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  • RICK HARRISON: What do we got here?

  • I have a signed letter from Napoleon from 1809.

  • He's writing to his minister of war regarding

  • gunpowder replacement.

  • RICK HARRISON: OK, cool.

  • So is that his initials?

  • That is a signature from that time period.

  • OK.

  • Looks a lot like mine, just.

  • [laughter]

  • [gunshot]

  • JASON: This letter is different because it talks

  • about gunpowder, which I don't think there is any letters

  • out there with that documented.

  • I'm going to be asking $3,000.

  • Napoleon was a great general, and he knew how to micromanage,

  • and that's what I like the most.

  • RICK HARRISON: The little general.

  • JASON: The little general, that's right.

  • RICK HARRISON: Napoleon was a really, really,

  • interesting guy.

  • He was the lowest of the low when it comes to royalty.

  • But since he was royalty, that really

  • helped his rise to power.

  • He was a little bit [bleep] crazy.

  • He worked like 18, 19 hours a day.

  • You know, the reason why he's bald right there

  • is from pulling his hair out.

  • Because he tried to do everything.

  • Napoleon Bonaparte is considered one of the greatest

  • military leaders in history.

  • He had the little bit of an ego, though.

  • When he was crowned emperor, he thought

  • the only person actually worthy to put the crown on his head

  • was himself.

  • So, I'm assuming you want to sell it?

  • JASON: I do.

  • RICK HARRISON: All right.

  • How much do you want for it?

  • I'm asking $3,000?

  • You know, I've been burned on Napoleon signatures before,

  • and I don't want that happening again.

  • So, do you mind if I have someone look at it?

  • JASON: Not at all.

  • I'm going to give him a call.

  • I'll get him down here, It will take him 10 minutes.

  • Sounds good.

  • If this checks out, it could be worth some good money,

  • and is definitely sell-able.

  • So I called in Steve, so he can take a look at it.

  • How you been?

  • RICK HARRISON: Parlais vous Francais?

  • Uh, oui.

  • Well this is what I called you about.

  • He says it's Napoleon.

  • This letter is about talking to a general

  • that we need more gunpowder.

  • And if you think about it, that shouldn't be, you know,

  • signed by Napoleon.

  • It should be someone lower.

  • But he was such a micromanager, he had to do it himself.

  • Of course.

  • That's just how the guy was, and it

  • kind of lends to his character.

  • RICK HARRISON: So is this legit?

  • STEVE: Well, the first thing I want to do

  • is I'd like to see it out of glass,

  • so I can see if it's printed or not.

  • No problem.

  • So can you take that out for me?

  • - Of course. - OK.

  • Through the years, I've seen my fair share

  • of Napoleon's signatures.

  • They're kind of rushed, hurried, more or less sloppy.

  • Like he just wanted to get through the stack of things

  • he had to sign.

  • So the first thing I'm going to do

  • is just put this on top of it.

  • And we're just kind of going to look at the ink on here.

  • See the ink right here. - Yeah.

  • You see how it starts to cut through it here?

  • And when I look deeper, there's no doubt in my mind,

  • that's live ink on there.

  • RICK HARRISON: OK, cool.

  • The next thing I want to do is rule out

  • any kind of secretarial versions,

  • or something else someone signed for him.

  • The most typical Napoleon signature

  • is more or less this style.

  • So basically, what we see is almost an NP.

  • His p is a little oversized here.

  • Here's another document.

  • Take a look at it again.

  • We see the same type of letter formations.

  • He comes right under here.

  • Look at this pressure he puts here.

  • He's putting that pressure there.

  • RICK HARRISON: So you think it's 100% legit?

  • No question about it. Yeah.

  • All great signs, yeah.

  • Great piece.

  • Good, good, good.

  • OK, so.

  • What's it worth?

  • The marketplace has really been flooded

  • with this guy's signature.

  • There's a lot of it out there.

  • And you know, collectors still collect it.

  • But you don't have a tidal wave of people trying to rush out

  • and get Napoleon signatures.

  • Based on all that, the value this is right about $1,500.

  • OK.

  • RICK HARRISON: Well thanks, man. Appreciate it.

  • Good to see you.

  • Good luck with that, man.

  • Thanks.

  • Nice talking to you.

  • You know I think a piece signed by Napoleon,

  • especially framed up with a picture of him,

  • I think that's something that is going to go pretty quick.

  • Because people do know this guy.

  • He's a big part of world history,

  • and he's still a desirable autograph.

  • So you're not going to give me $3,000 are you.

  • RICK HARRISON: No.

  • Well, now I can probably sell it for around $1,500.

  • There's definitely value here.

  • I mean, it's not like it's worthless.

  • But you know, $1,500 is a lot of money for someone

  • to spend on an autograph.

  • $2,000.

  • Why in the world would I ever do $2,000

  • when I could sell for $1,500? OK.

  • I'll tell you what. I will give you a grand.

  • Can't do it.

  • Thanks bringing it in, man.

  • If you change your mind, come and see me.

  • OK.

  • I'm pretty disappointed, because I just

  • figured that it was worth more, based

  • on the contents of the letter.

  • I guess I'll take it back home, put it in my collection,

  • and wait another 200 years.

  • See if it'll go up in value from there.

RICK HARRISON: What do we got here?

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