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  • So a really good client of mine

  • has one of the largest Revolutionary War collections

  • in the world, and forever I've been trying to get him to bring

  • me something from John Hancock.

  • He's one of my favorite Founding Fathers.

  • So I'm here at my gallery because if he has something

  • from Hancock and I purchase it from him,

  • it's going to go straight in that showcase.

  • Are you ready for this, Rick?

  • That's John Hancock's pocket watch.

  • I'm intrigued.

  • And what's that?

  • Wow, that's his waistcoat, right?

  • From the 1700s.

  • There's a lot more clothing you wore back then.

  • Yes.

  • BRIAN: I have John Hancock's waistcoat

  • and a pocket watch he owned, and it comes with great provenance.

  • It's been in the family ever since for the last 150 years.

  • I purchased these items about 10 or 15 years ago in an auction,

  • and I think the fairest price would be $400,000 for the pair.

  • That's really cool.

  • A watch back in late 1700s, it was

  • like one of the biggest status symbols you could have, OK?

  • Just to have any functioning watch,

  • especially one made out of 18 karat gold,

  • was an extravagance.

  • Just to show you how rare watches were back then,

  • notice he doesn't have a watch pocket on this.

  • So this was incredibly expensive even at the day.

  • But then again, Hancock was the richest man in New England.

  • BRIAN: Right.

  • RICK: To me, Hancock is like one of the most interesting

  • of all the Founding Fathers.

  • He was sort of a mobster because he

  • did a lot of criminal activity.

  • The way Parliament made it was, like,

  • the only party that could be purchased in the colonies

  • was from the British East India Company.

  • But tea from the Dutch East India company

  • was much cheaper, so John Hancock was smuggling it in.

  • Right.

  • And Hancock's revolutionary activities made him

  • a target for British agents.

  • It's always amazed me.

  • These were all really wealthy men with great lives,

  • and they risked everything. Because--

  • They risked everything.

  • --because if the revolution didn't turn

  • out the way it would, they would have all been hung.

  • Yep.

  • So, what's that right there?

  • Well, this is a letter from the family

  • authenticating where the watch was handed

  • down through family members.

  • The letters dated 1890.

  • RICK: That's pretty amazing.

  • So how much do you want for these?

  • I guess if I had to put a price on them,

  • I'd sell the pair at $400,000.

  • How about just the watch?

  • Just the watch--

  • I guess I'd price the watch at $150,000.

  • So why don't we just do this?

  • Why don't you just let me give you $125,000,

  • and then we don't have to go back and forth.

  • I don't have to go 100,000 and you go 140, and then I go 110,

  • and then, you know, we-- we settle on 125.

  • You have a deal.

  • Oh, thanks.

  • Let me take you out to dinner.

  • We'll do all the paperwork tomorrow.

  • I'll have my staff put all the stuff in the vault for us.

  • BRIAN: Sounds great.

  • I'm happy for you.

  • Let's go.

  • Oh, that is amazing.

  • BRIAN: 125,000 I thought was a fair price

  • for the pocket watch.

  • The waistcoat is going to come back home with me

  • in my collection, and I'll probably

  • loan it to one of the-- the other museums that need it.

  • RICK: The story of the Boston Tea Party is told far and wide.

  • What many people don't know is the mastermind

  • behind the Boston Tea Party, John Hancock, the guy we assume

  • was the first person to sign the Declaration of Independence.

  • John Hancock is talked about it historically with reverence,

  • but in actuality, he was the colony's biggest smuggler.

  • So I think it's fair to say that Hancock's

  • motives weren't 100% noble when it

  • came to the Boston Tea Party.

  • Sure, he was against taxation without representation.

  • He didn't like British rule over the colonies.

  • But let's be real, this was affecting his bottom line.

  • 116 patriots in Boston dressed up like Native Americans,

  • and they boarded three English ships that had just imported

  • 90,000 pounds of tea into the colonies,

  • and they threw it all overboard into Boston Harbor.

  • It was worth over a million dollars in today's money.

  • Hancock was definitely on the British radar for sure.

  • But in the end, he definitely got the last laugh.

So a really good client of mine

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