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 >> he makes big-screen magic... >> he was indeed a genius. he had the eye. >> ...but his heart belongs to this tiny stage. >> they're spectacular, down to the finest detail. >> this was the place where he poured all of his love. [ woman vocalizing ] >> so how did these guys inherit his life's work? >> i was a senior in high school, and i was looking for a job that i wouldn't hate. >> you feel like you might be sitting on a gold mine? >> must their show go on? >> it would be...over. >> it would be gone. everything would be dismantled and somewhere in a dumpster. >> or will the fat lady sing? [ operatic singing ] [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ]

[ bird caws ] >> i'm jamie colby, and today i'm in rolling meadows, illinois. it's a suburb of chicago. some weather, huh? i'm here to meet two brothers whose strange inheritance had some serious strings attached. >> my name is justin snyder. and in 2006, our friend and mentor bill fosser passed away, leaving my brother and me a sort of chicago institution -- his puppet opera. >> hi, justin. i'm jamie. >> jamie, nice to meet you. >> i'm told that you have something that i may never see again. >> here, follow me. >> i will. justin leads me behind the scenes of a most unusual opera house. >> all these boxes here contain costumes for various, different productions. >> wow! this is my kind of wardrobe. if only it came in my size.

the costumes are so small because the players taking the stage aren't the supersized tenors and sopranos you expect to see at the opera. they're 16-inch puppets. the maestro behind this pint-size production, justin's boss, the late bill fosser. who was bill fosser? >> bill fosser taught me everything i know about puppetry. he had a unique ability to re-create full-scale environments, but in a miniature scale. he was one of my best friends. >> fosser, born in 1928, grows up in a working-class neighborhood on chicago's west side. >> he described himself as a sickly child. he was stuck at home a lot and would experiment with household materials to try to kind of create his own puppets. >> in 1935, when bill is 7, his aunt takes him to his first opera, verdi's "il trovatore."

he's enchanted by it all -- the music, the costumes, and the stage design. >> he fell in love with the art form of opera, but he was always interested in -- in puppets and then, eventually, just combined the two. >> the boy builds a mini opera house with a velvet curtain and assembles his company of players. >> he told us that he used to offer performances to kids in the neighborhood for like a penny. >> turns out, puppet opera is an actual thing in those days. bill sees an article in the paper about a lavish restaurant in chicago that's adding a puppet opera to its bill of fare. the place is called kungsholm. >> kungsholm was a swedish smorgasbord and a puppet theater all in one. >> steve golden was six when he saw his first show at the kungsholm. that led to a lifelong career as a professional puppeteer, who also handles purchases and

acquisitions for the northwest puppet center in seattle. so, steve's childhood experience at the kungsholm left an impression. >> you came to the restaurant and you were given a complementary ticket to the puppet miniature grand opera. >> was it an institution in chicago? >> oh, was it ever? to go there was a highlight of a day. >> how fabulous. opera stars and socialites flocked to see kungsholm puppets perform arias from operas such as "madame butterfly" or "the barber of seville." so, 14-year-old bill fosser takes his best handmade puppet and talks his way into a summer job at the theater. soon, he, too, is hooked for life. he becomes an expert puppetmaker and patents a design for a puppet with more natural body movements than the ones used at the kungsholm. >> this is one of the original

kungsholm puppets. the operator would be underneath and there's a series of rods and strings. >> justin's brother, shayne snyder, is the other heir in our story. >> these two here are made by bill fosser and these were actually two of bill's favorite puppets. this is canio from "pagliacci", and this is lakmè from the opera "lakmè." >> so, it was bill who advanced this technique of the rings and the rods? >> correct. he made many improvements to the design, like giving them a little bit of a joint here and then the walking. >> can you make them walk? >> mm-hmm. >> unbelievable. >> and you can get a lot of range of movement and motions just from lifting and turning the rod. >> ingenious, but it's tough to make a buck in puppets. so, bill only works off and on at the kungsholm, though he pays the bills with another skill he perfects there. he's a sought-after stage designer at full-scale chicago theaters. >> he was indeed a genius.

he had the eye. >> actor tony mockus performed on some of bill's sets in the early days. >> every now and then, you're lucky enough to work with people who have that kind of an ability and bill has that ability. >> eventually, the kungsholm falls into disrepair, closes, and re-opens as a steakhouse with no puppets. >> bill opens his own puppet theater. he's never married, has no kids, so it's his baby. [ gasps ] oh, my! he christens it "opera in focus." >> he had the idea of, like, a camera lens in mind, so it's like looking through the lens of camera at this weird, miniature world. >> bill built this? >> he built all of this, yes, indeed. [ "the pearl fishers" plays ]

bill sort of single-handedly kept the art form alive. >> he didn't have a patron. i mean, if he were in europe, he would have been flooded with cash. >> he needs it. bill's first performances barely break even. luckily, around the same time, hollywood comes calling. >> word got around in california that if you're going to chicago, you get ahold of fosser. >> he designs the sets for "home alone" and "curly sue" and a couple of best picture winners, too. >> "the sting," "ordinary people." >> great credits, but it all was just a way to fund his miniature opera. >> in bill's heart, puppets were number one. it's what he lived for. >> in 1993, at 65, bill takes his dream retirement. he leaves the film biz and moves his puppet opera to the chicago suburb of rolling meadows.

curtains rise and fall, and after a few more years, bill realizes he needs more help and, though he doesn't say so at the time, an heir or two. he places a want ad in the newspaper. it's answered by 18-year-old justin snyder. >> when i told him that i wanted to be a puppeteer, he kind of chuckled and he said, "well, if you're gonna work here, you're gonna have to be an all-purpose evil henchman." >> what exactly does that mean? [ vocalizes ] >> natural puppeteer. >> i'll find out in act two, right after intermission. ♪ >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question. the answer after the break. dr. deborah birx: we know that we're asking americans

to do a lot right now. so we're asking everyone to be selfless for others so that we can protect those who are most susceptible to this virus. dr. jerome adams: a question i often get asked is, "why should young people care about the spread of coronavirus?" well we know that people with underlying medical conditions over the age of 60 are at highest risk, but they've got to get it from somebody. dr. anthony fauci: social distancing is really physical separation of people. dr. deborah birx: it's what we refer to when we ask people to stay at least six feet apart. dr. anthony fauci: not going to bars, not going to restaurants, not going to theaters where there are a lot of people... it all just means physical separation so you have a space between you and others who might actually be infected or infect you.

dr. jerome adams: we all have a role to play in preventing person-to-person spread of this disease which can be deadly for vulnerable groups. for more information on how you can social distance please go to coronavirus.gov

and sometimes, you can find yourself heading in a new direction. but when you're with fidelity, a partner who makes sure every step is clear, there's nothing to stop you from moving forward. >> so, which "star wars" character did jim henson help create? it's "b," yoda, who debuted in the 1980 film "the empire strikes back." [ operatic singing ] >> former movie set designer bill fosser is spending his retirement just as he wants -- staging scenes from classic

operas with 16-inch puppets for captivated audiences in the chicago suburbs. >> boy, he knew opera backwards and forwards. he knew when the tenor was going to take a breath... when the soprano would hit her high c's. you were just swept away. >> but bill's in his 70s -- the old ticker's not what it used to be, and he has no family to take over his labor of love. so, in the summer of 2000, he advertises for an apprentice. >> i was a senior in high school, and i was looking for a job that i wouldn't hate. >> justin's brother, shayne, is intrigued, too. they both interview with fosser. >> when i told him that i wanted to be a puppeteer, he kind of chuckled and he said, "well, if you're gonna work here, you're gonna have to be an all-purpose

evil henchman." >> oh, my. >> so, right off the bat, it was like a crash-course. >> bill teaches them all he knows -- how to design and mold puppets out of polyester resin, how to operate the sound, special effects, and everything else it takes to run one of the most technically sophisticated puppet shows in the world. you think i could learn how to be a puppeteer? >> we'll have you manipulating the puppets like a pro. >> here under the stage, the chairs have been shaved down until the seats rest inches from the floor. all right, guys, what am i doing here? >> all right, so here's your shot at the big time. shayne's gonna demonstrate here on his puppet. so, basically your left hand is gonna control the central mechanism of the puppets, which is front and back, and then there you go, perfect. >> okay. >> all right, and then this little lever here is the side-to-side motion of the head. >> she's turning her head. wow. >> if you twist this wheel, you'll see that her legs will start to walk. >> okay. >> and -- there you go. >> there she goes. >> then you can control the

direction of the arm by how you twist it, so i'm gonna hand that one to you. >> okay. >> and that's how you control the arm movements. >> [ vocalizes ] it is very complicated. it's a lot of different movements at the same time. >> you're a natural puppeteer. >> natural puppeteer. >> justin and shayne become bill fosser's natural puppeteers. they're hooked. >> he was like a hero to me. >> it was something that i aspired to be like. >> they skip college, remain under bill's wings, and grow into a much bigger role in the old man's life. you feel like you might have been his surrogate sons? >> definitely, and he told us that all the time, that he looked at us like we were the children that he never had. >> and the heirs he dearly wants to carry on his work. >> he just asked, "what would you think about the idea of continuing this after i'm gone?" and i was just like,

"sure, you know." >> that casual offer and acceptance put bill fosser's mind at ease. for five more years, he throws his heart into this labor of love... until it finally gives out. bill fosser exits life's stage at age 77. what was the impact of losing him? >> it was really hard. as good of a job as he did in preparing us for taking over the theater, you don't really know how unequipped you are until you're thrown into that position. >> the puppets, the stage, the costumes, the institution -- their strange inheritance turns out to be pretty valuable, too. looks to me like bill might have invested a lot of his money in this. >> for sure. >> do you know how much? >> bill told me that he had invested over a million dollars into it. it's actually -- >> holy smokes! >> yeah. >> back in the '80s, the puppets were insured by lloyd's of london for $6,000 each. >> how many were there? >> back then, i believe bill had 32 "opera in focus" puppets.

>> that's significant. >> yes. >> 192k significant. and steve golden, of the northwest puppet center, says they would go for a lot more now. at one point, bill had these appraised at about $6,000 each. >> about $6,000. >> do you think that these have held their value today? >> i would say it certainly has held its value because if you just look at every part of the makeup of it, it's worth every penny that's in there. depending on which collector finds out about it, you could possibly get $10,000 for it. >> you're trying to maintain what is a chicago institution, but you feel like you might be sitting on a gold mine? ready for one more plot twist to bill fosser's libretto? it's his final wish for the puppet opera... what did he tell you? >> ...after the break. >> here's another quiz question for you.

fantastic mr. fox? rudolph the red-nosed reindeer? or the evil other mother from "coraline"? the answer when we return. as a struggling actor, i need all the breaks that i can get. at liberty butchumal- cut. liberty biberty- cut. we'll dub it. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ i am totally blind. and non-24 can throw my days and nights out of sync, keeping me from the things i love to do. talk to your doctor, and call 844-214-2424.

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>> so... it's "c," the evil other mother from the 2009 movie "coraline." >> in 2006, chicago puppeteer bill fosser dies and leaves his puppet opera to his two pupils, shayne and justin snyder. the brothers want to keep it alive. they even hire their own apprentices. meanwhile, local reporters

aren't helping. they keep reporting it's dead. >> we had to struggle with the media referring to the puppet opera in past tense. all the articles that came out would say like, "'opera in focus' was a puppet theater." >> attendance at their tiny suburban theater hits an all-time low. then, in 2011, a record rainfall floods the theater. justin's sure it's curtains. >> that was probably the end. >> but you had insurance? no insurance? >> no insurance. we had looked into insuring them, but the problem is, the monthly insurance costs were so high that it was unaffordable to us. >> luckily, the brothers had the forethought to stow their uninsured puppets high enough, and they stay dry. but the rest of the place is a mess. >> when the rains finally stopped, they brought in an industrial mold specialist who was basically like, "yeah, we have to tear this place apart." >> no. wait, it gets worse. turns out, before he died,

bill fosser made a highly unusual request to his heirs. what did he tell you? >> well, originally, what he had said is that if the puppet theater were ever to close down, he wanted us to destroy everything. >> destroy, like, "gone"? this? >> everything, yeah. >> why? >> he viewed it as the puppets are instruments, kind of like a violin being stuck in a display case somewhere and not performing its purpose. he found that idea unbearable. >> it would be...over. >> it would be dismantled and somewhere in a dumpster. >> will they need to do that? >> how much do you make doing this? >> showtime! >> that's 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. my age-related macular degeneration could lead to vision loss.

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>> now back to

"strange inheritance." >> here's where we left justin and shayne snyder, the heirs in this story. a flood in chicago closes "opera in focus," which the brothers inherited from master puppeteer bill fosser. >> we were worried that we might not be able to come back from that just 'cause of the cost involved of rebuilding it all. >> they don't have insurance, but the building does. the landlord agrees the show must go on and pays for the renovation of their 65-seat theater. >> we rebuilt it all from scratch. that was definitely a scary moment. >> but doesn't end their worries. the hiatus further depresses their bottom line. how much do you make doing this? >> we've had productions that have brought in $8,000, maybe, but then we have really poor productions that have maybe brought in $400. >> you must be a pretty wealthy guy to be able to keep this up. >> unfortunately, um, none of us are wealthy. >> are you even breaking even here? >> it's definitely not something

you're gonna become a millionaire doing. >> that apprentice ad they answered years ago led to a rewarding vocation, not a well-paying one. do you have another job? >> i carve stone for a living. my brother works at a toy factory. >> do you see yourself being able to continue this financially? >> as long as there are people out here in the audience, we'll keep doing it. >> we welcome you, our guests of all ages, to this performance of william b. fosser's puppet production of "opera in focus." >> showtime! [ applause ] >> as the lights dim and their newest production, puccini's "turandot," begins, it strikes me that i'm not listening just to opera. it's the call of a siren that proved irresistible to our two young heirs, as it was to bill fosser before them. [ operatic singing ] let me ask you this, steve. do you think that bill left these fine, young men, who were

as devoted to him as he was to them, an inheritance that's a burden or a benefit? >> burdens yield benefits. >> puppeteer steve golden, you'll recall, was seduced by these same sirens. he believes, somewhere, bill fosser is shouting "encore!" >> i think bill would be as pleased as punch that this is happening. >> and no doubt grateful to the two young men he named as his heirs all those years ago. but i wonder about that request bill made, that they should destroy all these beautiful puppets if the opera ever closed. is that a request they could ever honor? the brothers vow, succeed or fail, it will never happen. >> i feel like it's a priceless art form. we could never actually destroy anything here. i think bill knew that these puppets to us, again, just like to him, they're like family.

[ singing continues ] [ applause ] >> bill fosser might not be with them, but justin and shayne want to make sure the art of puppet opera lives on. so, every year, in honor of the man they grew to love like a father, they perform bill's favorite aria, "cielo e mar," or, "sky and sea" from la gioconda. [ operatic singing ] the fact that bill's puppet opera is still up and running, more than 60 years after he started it, that would be music to his ears. i'm jamie colby.

thanks so much for watching "strange inheritance." and remember -- you can't take it with you. [ singing continues ] ♪ >> it's the revolver that won the west. >> this is a serious piece of weaponry. >> and she inherited a slew. >> buying the guns turned him into a cowboy. it was an obsession. >> you in there? >> lawmen and outlaws alike reach for the hotshot of colt pistols. >> i was always told that it was a million-dollar gun. >> talk about bang for the buck. >> i've been looking for you. >> or will it all backfire? [ gunshot ] [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] ♪ >> i'm jamie colby, in garden grove, california,

about a half-hour south of l.a. i'm on my way to meet a woman whose wild west inheritance might be worth a fortune. come on. let's go have a look-see. >> my name is melissa guy. when dad passed, he left me with 40 rare colt pistols, one in particular that led me to a bit of a showdown. >> hi, melissa. i'm jamie. >> hi, jamie. >> melissa leads me into her living room... and shows me a small sample of the strange inheritance her dad, mel, left her. oh, look at the handle. come here, baby. >> this would be a gun that a cowboy would carry. >> mel wasn't a cowboy but a world war ii navy vet who owned a sheet-metal company. he never had a thing for guns until his wife gave him this antique pistol as a birthday present. >> it was a couple dollars. and this is the gun

that started the collection. >> mel loves it so much that he decides to replate it with shiny new nickel. then, he learns the refurbishing diminished its value. it's a mistake he only makes once. >> my dad decided right then and there, "if i'm ever going to buy another gun, i'm going to know everything there is to know about guns." >> and he will buy plenty. his research sparks an interest in single-action revolvers, patented in 1836 by connecticut gunmaker samuel colt. >> colt developed a multi-firing firearm, which, up to that time, you only had one shot. colt made possible five shots or six shots. >> greg martin is a renowned firearms dealer. i meet him at the autry museum of the american west in los angeles. so, it was pretty innovative, what colt did. >> extremely innovative. there were other attempts at revolving firearms made,

but colt was the first practical invention that really made it so you could use it. >> what does it mean, single action? >> a single action means that, when you want to activate the gun and turn the cylinder, you pull the hammer back, and the cylinder will turn. >> ready to fire. >> ready to fire. >> one of the first to take advantage of colt's revolver -- the u.s. military during the mexican-american war in 1846. >> this is the largest handgun made at the time, and it weighs 4 1/2 pounds. okay. >> oh, my gosh. it's as heavy as a rifle. >> the next evolution, this is a standard model that was used in the civil war. >> that's a big piece of history. >> and which they made approximately 250,000. >> then, in 1873, colt adds a self-contained metallic cartridge to his new single action army model, nicknamed the

"peacemaker." >> this is known as the revolver that won the west. >> did the stories behind the wild west have anything to do with dad's fascination with guns? >> yeah. he started reading all stories on the wild west and watched every cowboy movie ever made. ♪ >> you've come far enough, earp. >> get out. >> spurred on by legends like wyatt earp, mel amasses an arsenal of colt revolvers. did you go to gun shows with him? >> i went to gun shows as a child. he'd bring them back and talk about them forever. it was like, "come on, dad. please." >> were you allowed to touch the guns? >> no. he bought a safe, and they were in the safe all the time. >> when my grandfather got into something, he dove into it. >> michael acosta is melissa's son. >> my grandfather could take a look at a gun from a distance and know if it was right or wrong. he could tell you almost anything about colts

that you could ever ask. >> by the early '70s, mel's collection tops 300 guns. but one eludes him, one of the rarest colts ever made -- the legendary buntline special with a 16-inch barrel. >> his obsession was owning a buntline. >> how long had he looked, a week? >> oh, at least a decade. it had to be a perfect gun. >> here's a "strange inheritance" quiz question... the answer after the break. ♪ ♪

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♪ >> it's b. as a teenager, colt became fascinated by how a ship's wheel could spin freely or be locked in place using a clutch system. >> a birthday gift from his wife. this antique pistol turns mel guy into a lifelong firearms collector. he stockpiles rare colt revolvers dating back to the 1870s. the iconic six-shooters are the gun that tamed the wild west. [ gunshots ] just ask any cowboy. >> it was won by efficiency,

by accuracy, and by just being a good piece. >> cowboy historian peter sherayko joins me along with a posse of re-enactors, the alpine outlaws. you only have six shots? >> only six shots. >> did they carry six? >> they carried, usually, five. >> why? >> because these guns were designed that, if the hammer is down on a cartridge and your stirrup, say, fell on it, or you dropped the gun, it would go off. >> so leaving one cylinder empty prevented a lot of shot-off toes. over 20 years, mel collects more than 300 of the rare colts. but he's always on the lookout for one in particular, a buntline special with a 16-inch barrel. >> we know of 22 buntlines that came from the colt factory. of the 22, 11 are the 16-inch barrel. >> that's a small number. >> very small number.

>> firearms aficionado greg martin tells me the name buntline was coined by a popular dime novelist, edward judson, best known for his chronicles of buffalo bill. >> judson's pen name was ned buntline. >> the story goes that, back in 1876, buntline ordered five colt revolvers with long barrels and presented them as gifts to famous lawmen such as wyatt earp and "bat" masterson, a thank-you for the interviews they gave him about their wild west exploits. so, that put the buntline on the map. >> put it really on the map, part of american folklore. >> since then, the buntline has earned fame on tv, as a children's toy, and on the big screen. the gun's allure is not lost on melissa's father, who searches for more than a decade before he gets the right one in his sights.

>> it came with a stock that you attached to the back of the gun that really turns the gun into what i would call a rifle, which makes the gun shootable and more accurate. >> how much did he pay? >> $32,500. >> one gun? >> one gun. >> was that cash he just had? >> he didn't care. he was going to buy that gun. >> but as my cowboy friends demonstrate, the buntline special is more collectible than practical. >> now, larry, he's got the short gun over there. tony, he's got the buntline, and we're going to show you just how much faster it is with a shorter gun -- at least, i hope so, anyway. ready, boys? draw! if you notice, larry got out there a little bit quicker. and that's the secret. >> it's an advantage. but sometimes, a girl just has to live a little dangerously,

so i'll take my chances with the buntline versus his regular-sized colt. >> you in there? >> yeah. you found me. >> well, doggone it. [ gunshot ] >> and that, my friends, is how the west was won. [ laughs ] mel enjoys his colts into his 80s, but with his health in decline, he begins to get his affairs in order. was there a plan? >> he wanted me to sell the gun collection. >> his beloved gun collection? >> yes. >> why? >> i think, once he was finished with them, he knew it was time for somebody else to have them. >> did you try to talk him out of it? >> i tried to talk him into keeping some of them, and he said no. >> mel does sell off a bunch, but when he dies in august 2015, at age 88, he still has more than 40 rare

colt revolvers, including his crown jewel, the super-rare and super-long colt buntline special. they are melissa's strange inheritance. along with them, she's left the high-stakes task of selling them off. >> there is a part of my grandfather whose legacy is this colt collection that is leaving, and i'm sure that is very difficult. >> had dad ever had the collection appraised? >> no. but he knew, in his mind, that the entire collection would be well over a million dollars. >> over a million? >> well over a million dollars. >> and just one of those guns accounts for half of that million or more -- the buntline. that's underscored for melissa six months after mel's death, when she displays it at an antique gun show in vegas. what was the reaction that you got when you took it to that las vegas show? >> "it's so rare." they want to take pictures. they want to touch it.

they want to hold it. >> news travels fast in the gun-collecting world that a pristine buntline is back on the market. but the rumors travel just as fast and threaten to drastically devalue melissa's inheritance. i imagine there are fakes out there. >> lots of fakes. >> here's another quiz question... the answer when we return. announcer: there are everyday

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♪ >> so, which general carried a colt .45 revolver on one hip

and a smith & wesson .357 magnum on the other? it's george s. patton. the world war ii general had both guns outfitted with ivory grips and engraved with his initials. >> only 11 were made -- the colt buntline special. after taking her rare revolver to a gun show, melissa guy finds her strange inheritance under assault. she believes the revolver purchased by her dad for $32,000 is an authentic, unaltered buntline special made in 1876 and now worth hundreds of thousands. but soon after the show, some collectors in the close-knit world of antique firearms are whispering that her colt is not completely authentic. >> the problem with the buntline was the cylinder. somebody put the word out that the buntline was not right because it didn't have a number

on the cylinder. >> serial numbers are important, right? >> absolutely. >> you can see, on this colt, the numbers are right here. but, on the buntline, there's no number on the cylinder. more than money is at stake for melissa. her father, mel, not only took pride in his collection, but in the shrewd, knowledgeable, and patient way he assembled it. had he been hornswoggled when he shelled out big bucks for the jewel of his collection? >> to say that my grandfather's gun was not correct hurt my mom. if the gun was not correct, he would know. and he looked at many buntlines. >> melissa and her son, michael, decide it's time to shoot back, but they can't prove the naysayers wrong alone. they track down firearms guru greg martin. >> i imagine there are fakes out there. >> lots of fakes. you can take an ordinary single-action, put a long barrel on it, take off the serial numbers, restamp the numbers. just like there are good artists

that fake painting, there are good artists that fake guns. >> is there more than one serial number on that gun? >> there's many serial numbers on the gun. >> should they match? >> they all should match. >> so, what gives? >> greg obtains a copy of an old colt ledger listing every buntline shipped from the connecticut factory between 1876 and 1884. he discovers a surprise. mel's buntline not only appears legit, it's the final one to leave the colt factory. >> this is the inventory of the buntlines that were sold. the last one, which was mel's gun, was shipped in 1884. >> but what about the cylinder with the missing serial number? could that part have been swapped out in the century after it was made? if so, it would no longer be an authentic buntline. so greg turns to the colt buntlines

shipped just prior to mel's. he discovers it's owned and authenticated by the autry museum right here. and guess what? it, too, has no serial number on the cylinder. so, the gun produced right before this also didn't have a serial number? >> no, it did not. in our research, we turned up the fact that these two buntlines did not have a serial number on the cylinder. >> those buntlines were made in 1876 but weren't shipped for another seven or eight years. greg concludes colt must have updated the cylinders but, for some reason, not stamped them with numbers before sending them out. can you say, with 100% certainty, that this is the real deal? >> with 150% certainty, it's the real deal. >> but he's not done yet. he finds one last piece of evidence that not only confirms the buntline's authenticity but demonstrates how keen

was mel's collector's eye. turns out this buntline special is even more special than anyone imagined. >> it is a piece of american history. how do you put a price on that? >> 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." >> when mel guy bequeaths his collection of rare colt single action revolvers to his daughter, melissa, he makes his intentions clear. she is to sell the guns, no ifs, ands, or buts. so far, she's sold 16, including these four mint-condition 1923 .44-40s for 120,000 bucks alone. sales of the other guns have brought in an additional 80k, bringing her total to date

to more than $200,000. >> this has been difficult because, each time i sell a gun, i'm selling a piece of my father. so that's the hard part. >> hardest of all is what to do with this buntline special, the pride of mel's collection. it could be worth many hundreds of thousands if collectors can be convinced it's indeed one of the 11 buntlines made by colt. firearms dealer greg martin thinks he's proven melissa's strange inheritance was the last buntline to leave the colt factory back in 1884. then he discovers that melissa's colt is even more special than that. he comes across this old photo taken at the philadelphia centennial exposition in 1876. >> colt put together this beautiful display of over 300 guns. i looked at it a little more closely,

and i discovered there's actually a buntline in the display, complete with the shoulder stock. but it had a little hump on the stock that i wanted to get a closer view of, and this photograph clearly shows the sight >> right. that's very significant because this is the only buntline special known that has a folding tang sight. >> bull's-eye. >> [ laughs ] >> what was your reaction? >> i was not surprised, because i knew that my father would not have bought the gun if it wasn't a perfect gun. >> greg agrees to help melissa sell her buntline. in january 2017, he brings it back to vegas and puts it on display at an antique-arms show. any offers? >> had a couple of good offers. >> like what? >> one was $500,000. >> whoa. >> mm-hmm. >> what'd melissa say? >> well, she wants

a little more. >> you got a 1/2-million-dollar offer on one gun, and you turned it down? >> i believe the gun is worth more. >> greg believes she may well be right. if i'm a colt collector... >> right. >> ...and i know that the buntline comes because of this whole story of guys like wyatt earp... >> mm-hmm. >> ...that must increase the value. at least it's a better story. >> it really does add a lot to the value because, in popular culture, it has been propelled into one of the great icons of firearms. >> what's your prediction? >> we would have an auction estimate of between $600,000 and $800,000. >> so, melissa is glad she stuck to her guns. she intends to sell the buntline eventually with the rest of her dad's firearms. >> when the last one leaves, i don't know if that's going to be, "yes, dad, i did it. i did what you told me to do." >> but buyers beware.

melissa says she won't pull the trigger on this baby until she gets her price. maybe, an offer will come in in the next couple of months. what if it doesn't in a year? >> then, i will have a buntline special. >> and be holding on to a piece of dad's a little longer. you've seen melissa's rare colts, some in pristine condition, but before we leave, i can't resist showing you another colt lover's beat-up beauty from the museum's collection. it's an 1883 colt single action army revolver, originally gold-plated, but years of heavy use wore it away. engraved on one side of the gun's ivory grip, check out the owner's initials, t.r. that's right, teddy roosevelt. the native new yorker and future president wielded this baby as a cowboy and rancher in the dakota territory. i'm jamie colby. thanks so much for watching

"strange inheritance." and remember -- you can't take it with you. [ gunshot ] [ thud ] maria: good monday morning, welcome, i'm maria bartiromo, monday march 30th, top stories 6:00 a.m. on the east coast. president trump does expect the country to be well on recovery by june 1st, this as dr. fauci said we could see up to 200,000 deaths in the united states. some members of congress working on stimulus package after trillion dollar relief package was sign intoed law by president trump. house minority leader kevin mccarthy telling me