churning them through. paul: all right, thank you. that's it for this week's show. thanks to all of you for watching. i'm paul gigot. hope to see you right here next week. ♪ ♪ >> a wild west pioneer... >> there's a saying, "the cowards didn't come." so you had to be brave. >> he truly was the john wayne of the 19th century. >> he leaves behind a trunk of relics... and a classic, woven into the fabric of america itself. >> there was a pair of old blue jeans in here. >> what'd they look like? >> they said that they were the oldest unworn pair they had ever seen. >> that's unbelievable. >> so are the lengths to which folks go for vintage old denim. >> finding any levi's pre-1900 is a massive rarity. that's the holy grail. >> what do you think they're worth? ♪ [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ]

[ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] ♪ >> i'm jamie colby in tucson, arizona. wagon trains used to pass right through here on their way to california during the gold rush, and one of the rough-and-ready pioneers who helped settle this area left behind a very strange inheritance. i'm here to get the skinny on it. >> my name's jock taylor. in 2009, i inherited a wooden trunk full of family heirlooms going back more than a century. now i'm told i could pocket a small fortune. >> i meet jock, a 60-year-old electrical engineer, at his home here in tucson. >> hi, i'm jamie. >> i'm jock. >> i heard you have something very unusual from your great-great grandfather. >> i certainly do. come on in. >> jock shows me that inheritance -- an old trunk that's been passed down through the family for more

than a century. >> the trunk contained the family bible, a very ornate saddle blanket, a pair of old jeans -- >> jeans? who keeps jeans? >> they've been in the trunk for so long, i don't think that my mother really knew what else to do with them. >> according to family lore, all the items in the trunk, including the jeans, once belonged to this man, jock's great-great grandfather, solomon warner, one of tucson's original pioneers. >> very distinguished. >> old solomon's story, and the story of those dungarees, begins far from tucson in upstate new york, where he's born in 1811. as a young man, he heads west, in search of adventure and wealth. >> a lot of farm boys or small-town boys in new york couldn't wait to get away from home. >> jim turner has written several books on the history of arizona and its important pioneers like solomon warner.

>> he worked on steamboats in the 1830s, and then he went to the gold rush. after that, he went to south america, looking for gold there. >> but the gold thing doesn't pan out. solomon returns to america in 1853, still searching for a way to strike it rich. the following year, the united states completes the gadsden purchase from mexico, adding nearly 30,000 square miles, including tucson, along our southern border. solomon sees a new frontier to be conquered. >> what makes pioneer status? >> the willing to risk. there's a saying, "the cowards didn't come," and so you had to be brave to come out to the frontier. >> a big, powerful man, 6'1/2" tall, solomon hauls 13 mules loaded with merchandise into the new territory and opens a general store in tucson, then just a small town

of less than 1,000 people. >> he was the first to sell american goods in tucson. >> who were his customers? >> the butterfield stage came through tucson, and whatever you wanted, you had to buy it from solomon warner. >> as the town grows, so do warner's riches, but his business interests are interrupted when civil war breaks out in 1861. >> tucson was under the confederacy and captain sherod hunter asked all of the citizens to swear an oath to the confederacy. >> what about solomon warner? was he game? >> he wouldn't do it, and when he wouldn't do it, they confiscated all of his goods. >> solomon retreats to mexico, then returns to tucson after the war to reclaim his store. but another kind of bloodshed breaks out along his trade routes. this is, after all, the wild, wild west. >> was that an easy thing to do in those days, getting goods back and forth? >> it was dangerous. >> several times, he had been shot by arrows from indians

when he was bringing dry goods back and forth. >> sounds like a hollywood character in the making. >> it was amazing that not only did he survive apache attacks, he lived to be 89. >> when solomon dies in 1899, tucson's in mourning. >> there was a great ceremony because he was a revered citizen at that time. >> after solomon's death, his son, john, packs up some of his father's belongings into a trunk that bears the family name, and over the years, the cedar chest gets handed down through the generations. >> john solomon warner, when he passed away, it went to his only daughter, josefina, and then everything that she had went to my mother, elva. >> why has the family held on to it? >> it's an heirloom. my mother always used it for storing ancient family relics. she was very proud of it. >> the trunk stays in elva's living room until she passes away in 2009.

then her son jock, one of four heirs, moves the crate to his home and takes an inventory of its contents, including those old blue jeans. >> what'd they look like? >> they were very weird jeans. they didn't have belt loops, and they only had one pocket on the back. they looked like a pair of old blue jeans that had been washed once and then folded and put away. >> weren't they worn out? >> they are in like-new condition. >> like brand-new? >> like brand-new. >> and on the back of those spotless jeans, a famous marking. >> they had the leather patch on the back that said levi's on them. >> that's right -- levi's, the most iconic blue jeans of all time. >> did you just take the jeans out of the trunk and try them on? >> actually, they're way too big for me. they come up almost to my chest. >> jock assumes jeans that big probably belonged to old solomon.

but he can't say for sure what went into and came out of that chest in the 110 years since his great-great grandpa's death. >> any proof of purchase? >> not that i know of. >> a picture of him wearing them? >> no. >> you sure it's not just family lore? >> i don't know. >> what could they be worth? a bundle, says this prospector, who actually mines for ancient blue jeans. >> true vintage denim can be worth thousands of dollars. >> for a reason you might not expect. >> all the earlier jeans that they had went up in smoke. >> that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question... the answer after the break. listen up, heart disease. you too, unnecessary er visits. and hey, unmanaged depression,

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>> he had that pioneer spirit. he saw the opportunity here, and he could see that the city had potential to grow. >> inside that trunk is a pair of vintage levi's blue jeans. >> so, they were pretty ratty? >> no, they actually were very well-preserved. it's cedar, and it protected the jeans very well. >> if they're indeed solomon's from way back when, the jeans are also a remarkably well-preserved relic of a completely different pioneer success story. mike harris, author of "jeans of the old west," knows all about that. >> how did this whole levi boom start? >> well, in 1870, jacob davis, who was a tailor in reno, nevada, he was approached by a woman who was married to a woodcutter. >> turns out that her woodcutter husband constantly rips through his pants pocket. it's a common problem. whether concealing a pistol or hauling heavy gold nuggets, the weak pockets just can't

handle the stress. >> so jacob davis gets the idea. he saw the rivets on his workbench, and he decided to put those in the pocket corners. >> adding rivets to pockets -- it's one of those seat-of-the-pants innovations that make america great. the result? stronger dungarees that can stand up to the tough work thrown at them by the miners and laborers of the day. >> and after about a year, he was getting so many orders, he couldn't fill them. >> davis, who needs capital and manpower, goes into business with wealthy san francisco merchant levi strauss. on may 20, 1873, american blue jeans are born. a pair costs about a buck. levi's markets their denim overalls as the uniform of the working class. >> who bought them at the time? >> miners in the west, farmers, mechanics -- anybody that did hard labor would have bought levi's back then.

>> that's because workers love how tough and durable the pants are, as this pair from 1890 proves. >> from the 1800s? i mean, they feel like they could be right now. they really could withstand a lot. >> absolutely. >> so it was all about strength? >> it was all about strength. >> now, here's something really important to remember in this "strange inheritance" tale. in 1906, the epic san francisco earthquake devastates the levi's headquarters... >> their building, it was completely leveled. >> ...along with all of levi's records and inventory. the first 30 years of the company's history -- gone. of course, for the next century and more, the company thrives. indeed, the pants it manufactures become an american icon. think about it. is there anything the world loves more about america than blue jeans? they're right up there with blockbuster movies, fast-food burgers, and rock 'n' roll.

so you probably aren't surprised there's a demand for vintage jeans. but i bet you would be surprised how far some people will go to meet that demand. >> true vintage denim can be worth thousands of dollars, and finding any levi's pre-1900 is a massive rarity. that's the holy grail. that's what we're all looking for. >> brit eaton is a modern-day prospector who scours old west barns, ghost towns, and mining sites -- not for precious metals, but antique overalls. >> my gold is what the gold miners were wearing while they were seeking their gold. in order to be a great denim hunter, you have to be ruthless, relentless, and rugged. i've rappelled into pits, i've killed rattlesnakes to get by. there are so many potential dangers. >> exploring abandoned mineshafts can be treacherous, but often worth the risk. >> finding things in mines is the equivalent of big-game hunting.

you find a time capsule just sitting there in the middle of nowhere. the feeling of seeking something is a true american sort of pioneer feeling. you're literally filling a gap in in history. >> and that's a good way to pose the question facing our heir, jock taylor. does his strange inheritance fill a gap in history, or are they closer to the jeans that fill the gap at the mall? >> they were in such great shape that i thought, "why are they showing me new jeans?" >> stay tuned for "p.s.i." -- pants seam investigation -- next. >> here's another quiz question for you... the answer when we return. this is what it's all about, jamie --

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[ wind howls ] >> so, who said, "i had holes in my jeans well before it was fashionable"? it's "b," kenny rogers, who "knew when to fold them." >> a cedar box inherited by jock taylor of tucson, arizona, contains a cache of old family heirlooms that he assumes have been sitting in the trunk since his great-great grandfather solomon warner passed away in 1899... including this curious item -- a pair of seemingly never-worn levi's jeans. >> how many years do you think those jeans may have been in that trunk? >> in excess of 110 years. >> so jock and his wife, pat, take the levi's to a traveling appraisal show here in town with high expectations. they walk up to the table of daniel buck soules, owner

of daniel buck auctions. >> they had a pillowcase, and i had no idea what they had. and when they pulled out these jeans, they were in such great shape that i thought, "why are they showing me new jeans?" >> so, you were suspicious at first? >> oh, absolutely. but it wasn't until i really started looking at them that i went, "okay, these are a little bit better than i think they are." >> just how much better? daniel's detective work begins with the obvious -- these belong in the big-and-tall department -- waist, 44, length, 37. >> he had to be 6'6", 6'8". he was a mountain of a man. >> next, he examines the leather tag. >> does this identify the jean in some way? >> it does. they started adding this around 1886, but they still use that. even to today, it's still there. >> that sets the base. the jeans are no older than 1886, but they could have been made any time after that. so daniel turns his attention

to those famous pocket rivets. >> one of the problems they actually had was the placement of the rivets. if you were a cowboy and on a saddle, the outside rivets would wear on saddles. what you find is they had to cover these with cloth at one point. >> those covered rivets first appear in 1937, but jock's are exposed, meaning the overalls are at least older than world war ii. daniel searches the waistline for more clues. >> there's no belt loops. >> there's no belt loops because of the fact at this time, they only had suspenders, and it wasn't until 1922 that they actually added the belt loops. >> we're back to the roaring twenties, and the pockets reveal one more thread to the story. >> when levi's first started manufacturing jeans, you had the two front pockets and the single back pocket, and this other pocket, which is for change or a pocket watch. and it wasn't until around 1901 they added the fifth pocket in the back. >> which is missing on jock's

jeans. so now we've narrowed it down to that 15-year window between '86 and '01. finally, daniel spots a stamp on the inside of the pocket that helps age the overalls all the way to 1893. jeans historian mike harris is amazed. >> how unique is this pair? >> to find an 1893 pair of levi -- very scarce. this could be one of two examples known, so it's very rare. if one shows up, then it's quite valuable. >> and to find an 1893 pair inperfectcondition? unheard of. so how much cash could jock expect for his strange inheritance? >> size really does matter when it comes to vintage levi's. >> find out next. what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com. ♪

>> now back to "strange inheritance." >> jock taylor is one of four heirs to inherit this pair of antique levi's jeans, authenticated by daniel soules to be from 1893. so, what are they worth? >> $10,000? >> keep going. >> $20,000? >> and more. >> the reason's not just that there are vintage blue-jean collectors around the world. it's also because of the levi-strauss company itself, whose headquarters were destroyed in the 1906 san francisco earthquake, along with the archives of their early denim. >> are they trying to get these historic jeans back? >> they actually are. so when a good pair of jeans do come on the market, they are out there trying to purchase them. the last pair of blue jeans that sold from the 1880s, it's my understanding that levi's paid six figures for them. >> a hundred thou for an old pair of jeans? jock reaches out to levi's.

>> they said that they were probably the oldest unworn pair of levi's they had ever seen. >> and jock says they offer him $50,000 for them. it's a lot of dough, but the family's expecting more. they discuss it, then turn down the offer. >> if levi strauss is valuing a ripped-up, torn pair that's maybe a year or two older at $100,000, i would think that a pair that's never been worn from the same era would be at least worth that much. >> so jock tells auctioneer daniel soules to set a date to sell great-great grandpa's pants to the highest bidder. >> it's a risk, that's true, but when you consider that it's the only unworn pair of blue jeans of that era, i think, yeah, it's a one-of-a-kind item. >> i think the most they could possibly get from a collector is $40,000. >> denim hunter brit eaton believes jock and his family are thinking too big for their britches. >> the vintage denim market

is incredibly volatile. i think if levi strauss is willing to pay $50,000 for them, take the money and run. >> is he right? november 5, 2016 is the date we're to find out. then, just before the levi's go up on the block, daniel postpones the sale due to technical glitches. a few days later, he's talking to a buyer from japan, but the jeans are not a good fit. >> at 44 waist and 37 length, the jeans were too big for them. they were planning on purchasing them to wear. so that deal fell through. it was very depressing. >> size really does matter when it comes to vintage levi's. if it's either too little or too big, it's going to be harder to establish a value, or just not as valuable. >> levi's would not comment on any negotiations with jock, but we do know he has at least one sizable offer very much on the table. >> there's absolutely a market for jock's levi's. i personally would be willing

to pay $35,000 for them. i'll make that mark in blood right now if you want. >> what would ol' solomon warner do? jock's pretty sure his great-great granddaddy would tell him to sit tight. he's positive the frontier merchant is somewhere off in the sunset, grinning. >> for him to know that his jeans that he left after his passing were worth $50,000, i think he would think the world has gone crazy. >> now, that's some tailor-made "close" from an heir not only left big shoes to fill, but a big pair of pants to boot. >> everybody has a pair of their favorite super-comfortable, worn-out jeans, right? these are mine. i can't believe i'm wearing them on a shoot, but i wonder what old levi strauss would think of clothing stores selling pre-ripped denim, often at two or three times the cost of a pristine pair. what's up with kids these days -- too lazy to wear out their own jeans?

i'm jamie colby. thanks for watching "strange inheritance." and remember -- you can't take it with you. >> she's a jet-setter in the golden age of travel... >> pan am flight attendants were iconic. >> did she fit the bill? >> i think shecreatedthe bill. >> ...bringing back these from around the globe. >> indonesian, african, chinese -- they came from everywhere. i thought she was a smuggler, which made it even more exciting. >> what?! >> are they just silly trinkets... >> is there a big market for beads? >> there's a big market for beads. >> this is the real deal? >> this is the real deal. >> ...or historical treasures worth a mint? >>thedalai lama? >> yes. [ gavel bangs ] >> bidder 561 is for $11,000. [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ]

[ bird caws ] ♪ >> i'm jamie colby, thrilled to be on my latest adventure, here in san francisco. the woman at the heart of this story also loved to travel and took home the smallest of souvenirs from every place she visited. those tiny keepsakes could add up to abigpayday for her heirs. >> my name is lise mousel. for over half a century, my glamorous aunt naomi traveled the world in style. she always had a surprise for us, but the biggest one came after she passed away. [ knock on door ] >> i want to know more about those surprises, so i meet lise and her mother, carol, at the condo where aunt naomi lived for more than 30 years. lise now calls the place home. oh, i love the way it's

decorated -- minimalist. >> it wasn't always true, when naomi was here. >> really? >> yes, there was stuff everywhere. there was furniture and there were antiquities, and then there were the beads. >> beads everywhere. >> beads? >> beads. >> naomi lindstrom's story begins in a tiny logging town in british columbia, canada, where she's born in 1924. sister carol comes along nine years later. were you rich or poor? >> we were poor. naomi used to love to tell the story that if we needed a grouse for dinner, she'd take the shotgun and go and get it. >> but the backwoods life is too small for naomi's big dreams. by 18, she's a pre-med college student in seattle. >> she had one quarter left, but it was summer, and she saw a sign from united airlines saying "we're hiring." she thought, "i'll do it for the summer." >> what do you think it was about that sign asking for people to sign up to be

stewardesses that attracted her? >> it was the travel. she always was an adventurer. >> naomi instantly falls in love with the globe-trotting lifestyle. she was hooked. >> she was hooked, and she never regretted it. >> in 1952, she jumps ship to pan-american airways -- not just the most prestigious of carriers, but a cultural icon. pan am was founded in 1927 as america's first international airline. an innovator in the use of jet aircraft, pan am becomes legendary for its luxury, panache, and above all, its classy, gorgeous stewardesses. pan am flight attendants were iconic. did she fit the bill, lise? >> oh, good lord, i think she createdthe bill, actually. >> how'd she look in her uniform? >> oh, she looked gorgeous. she looked gorgeous until she

retired. >> the stew's life gives naomi the chance to see the world. during layovers, while her stewardess friends sit by the pool, naomi immerses herself in the local culture, which leads to a new hobby -- beads. that's how she befriends jamey allen -- over their shared love of the small mementos. what do you think naomi's fascination with beads was? >> she liked the fact that beads put you in touch with the culture that you admire or are interested in. >> in some cultures, they're money. in others, magical charms. for naomi, they slide easily into a suitcase and through customs. >> they are mankind's oldest portable art form. >> naomi soon identifies the perfect way to add to her bead count -- archaeological dig sites. and her $10 per diem from pan am comes in quite handy. >> at that particular point in

time, the archeologists weren't interested in beads, and for $10, she could get a lot of beads. >> what if she needed the money to eat? >> oh, she knew that she could find somebody who'd buy dinner for her. >> naomi's tiny keepsakes soon include glass beads from china, jasper from south america, stone beads from the middle east, and countless more from around the world. these red coral beads come from india. naomi gets them in 1959 after striking up an acquaintance with a famous passenger. filmmaker and broadcaster lowell thomas is on a mission trip to aid the dalai lama, and naomi tags along. thedalai lama? >> yes. naomi was working in first class. she met lowell thomas. he was looking for somebody who could buy, inexpensively, all the supplies to build houses for the refugees. >> that is amazing.

over the decades, naomi stockpiles her beads in her san francisco condo. >> i thought she was a smuggler, which made it even more exciting. >> what?! >> she was this kind of bigger-than-life, independent woman who did exactly what she wanted, and i thought she was magic. >> she never married? >> no, she never did. she had many proposals. she had so many diamond rings that she took all the diamonds and made one band. >> from different guys? >> all from different guys. >> by the early 2000s, naomi is long retired from pan am, and her world travels have come to an end. but even into her 80s, she's still feisty as ever. >> she was probably about a year beyond needing full-time care, but she kept sending her caregivers home. so mom and i decided that the best thing to do was to have a family member live with her, and i was portable at the time and eager because i loved her so much. >> lise lives with her aunt naomi for the next year. then, in march 2014, just weeks

shy of her 90th birthday, naomi peacefully passes away. she names her sister carol her sole heir, who, in turn, makes lise trustee of the estate. that's when they learn aunt naomi's little trinkets are a lot more than that. >> well, we were all astounded. we still were not prepared for what we found. >> i almost had a heart attack. >> that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question. which of the following was not a requirement for pan am stewardesses during the golden age of flying? the answer when we return. did you know american homeowners, aged 62 and above,

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sister and niece are rummaging through her san francisco condo, wondering whether their inheritance is filled with treasures or trash. >> i was desperate to get things cleared out. looking at. >> do you take a garbage bag and just get started? >> it was tempting. it was really tempting. there was drawer upon drawer upon drawer. and when you opened them, every drawer was just overflowing. >> she converted closets into bead drawers. these are beautiful. >> it's not just loose beads stashed everywhere, but hundreds of bead necklaces. >> we probably spent the better part of two days just taking the necklaces out and laying them across the beds. >> the handmade pieces range from glamorous to exotic to simply bizarre. >> this is a necklace that naomi

wore. it's dogs' teeth. >> dog teeth -- that's a new one. thousands upon thousands of beads. it's simply overwhelming for carol. when you looked at all the beads, what was your first reaction? >> "wow. what have we gotten into?" >> but help's just a phone call away -- to naomi's friend and fellow bead enthusiast jamey allen. >> well, we were all astounded. we were not prepared for what we found. >> jamey's first step is to catalog the collection. >> jamey and i spent months together, going through drawers, with me helping him sort and saying, "jamey, what's this? jamey, what's this?" >> the beads may look alike to lise, but not to jamey's discerning eye. he's able to deduce a bead's cultural origin by studying its material, shape, color, and markings.

for instance, the distinctive reddish hue on this strand reveals its provenance. >> these beads were made in burma. >> how do you know? >> whereas most amber is yellow, burmese amber is more often red. so, you can determine a lot of things visually -- by the color, by the clarity, by the uniformity of the color. >> other hints help determine a bead's age -- erosion signs, texture, and rarity. another clue -- older beads typically have larger holes, due to the lack of sophisticated cutting tools. >> beads were made by hand, and they were made by artisans, and they were made one at a time, and they had a lot of skill and time invested in them. >> jamey's analysis yields a stunning conclusion -- many of naomi's beads are not only very old, but rare. ancient items include 17th century glass trading beads from venice and these amber ones from the chinese qing dynasty.

>> they probably were originally in a mandarin court necklace about 150 years ago. >> other beads, he tells them, are even older. there's west african quartz more than 1,000 years old, pre-columbian ceramic from peru, and afghani beads from the 3rd millennium b.c. are these museum-worthy? >> absolutely. there are many, many museum-worthy pieces in the lindstrom collection. >> i had no idea. i mean, to me, it's a bunch of beads. >> a bunch of beads that jamey says might be worth their weight in gold. >> a well-made bead from 3,000 years ago is a very valuable thing. >> but justhowvaluable? >> before i knew it, she was practically hyperventilating. >> i was just overtaken by the beauty of everything that she had. >> that's next. >> here's another quiz question for you.

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>> so, which of these beads is typically the most valuable? it's "c." imperial jade is a prized material symbolizing water and life. in 2014, a jade necklace sold in hong kong for more than $27 million. >> after the death of her glamorous aunt naomi, a retired pan am stewardess, lise mousel and her mother, carol, are astonished to learn the exotic details of naomi's vast bead collection. >> it spans about 5,000 years of history and everything from

indonesian, african, chinese, japanese, european. they came from everywhere. >> naomi also created one-of-a-kind necklaces from her tiny treasures -- beaded jewelry that now might be worth a small fortune. did you have any idea how much they were all worth? >> no. i knew nothing about beads. >> she finds out when she invites rhonda harness of michaan's auctions to naomi's san francisco condo. >> when i walked in the house, i was just overtaken by the beauty of everything that she had. you just don't see these items. the collection is phenomenal. >> it's immediately clear to rhonda that this is one of the top bead collections in america and deserves its own stand-alone auction -- which i'm previewing today, just hours before the big event. what are you wearing, to start? >> i'm wearing an ancient tibetan necklace of coral.

>> from what i understand, the piece you're wearing has an estimate of $30,000. >> that is correct. coral is so popular right now, and you just don't see it -- the size, the color, the quality. it's almost impossible to find. >> is there a big market for beads? >> there's a big market for beads. beads are the first jewelry that was ever worn. beads were worn before clothes were worn. >> they were also used as charms -- like this ancient tibetan dzi bead, said to bring good luck and ward off evil. i see people walking around new york city with evil eye bracelets. this is the real deal? >> this is the real deal. >> what would this little bead go for? >> well, we have it very reasonably priced at $1,500 to $2,000. this is an incredible necklace right here. they're ancient beads from afghanistan, and they're glass beads. >> its pre-sale estimate -- $3,000. this really caught my eye.

>> it's pre-columbian, and it's beautiful beads of crystal carnelian. very rare to find these. can i put this on you? >> please do. why wait? >> it looks like it was made for you. >> and it could be mine for $6k. rhonda tells me that memento from naomi's time helping the dalai lama should also attract attention. >> i have had so much interest in it. i feel this is going to do very well. >> the pre-sale estimate -- more than 10 grand. while this central asian necklace from 700 b.c. is appraised at $18,000. there's no telling what the entire cache will bring in. ready to find out? that's next. are you nervous? >> i'm terrified. >> with that, we will begin. >> i am hoping that i've done everything i could have done up to this point. >> $500 is bid. online at $500. >> what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it.

send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com.

>> now back to "strange inheritance." >> $200 to start. do i have any takers for $200? $200 right there. $225 now. $225. do we go $250? >> in march 2016, the naomi lindstrom collection hits the auction block at michaan's in alameda, california. the treasure trove includes ancient beads and necklaces spanning more than 5,000 years of history that the pan am stewardess acquired from around the globe and bequeathed to her sister carol... like these ancient beads excavated in mali. >> these are at least 1,000 years old. >> wow. unfortunately, this day is gonna cost me some money. >> i'd say collect it now, because you'll never see it again. >> naomi would be standing there with her chest out, her head back, and a big smile on her face, saying, "yes, i did this."

she'd be so proud. she'd be thrilled. >> naomi felt all of these things were her babies. and today, we're looking for a lot of good homes. >> $475. >> $475 now. $475's the bid. go $500? >> the auction gets going. some of the pre-sale estimates are right on the button. >> lot number 4418 -- an ancient afghanistan glass bead necklace. >> those afghani glass beads i tried on... >> $3,000. [ cash register dings ] >> 4359, tibetan coral bead, gilded silver needle case necklace. and we'll start the bidding off on this at $6,000. >> $6,500. >> that necklace from naomi's time helping the dalai lama... >> bidder 561 is for $11,000. >> whoo! >> way to go. >> [ laughs ] >> whew! >> yeah. >> this is fun, isn't it? [ laughter ] >> it's even more fun when items go way above their appraisals. many do. remember that tiny tibetan spiritual bead priced at $1,500? >> and we'll start the bidding

off on that at... >> this is the best one. >> $1,500 is bid. $1,500, $1,600, $1,700, $1,800. >> $1,900. >> $1,900, $2,000 -- >> $2,250. >> $2,500. $2,500. now go $2,750s online. $3,000 the bid. we're holding at $3,000. on the floor with $3,000. >> $2,250. now go $2,500. $2,500. $3,500 is on the floor. $3,750s online. no advance. >> $4,000. >> $4,000 still bidding online. $4,250. now go $4,500. >> $4,500. >> $4,500 is bid. online at $4,500. [ gavel bangs ] sold online for $4,500. >> that's triple its pre-auction estimate. more big sales follow... >> chinese white jade necklace. and we'll start the bidding off on that at $1,000. >> ...like this chinese white jade necklace... [ gavel bangs ] >> $4,250. [ cash register dings ] >> ...and an ancient himalayan strand that earns $5,900. [ gavel bangs ] >> bidder 604 for $3,000. >> the auction goes on for more than five hours. >> last call -- $3,750.

>> nearly 300 lots, thousands of beads on the block. [ gavel banging ] in total, the auction earns more than 300,000 bucks. when you first looked at this collection and think, "ohhh! there's a lot of beads," and then you walk away with hundreds of thousands of dollars. that was an incredible gift from your aunt. >> oh, my gosh. it really was. and she'd be happy that people thought her things were interesting enough to buy them. >> and that may be just the beginning. many top-tier items that didn't hit their reserve will be re-offered down the line, like that ancient tibetan coral strand, the central asian stone necklace, and these mongolian beads. >> the plan is to market the heck out of it. and then we'll just hope that the right buyers are there on that particular day, looking. >> day of the auction, did it feel like naomi was there? >> shewas. >> excuse me?

>> i had her ashes in my purse. >> she went to the auction. >> absolutely. she wanted to be put in a lake in british columbia, and i called mom and said, "would it be okay with you if we kept half of her ashes out and took them with us?" and she said, "sure. why not?" i think it's the best memorial service we could have given her. >> a fitting tribute to the pan am stewardess and her precious keepsakes from a life adventurously lived. on $10 a day... >> $10 per diem. [ laughs ] >> so, if lise brought half of aunt naomi's ashes to the auction, what happened to them afterward? well, once they gave naomi one final day with her precious beads, they decided to scatter the rest in places dear to naomi's heart. some will go in the soil outside her condo, while others will be sprinkled from this balcony over the city san francisco that she loved so much. bon voyage, naomi.

thanks so much for watching "strange inheritance." i'm jamie colby. remember -- you can't take it with you. tonight "war stories" investigates the disaster at dieppe. >> they were slaughtered killing a corporal. >> my good friend got cut in half with crossfire. >> 3,000 wounded are captured. were they betrayed? >> every piece of paper was shredded. within 24 hours. >> that's next on "war stories" investigates.