52it
39:53includes
39:53some
39:54of
39:54his
39:54most
39:54famous
39:55quotes
39:55like
39:55injustice
39:56anywhere
39:57is a
39:57threat
39:58to
39:58justice
39:58everywhere
39:59or
40:00the
40:00quote
40:00that
40:01says
40:01whatever
40:02affects
40:03one
40:03directly
40:04affects
40:05all
40:05indirectly
40:07so
40:08King
40:08is
40:08released
40:09after
40:09eight
40:09days
40:10and
40:10the
40:11letter
40:11gains
40:12wide
40:13circulation
40:13and a
40:14lot
40:14of
40:14traction
40:14but
40:15no
40:15copy
40:16of
40:16the
40:16manuscript
40:17exists
40:18so
40:20there's
40:20no
40:20wonder
40:20why
40:21one
40:21of
40:22the
40:22workers
40:22when
40:22he
40:22saw
40:23this
40:23log
40:23book
40:24decided
40:24to
40:24hang
40:25on
40:25to
40:25these
40:25pages
40:25for
40:26a
40:26keepsake
40:27when
40:28he
40:28gets
40:28home
40:28he
40:28gives
40:29the
40:29pages
40:29to
40:30the
40:30family
40:30patriarch
40:31who's
40:31a bit
40:31of a
40:32history
40:32buff
40:32but
40:32they're
40:33kept
40:33secret
40:33and
40:33for
40:34decades
40:34the
40:34rest
40:34of
40:35the
40:35world
40:35has
40:35no
40:35idea
40:36that
40:36these
40:37pages
40:37even
40:37exist
40:40the
40:40only
40:41relic
40:41of
40:41King's
40:42time
40:42in
40:42the
40:42Birmingham
40:43jail
40:43are
40:44the
40:44bars
40:44from
40:45his
40:45cell
40:45which
40:45are
40:46preserved
40:46in
40:46a
40:46museum
40:47and
40:48these
40:48two
40:49pages
40:49torn
40:50from
40:50the
40:50log
40:50book
40:51when
40:52they're
40:52revealed
40:52to
40:53the
40:53world
40:53in
40:532021
40:54they
40:55sell
40:55at
40:55auction
40:55for
40:56a
40:56staggering
40:57$130,000
40:58to an
40:59anonymous
41:00buyer
41:01so
41:02there's
41:02no
41:03wonder
41:03why
41:03one
41:04of
41:04the
41:04workers
41:04when
41:05he
41:05saw
41:05this
41:05log
41:06book
41:06decided
41:07to
41:07hang
41:07on
41:07to
41:08these
41:08pages
41:08for
41:09a
41:09keepsake
41:09this
41:10was
41:10invaluable
41:12good
41:12call
41:13all
41:14of
41:14which
41:14goes
41:14to
41:15show
41:15if
41:15it
41:15can
41:16happen
41:16on
41:16a
41:16demolition
41:17site
41:17or
41:18in
41:18an
41:18abandoned
41:18silver
41:19mine
41:19or
41:19even
41:20in
41:20a
41:20wood
41:20shed
41:21there's
41:22treasure
41:22to be
41:22found
41:23in
41:23anyone's
41:24backyard
41:24maybe
41:25even
41:25yours
41:26you
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