channel for sunday morning futures join me live, 10 a.m. eastern sunday. have a great weekend everybody that will do it for us on wall street week thanks so much for watching i'll see you again next >> it's a collection most any girl would die for... >> it's almost too much barbie for a girl. >> ...a houseful of dolls from all over the world. >> you couldn't even walk into the room. there were thousands. >> so what makes this inheritance so strange? [ clockwork music playing ] say hello to the heir. >> "mother, why -- me being a boy, why was it dolls?" >> she had a dying wish. >> "please don't throw these dolls away. find a home for them." and that's what i want to do. >> but does the man have a plan? >> they call me the "doll boy." [ laughs ] >> how's that working out for you? >> i thought, "you can call me whatever you want. i've got a pretty good inheritance here, boys." [ door creaks ]

[ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] ♪ >> i'm jamie colby, and i'm driving into portales, new mexico, along the texas border and near the cannon air force base. you know, the welcome sign here says it all -- "17,000 friendly people (and three or four old grouches). i'm here to meet a man whose strange inheritance certainly called for that kind of sense of humor. >> my name is john wall. my mother, irene wall, passed at 90 years old. she had left me with a very large collection that meant a lot to her, but i didn't know what to do. >> great. so nice to meet you. >> nice to meet you. welcome to my home. well, so, what do think of all

these dolls? >> wow! >> this is kind of the way it was in my mom's house, only there were so many more. >> johnny, i feel like i'm 8 years old again with all these dolls. >> well, i have the reputation around here as the "doll boy" but i don't know anything about them. >> looking around, you have earned that reputation. what are you going to do? >> the goal of my mom's and mine was to find a home for them, and that's what i want to do. >> the collection meant the world to john's mother because of the world she grew up in. >> december 7th, 1941. a date which will live in infamy. >> when the u.s. enters world war ii, 20-year-old irene jennings is teaching high school in her hometown of dora, new mexico. she's barely older than her students.

>> this is when she graduated from new mexico state university. >> now, for the time, graduating from college is very important for a woman. >> very important back then. very few got to be there. >> of all the inheritances i've learned about, your family has suffered so much pain. it started with your mother's brother. >> yes. >> tell me about him. >> he was drafted after pearl harbor, and they were sent to the philippines. >> irene's brother vernon is one of more than 60,000 american and philippine soldiers captured by the japanese on the bataan peninsula. they're forced to march 80 miles in scorching heat without food, water, or medical care. thousands die of exhaustion. some are executed by the japanese. did your mom think that her brother was going to come home? >> they always had hopes. >> many of the boys in irene's classroom are eager to sign up

and fight. their way of assuring her that they will return is to promise to bring her something back. like a doll, maybe. your mom was such a beloved teacher that they brought her these dolls. >> even back then, mother was known to be a doll lover, and the students would bring them to her. >> the returning vets do bring irene dolls from all over the world. rare geisha dolls from japan, lifelike celluloid dolls from germany, and beautiful duchess dolls from france. for irene, whose hardscrabble youth left little time for fantasy, her foreign dolls open a window to the big wide world. >> my grandparents were sharecroppers. toys was not one of those luxury items they had a lot of. and i think once she become financially able, she had those feelings that, "i love dolls, and i think that's what i would like to collect."

>> when the war ends in 1945, irene finally gets a letter saying her brother vernon died in captivity. >> he had died during this death march deal, and was buried in the philippines. >> in a twist of fate, this tragic news brings irene in contact with the man she would eventually marry, a man who nearly starved to death in a japanese prison camp. >> when my dad came home from the service, he felt he owed it to the families of roosevelt county to go around and talk to them about their loved ones that they lost. and my mother's brother was one of them, and then that's where they got acquainted. >> as she collected all these dolls, what did your dad say? >> my dad let my mother have a lot of reins. irene was a very keen woman. >> john wall jr. is their only

child. he grows up, marries a hometown gal, starts a family of his own, and gets a job as a groundskeeper at new mexico state university. over the years, irene's ever-growing collection is a marvel to her great-niece lori davis. >> every year we went over there, there were more dolls in her house. >> there was campbell's soup dolls, flintstone dolls, dolls like shirley temple. >> irene invests thousands of dollars into collecting a wide variety of dolls. then, in 1977, her husband, john sr., dies of respiratory failure at the age of 63. irene's obsession with dolls only grows after her husband's death. that worries her little sister juanita. >> i'd say, "irene, do you know what a mess your house is in?" and she'd say, "it's my house." >> juanita asks her daughter

emma and her granddaughter lori to go to irene's house and conduct a head count. a census might be more like it. are their hundreds of dolls? a thousand? many thousands? >> i was shocked, and i know lori was... >> oh, my gosh. >> ...really shocked. >> that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question. the world's priciest doll is the $6 million clockwork l'oiseleur doll. what makes it so special -- it was owned by marie antoinette, it was the barbie prototype, or because it has thousands of moving parts? the answer in a moment. building a website in under an hour is easy with gocentral...

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>> so, what makes the $6 million clockwork l'oiseleur doll so special? the answer is "c." the four-foot tall french doll is also known as the bird trainer, and has more than 2,300 gilt or steel parts. >> john wall's mother, irene, had always promised to leave him with a strange inheritance -- her extensive collection of dolls. maybe promise is the wrong word. threaten is more like it. didn't you ever wish your mom bought half as many dolls and put the other half in a bank account for you? >> oh, yes. it would have been sure enough easier. but, then again, maybe she wanted my inheritance to be a

bit of a challenge. i don't know. >> by 1990, no one knows exactly how many dolls irene's collected in her house in portales, new mexico, and she shows no sign of slowing down. irene's younger sister juanita enlists her daughter emma and granddaughter lori to visit aunt irene and, while they're there, find out just how many dolls she has. >> i was shocked, and i know lori was... >> oh, my gosh. >> ...really shocked. the first room we tackled, you had to suck up, yes... >> [ laughs ] >> ...to walk around. >> right. >> we knocked some dolls off while we were counting. >> i was like, "oh, my gosh. i don't know if this is collecting or hoarding." i've never seen anybody with that many dolls. >> emma and lori are flabbergasted to see dolls packed like sardines occupying every room in the house. >> we're counting one by one, and we're just overwhelmed.

>> the final tally for irene's collection? over 5,000 dolls! it's time for an intervention. >> enough was enough on the doll collection. i had to sit down and speak with her about the matter. and it was hard. >> irene is fiercely opposed to just throwing away her lifelong collection. next-door neighbor suzy nuchols comes to the rescue. >> i do a lot of ebay, and so he knew that because we're neighbors, and we just decided, "let's do it." and we went to his mom's house, and it was full of dolls. everywhere you looked. and so we started just looking them up and just getting an idea. >> one of the first things they learn on ebay -- irene wall isn't the only one obsessed with dolls. >> there are some people that are on there continuously watching these dolls. it's amazing. >> dolls are scooped up by buyers from all over the world. one of irene's favorites, a german celluloid doll -- likely a gift from a returning

world war ii vet -- is bought for $225. john and his wife lynn are mesmerized by the bidding process. >> it sometimes would get down to the last five minutes, for sure, then those prices would just run through the ceiling. and lynn thought it was kind of like playing the slot machine. >> over the summer of 2007, they sell about 60 dolls to online bidders for a total of $15,000. >> and mama was happy. >> i could tell by the look in her eye, the amazement, was, "i told you so." >> but out of 5,000-plus, it's not even a dent in the collection. then, in april 2010, john's beloved wife, lynn, passes away at the age of 57. 18 months later, his mother, irene, dies, too, at 90. >> i lost mother, and i lost lynn to... phew!

[voice breaking] ...cancer. and that's the hardest thing i've told people you'll ever lose... is a wife and a mother. >> his children are grown up and on their own, leaving john with more than 4,000 dolls to sell to keep his promise to his mom. now john gets help from a second lady friend. patty beggs, who, like john, has also suffered the death of a spouse. >> did john ask you for help? >> oh, no. we just was there for each other, and he needed help. i don't know if he asked or if i volunteered, but we just started doing it. i mean, we had to do something with them. >> between suzy and patty, it just seems as if women like coming to john's rescue. >> [ laughing ] >> those dolls ended up helping you out in those young days. >> and evidently it did. i was around some awfully nice girls in my life. >> in 2011, john and patty

actually start dating. with patty's help, john rents a storefront in downtown portales from thanksgiving until christmas, and calls it the dollhouse. the dolls sell like hot cakes, some for $1, some for $10. >> it went really well. we had lots of people in, because everybody wanted to buy the dolls, hear the story. >> and meet john? >> but he was mine at that time, so they couldn't have him. [ laughs ] >> i like that. you must have a reputation around town? >> they call me the "doll boy." [ laughs ] >> how's that working out for you? >> once everything started going, with both ebay and the dollhouse, i thought, "you can call me whatever you want. i don't care. i've got a pretty good inheritance here, boys." >> and john does make a tidy sum -- $5,000 on the store. add that to the $15,000 from ebay, and he's liquidated the bulk of his mom's doll

collection for $20,0000. but his job isn't over. john still has close to 1,000 dolls stacked in his barn that he's yet to unload. >> will selling the doll collection help your life? >> it will help me to know that i've fulfilled what my mother asked of me. >> well, if that's what's important to you, johnny, i want to help. >> oh, i would love that more than anything. there is a few of them out there you might like to see, too. >> oooh! >> do you like barbies? there are 19 boxes of solid barbies. >> barbie?! >> yes! >> that's next. >> here's another quiz question for you. which of these toys sold for the highest price at auction -- was it the 1963 g.i. joe prototype, a diamond barbie, or a gold-plated nintendo wii? the answer in a moment.

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every corporate office, warehouse and store near or far covered. leaving every competitor, threat and challenge outmaneuvered. comcast business outmaneuver. >> so, which of these special-edition toys sold for the highest price at auction? the answer is "b," the canturi diamond barbie, which sports a four-carat pink-and-white diamond necklace. it sold for over $300,000 in 2010. >> john wall's mother leaves him a strange inheritance -- more than 5,000 dolls from all over the world. now he's taking me out to his barn to show me the last of his mother's collection, and what he believes may be the cream of the crop. john's hopeful the rest of his mother's dolls are worth one more big payday. >> close to 500 of these

barbies, still in their original boxes. >> johnny! i knew there'd be one just for me. seriously? sagittarius barbie! i am a sagittarius. you know what? earrings -- check. evening gown -- check. beautiful silky hair -- check. this is me! >> it's everything, yes. >> and you have almost 500 of these barbies? that's almost too much barbie for a girl. >> yes. >> and i know someone that may be able to tell us what it's worth. to help john out, we contact tim luke of the treasure quest appraisal group based in south beach, florida. here's tim. he's the former director of the collectibles department at the famed christie's auction house in new york. >> i understand you've got a great collection. >> tim has agreed to help appraise john's strange inheritance. you looked at all these barbies. i really need your opinion. >> well, barbie's a cultural icon. i think that today you see a lot

of people that are in their 40s and over, that's the demographic that is really holding onto this. it's that nostalgia. >> barbie's dream house! >> in 1959, the first year of production, mattel sold more than 300,000 barbies, and a first edition can go for about $8,000 today. >> suntan barbie. >> yes, her features are a tad unrealistic, but she's a strong female character, beautiful, powerful, and rich. and that's what attracts collectors. how do you tell what year a barbie is made? >> well, the very first year that they came out, mattel had to recall and change. they had to soften her features because she looked too much like a, um... "lady of the night." and the mothers... >> oh, my! >> yeah. the mothers, they just -- uproar because of the eyeliner and shadow. and the number-ones will have a hole in the foot, both feet, because there was a stand that barbie came on.

>> there are ken dolls here, too. >> [ laughs ] >> is ken more valuable than barbie? >> no. he doesn't even rate. >> i'm thinking, "and they call john 'doll boy'?" sounds like tim's just the guy to tell us what john's collection is really worth. >> my mother's thoughts were that it was worth over $25,000 for that barbie collection alone. >> johnny, the most important thing is to fulfill mother's wish. will it be the payday john is hoping for? that's next.

♪imagine no possessions ♪i wonder if you can ♪no need for greed or hunger ♪a brotherhood of man ♪imagine all the people

♪sharing all the world...you, ♪you may say i'm a dreamer ♪but i'm not the only one ♪i hope some day you'll join us♪ ♪and the world will live as one♪ >> now back to "strange inheritance." >> here's tim. john wall is hoping doll expert tim luke can give him some good news about the value of his remaining inheritance -- about 500 mint-condition barbies, all in their original boxes. of the 5,000 dolls his mother collected, this is the bulk of what's left.

tim, we went through all these barbies. there's plenty of them. you have to have an opinion. >> the downside is that most of them are from the '90s. >> but they say collector. >> they do. [ sighs ] and don't be seduced by the box. >> so, let me stop you there. you're saying that this barbie, this is a reproduction. >> this is the 50th anniversary, but this came out in the '90s as a celebration of the 50th anniversary. not as valuable. >> johnny told me he thinks $10,000 to $15,000, maybe $25,000 for all of this. how off the mark is he? >> i think he's close to the lower end. >> tim thinks john can still make about $10,000 with a good strategy. >> i think the best way to do this is to put these on ebay, because it's worldwide. somebody may only need one item for their collection, and they're gonna pay a premium for it. >> hello. >> time to share the expert opinion with the heir. >> your mother had such a wonderful time putting this all

together. what i suggest is that you put these on ebay. they're all salable, and they could all do well. >> john takes the sober appraisal of $10k like a man. what do you think mother would say? >> well, she'd say, "we got to do what we got to, baby." >> [ laughs ] >> you know, "let's move with it." >> i'm here. i got my checkbook. i would like to take the last of that series, the sagittarius. i'm thinking i'm going to offer $100. >> i think that's very fair. but if you wanted to step up and offer him $200... >> hell no! i'm not overpaying. [ laughter ] >> hey, we'll have an auction. wait a minute. we'll do an auction. i know. i'm looking out for my client here. >> oh! before i go, i get my barbie sagittarius, and i ask john if he plans to save any of his mother's other dolls. he says just a few, in particular those fragile japanese dolls from world war ii, a reminder of how

his mother started collecting them in the first place. >> i kept going back to what my mom told about them, to please respect it as an inheritance. i've did everything i can to do it in a way that is respectful to her wishes. >> and here's a note to those of you who might want to start a barbie collection of your own -- to tell when a vintage barbie was manufactured, you have to... well, you have to take a look under her dress. in the back. in the early days, when barbie was made in japan, the year each model was created got stamped on her right buttock. now that's a pretty private hiding place, proving that barbie's age is really no one's business but her own. i'm jamie colby for "strange inheritance." and remember -- you can't take it with you. do you have a "strange inheritance" story

you'd like to share with us? we'd love to hear it! send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com. >> a ball club older than mighty casey... >> they were recognized as the best team of the 1860s. >> their 155-year-old baseball card... >> we are looking at a very significant piece of baseball history here. >> and she's looking at a very strange inheritance. >> he's my great-great-uncle on my dad's side. >> which one is he? >> now here's the payoff pitch. >> one of the big ones. this was a family heirloom. >> will there be joy in mudville... >> he was looking for a piece of the action, but i didn't know that. >> ...with jamie at the bat? [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] ♪

>> i'm jamie colby, and i'm in the berkshire mountains on my way to great barrington, massachusetts. i'm meeting a woman whose ancestor played on one of the great teams in the early days of baseball. his picture is on her strange inheritance, which may just be the world's oldest baseball card. >> my name is florence sasso. my great-great-uncle archibald mcmahon was a member of the 1860s atlantic nine baseball team. i inherited this card from my mother when she passed away. >> hi. i'm jamie. >> hi. i'm florence. >> heard you have a great story and a very strange inheritance. also heard you're a new york girl. >> yes. >> i'm from queens. >> i'm a brooklyn girl. >> uh-oh. 75-year-old flo lives alone and runs an electrolysis business from her house. what a lovely home. she explains that fate has handed her a very unusual

inheritance in the form of a 2 1/2-by-4-inch antique baseball card. oh, my goodness. is this what i think it is, florence? may i touch it? >> sure. >> look at the players. 1860. >> before the civil war. >> and a relative of yours is in here? >> my great-great-uncle archibald mcmahon is in here. >> which one is he? >> we don't know. it hasn't been identified. >> well, can you make a guess on which one he might be? is there any resemblance to you or your parents? >> no. i couldn't figure it out. i was just looking at the ears, because that side of the family had big ears. >> who were the brooklyn atlantics? >> i think it's the oldest baseball team in history in brooklyn. ♪ >> at least one of the oldest, says ed elmore, captain of today's incarnation of the brooklyn atlantics. so brooklyn atlantics started when? >> they played a long time.

they were recognized as the best team of the 1860s. >> baseball before the civil war? you can look it up. the first officially recorded game is actually played in 1846. and within 15 years, the sport is on the verge of a boom. these guys practicing today in long island, new york, use the same rules and equipment as old archibald did back then. was pitching different? >> the first 40 years, actually, of baseball was underhand pitching. for the first 20 years, if a ball was caught on a bounce it was an out. it was thought of as a gentlemen's game at the very beginning just by who was playing, not necessarily by how they played. >> so who is archie mcmahon? a butcher in brooklyn is about all flo knows. that's a sign of how organized baseball is evolving and becoming more democratic. it's no longer just a game played by wealthier men -- doctors, lawyers, and bankers.

and although flo can't identify which one of these gentlemen is that great-great-uncle on her father's side, we can i.d. couple of his teammates. at far left is chris smith. two men to the right is shortstop dickey pearce, who's credited with inventing the bunt. looks like a straitjacket. baseball uniforms have really changed over the years. i can see why. got to love this cap, though. take me out to the ballgame. so this is the bat. i see they're not playing with gloves. what about the balls? >> well, i have just the man to talk to for that. wild horse. >> wait. wild horse? >> that's his nickname. he runs the bases with wild abandon. >> you make those? >> i start with a rubber center, two cords of yarn. everything was handmade.

>> ready? >> all right. >> really? oh, no. no gloves. aah! oh. it didn't hurt that bad. have you heard of the name archibald mcmahon? >> he's listed in the roster of the 1860 atlantics. actually, he played center field, and he batted third. so that's an indication that he was one of the better hitters. >> after the 1860 season, however, he becomes a bit of an enigma. he may have played for a pro team in manhattan, but census records after the civil war show him working as a butcher in san francisco. after that, his only appearance in the public record is a mention in the 1928 obituary of his younger brother, john, a civil war veteran. >> in the obituary, it talks about his brother, how he loved baseball. >> the obituary reads, "he had a picture in his home of the

original atlantics team, of which his brother, archibald mcmahon, was a member." when they mention it in an obit, you know the card is a true family heirloom. flo's father, joseph, is 17 years old when his uncle john dies. it becomes his strange inheritance. but it's his wife, mildred, who keeps it safe in their brooklyn home. >> my mother had had it in a fanny farmer box in a secret drawer in a piece of our furniture. >> when florence grows up, she moves to massachusetts, gets married, and then divorced. over time, the family is drawn back together by old age and illness. eventually, flo convinces her parents to move up to massachusetts and live with her. >> the fellow i was dating at the time was an architect, and he designed an addition for us. >> how much did that cost? >> $125,000. >> did you have that money? >> no. i had to remortgage the house. >> flo's dad dies in 1995.

her mom, mildred, inherits the card. mildred is well aware flo has gone into debt and wishes she could help. but it never strikes her that she has the means until great-great-uncle archibald comes up in a genealogy class at the senior center. so he suggested that that card could be worth what? that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question. who in 1888 declared baseball "the american game"? queen victoria of england, indian chief sitting bull, or poet walt whitman? the answer in a moment.

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♪ >> so, who first declared baseball "the american game"? if you picked walt whitman, you're right. in 1888, he wrote... [ crowd cheering ] >> long before the brooklyn dodgers and ebbets field, these guys, known as the atlantics nine, are kings of that borough's diamonds. this 155-year-old picture of the team has been passed down in florence sasso's family ever since. one of the team's stars, archibald mcmahon, was her great-great-uncle.

flo's mom, mildred, is caretaker of the card for years. she keeps it squirreled away in a candy box and takes it with her when she moves into flo's house in great barrington, massachusetts. but neither she nor her daughter knows which guy in the picture is uncle archie. what'd she tell you about it? >> she said, "put this in with your genealogy." >> in the spring of 2015, flo's been digging into their family background at the free genealogy program at the local senior center. so do you bring the card to show the class? >> i brought the card to the senior center. he said, "oh, my god. it's perfect." >> "he" is volunteer steve strommer, who runs the class. >> my interest in genealogy started a long time ago. but it's taken on a life of its own, and it's pretty much an obsession. we couldn't find too much on archibald. but that was a very old card. and she said, "how much is

this?" and i said, "well, i'll see if i can find out." >> are you thinking to yourself, "i really have something valuable here"? >> yes, i did. >> especially after steve spots on the internet an 1865 brooklyn atlantics card. it had gone for $92,000 at auction in 2013. florence's card is five years older and may be even more valuable. >> i used to wonder, "why do people jump up and down when something exciting happens?" and here i was doing that. >> pushing 101, flo's mother, mildred, isn't quite jumping up and down. but if she can help pay off the addition flo built for her, she's definitely up for some moneyball. florence, who has no children to pass the card on to, is game as well. that's when steve strommer suggests contacting an auction house. on your behalf? >> yes. he made the connection. >> i was just, you know, doing my job, just trying to facilitate getting

this card in the right hands. >> strommer takes the photo home, scans it, and sends it to chris ivy, who specializes in sports memorabilia at heritage auctions in dallas. >> when the first e-mail came in with images, i showed it to one of my other experts. and we thought, "it looks right from the images, and we are looking at a very significant piece of baseball history here." the photo was in good shape. and the overall condition of the card is very strong. >> of course, it's not exactly the kind of card later generations will collect with bubble gum and wax packs. >> there was no bubble gum involved with this card, no. i don't think bubble gum was around, actually, until the early 1900s. it's considered a carte de visite, a cdv. >> a carte de visite, or cdv, was more like a business card or a souvenir handout at a time when photography was still a novelty. >> i think it was because they were the champions of the league and were proud of that and wanted something to commemorate

it. >> while chris and his team evaluate the card, florence feels steve's way off base. he's taken control not only of the process but the card itself. i think this next part of the story goes under the heading "don't mess with a girl from brooklyn." >> was he looking for a piece of the action? >> he was looking for piece of the action, but i didn't know that. i went down to his house, and i said, "my mother would like to have the photograph back." and he said, "oh, it's safe with me." and i said, "no, and i'd like to give you some money for the work that you did at home." and he said no. >> if there was any disconnect, it was with flo, who, i guess, wanted to know if i was going to charge her anything. and she kept asking me quite often, you know, "keep track of your hours." >> i said, "just give me back the picture." >> and then, she would say, "i have to talk to my lawyer," and all of that. and i said, "fine with me." >> you had to get that card back. >> yes.

>> that's next. >> here's another quiz question for you. it's a timeworn tradition, but who was the first president to invite a professional baseball team to the white house? was it coolidge, taft, or grant? the answer in a moment. is this a phone?

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♪ >> so, who was the first president to invite a professional baseball team to the white house? it's ulysses s. grant. the cincinnati red stockings, the first professional team, were grant's guests in june 1869. >> spring 2015, great barrington, massachusetts, and life's thrown florence sasso a curveball. she's in a feud with steve strommer, the genealogy instructor

at her local senior center. >> and i went to the doctor. they doubled my blood-pressure medication 'cause i was so upset about him. >> she's taken a family heirloom, this 1860 baseball card of the brooklyn atlantics, which includes her great-great-uncle archibald mcmahon, and given it to steve. it may be the oldest baseball card in existence. and he's researching its value. but it appears to florence that he doesn't want to give it back. >> you went yourself to the gentleman's house to get it? >> yes. he really wanted to hold on to it. but i didn't trust him with it. >> so essentially, he was trying to help you. he just wanted to be paid. >> yes. >> i may have half tongue-in-cheek, half joking, said, "well, i'm your agent. 10%." but i wasn't really gonna charge her with that. >> you didn't want to pay him. >> i was going to give him a generous gift. but you're not allowed to give them even five cents if they're

a volunteer of the town. >> at this point, both steve and florence learned that town employees may not receive additional income from their official duties. >> the interaction that was going on about being reimbursed was prior to my knowledge about the ethics of town employees taking money. >> so steve gives the photo back to florence. having benched steve, she reaches out herself to heritage auctions. a representative flies to massachusetts to bring the card in for authentication. heritage shows up at your house. >> within 24 hours. >> but while the auction house gets to work, flo's mother is admitted to the hospital with pneumonia. >> may 13th. she was 100 and sound of mind right till the end. and every night, she would just say, "thank you for taking care of me," and then a big smile, and she'd say, "did we get the money yet?" >> later that day, mildred sasso passes on. and what may be the world's oldest baseball card is now

florence's strange inheritance. it doesn't take long to confirm the card is real. >> given the fact that it was in florence's family for nearly 160 years, that's great provenance. and provenance is always key. >> the 1928 obituary of archibald's brother, john, provides a crucial piece of evidence of the card's authenticity. >> that newspaper obituary noted that john was an ardent fan of baseball and he had an original photo of the brooklyn atlantics. so that obituary was referring to this very card. >> remember the 1865 brooklyn atlantics card that sold for $92,000? that kind of money would go a long way to paying off the debt flo incurred when she took in her parents. is her card in that ballpark? chris ivy thinks it is and knows exactly where to find out. >> one of the big ones.

this was a family heirloom. >> that's next. so is this. all right. let's send one down the pike. let's see what you got. what's your strange inheritance story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website -- strangeinheritance.com. my "business" was going nowhere... so i built this kickin' new website with godaddy. building a website in under an hour is easy! 68% of people... ...who have built their website using gocentral, did it in... ...under an hour, and you can too. type in your business or idea. pick your favourite design. personalize it with beautiful images. and...you're done! and now business is booming. harriet, it's a double stitch not a cross stitch! build a better website - in under an hour. free to try. no credit card required. gocentral from godaddy.

♪look into my eyes ♪you will see ♪what you mean to me ♪don't tell me it's not worth trying for♪ ♪you know it's true ♪everything i do ♪i do it for you ♪yeah, i would fight for you♪ ♪i'd lie for you ♪walk the wire for you ♪yeah, i'd die for you ♪you know it's true ♪everything i do

♪i do it for you ♪ >> now back to "strange inheritance." >> in 1860, florence sasso's great-great-uncle and his teammates on the brooklyn atlantics posed for this photo. 155 years later, it may be the oldest baseball card in existence. florence is about to learn just how valuable that makes it. the auction house estimates its value at 50 grand-plus. that would help cover the $125,000 she spent remodeling her home to make room for her elderly parents.

then again, another brooklyn atlantics card recently went for $92,000. an extra 40 grand would really help. in july 2015, enthusiasts from around the country gather in chicago for the national sports collectors convention. >> $9,500. now to $10,000. where are my cubs fans now? >> the highlight of the auction -- flo's 2 1/2-by-4-inch strange inheritance featuring the pre-civil war brooklyn atlantics. >> one of the big ones. this was a family heirloom. >> how proud are you when you see your family card in a catalog? >> everybody was so excited because they didn't know about baseball before the civil war. >> and it was a bit of brooklyn that you could bring to this town. >> that's right. >> you can follow the auction online, but florence is having computer problems. even so, she feels the same nervous anticipation palpable in that room. >> earliest known team card that we're aware of.

what do we have for lot 009? >> $70,000. >> $70,000. this is gonna go big. $70,000. now to go to $75,000. >> from the start, the bidding is fierce. >> we've got captains of industry and people that are millionaires, billionaires. it's just people that have a passion to collect things. >> $85,000. now to bid $90,000. $95,000 to you, sir. i go you. $100,000. now to $110,000. >> like a sandy koufax fastball, the bidding quickly blows away the $50,000 estimate. >> $110,000. now to $120,000. this is really a smithsonian-type piece here. $120,000. now to $130,000. >> most collectors go into a live auction with a game plan. but you can get enthralled with the moment. so, you know, throw caution to the wind and start bidding. >> $130,000. now to $140,000. $150,000. now to $160,000. you want $155,000? you gonna walk away for five grand? $150,000. i've got it right here. who's gonna beat him? $150,000. anyone else? $150,000. bid $160,000? who's gonna beat him? anyone else now? anyone else?

to white. $150,000. [ applause ] thanks very much. >> after the auction house commission is added, it brings the total to $179,000. and the winning bidder? >> a well-known 19th-century collector, but he didn't want to be revealed. >> the good news comes to florence from a surprising source. >> how'd you learn about it selling? >> steve, the genealogist, was following it on the internet. >> i saw the very end of the bidding for the card. and i called up flo right away and said, "this is great." >> and he called to say it was sold for $179,000. >> that beats flo's wildest expectations. >> i was just hoping to clear my mortgage, actually. >> so basically, the money that you'll get from your family card will help you defer the cost of taking care of mom and dad. >> almost to the penny. >> are you resolved now

that whatever happened in the past is the past? >> absolutely. >> it worked out okay? >> i'm very happy. >> so is steve strommer, that he and flo are friends again. >> we're like brother and sister, basically. you know, she comes in. we'll go through a little bit of genealogy, find what happened to archibald mcmahon. >> and maybe someday they'll even figure out which one of these guys really is old uncle archie. so what ever became of the old brooklyn atlantic dynasty? up until 1869, all the players were amateurs. two years later, the national association of professional base ball players was formed. but the atlantics couldn't afford the cost of the new league, so they didn't join. some of their best players took a walk and signed up with pro teams. i don't get to walk. i got to hit the ball. all right. let's send one down the pike. let's see what you got.

oh. i'm jamie colby for "strange inheritance." and remember -- you can't take it with you. join us tomorrow for the president's rally in pensacola. kennedy: senator al franken announces his resignation but he never apologized. potentially big new developments in the mueller investigation. and bitcoin now worth more than $16,000. why is it is mowing -- why is it exploding in value? brian brenberg is here. al fringen announced his resignation and delivered a creep insurance policy to his