>> inside a farmer's barn... >> all you see is these packed-in cars everywhere, bumper to bumper. >> ...rows of classic rides. >> my jaw hit the ground. there was the rolls-royce, the bentley, pickup trucks, camaros. >> harvesting gems from junk. >> dad would take the car down to literally the bare bones and then restore them and make them these beautiful pieces of art. >> wow.sparks are flying. >> here's one of the starsw rig. >> his heirs hope to reap a fortune. >> yes! yes! yes! [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] ♪

>> i'm jamie colby here in savannah, georgia, today on my way to meet a woman whose strange inheritance was built with blood, sweat and gears. >> my name is sherri anderson. my dad was a farmer who worked more than 5,000 acres of potatoes, beer barley and sugar beets, but his real bumper crop was growing inside his barns. >> sherri. >> hey.>> i'm jamie. >> nice to meet you.to savannah. >> oh, it's gorgeous and so great to meet you. inside, sherri shows me some old photos that tell the story of her father's 20-plus years restoring cars and trucks in his barns near paul, idaho. what variety. >> absolutely. he had cars dating from 1919 up to 1982. he got a 1968 mustang, which was mom's cruising car, a 1928 rolls-royce. >> this looks special. >> the 1950 bentley,

my personal favorite, too. >> the restoration wizard, callan "cal" phillips, born 1925. he spends his childhood working on the family wheat and potato farm in south-central idaho. cal serves in the pacific in world war ii, returns home to work on the family farm, gets married and raises six children, then gets divorced in the late 1960s. he remarries to marilyn hanshew, who has three children of her own, including sherri. it's like a blended brady bunch. >> it is. the blessing was, i got a great dad, and i got some really great stepsiblings, too. >> and, says sherri, her stepdad knows how to fix just about anything. >> you had to figure out how to fix that car or fix that engine or make it work because, obviously, time was money when it came to farming. >> in 1994, after half a century

working the fields, 69-year-old cal phillips decides it's time to hang up his farmer's hat and begin sellling off his acre. >> he was tired. he knew that his health was not going to let him do the farming as he would have liked to have done. >> but rather than quietly slipping into retirement, he surprises friends and family with news that he wants to try something completely different -- restoring and selling classic cars. >> i didn't really think that cal was the kind of guy to get into cars. >> maynard wall, who's known cal 40 years, is just one friend who's baffled. >> why do you think he took up restoring cars? >> he needed something to do. he wanted to do farm machinery collection, and i think he found out that cars were easier. >> cal has the basic mechanical skills. the rest he'll learn as he goes. his first project -- an old pickup truck.

he strips it down to bare metal, patches up rust holes and gives it a fresh coat of paint. what did he love about it? >> it was something that he was discovering about himself and what he could do, what his talents were, and he put his heart and his soul into that car. >> cal finds a buyer but parting ways with his first restoration turns out to be harder than he imagined. >> he sold it right away, and after he did, he cried, and that was just too much for him. >> so he never sold any more? >> after that, no. he couldn't part with them. that was the first one that he ever did, so he left his mark on it. >> he'll make his mark on many more, like this '73 mustang, or what's left of it. he transforms it into a red-hot beauty, with fresh paint and a new white interior. how about a shell of a 1928 rolls-royce? it rolls out of his barn looking like this.

and check out this black beauty that cal restores, a 1919 model t. it's not an overnight process to restore a car. >> no, it is not. he'd take every car down to the nuts and bolts. >> how long did it take him to do this? >> usually, it would take him minimum 6 months, if not a year sometimes to restore a car. >> into his mid-70s, cal keeps turning wrenches. he gives a 1975 mg roadster a makeover from red and rusty to silver and sexy and picks up some horsepower when he restores this 1966 chevelle super sport. check out those red vinyl door panels and white bucket seats. how about some fun in the sun with this 1949 willys jeepster cal gets looking like new inside and out? would dad pick up some of these cars on the cheap? >> he'd love a bargain. i found several bills of sale

where he may have only paid for. it was a number of different types of vehicles -- pickups, cars, muscle cars, classic cars. >> did mom participate? >> she did participate, especially on decorating the cars for the parades. she loved showing them off with my father as well and loved riding in them and, once in a while, driving them. by the late 90s cal has restored more than 20 cars. next on his list, a 1950 bentley. >> you wouldn't believe what he found with that car. >> but i'm about to find out. sparks are flying. hey, dave, are you nervous? >> oh, not yet. >> here's a "strange inheritance" quiz question. way back in 1958, chrysler offered a luxury option called autopilot. what do we call that feature today? the answer after the break.

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to keep the rest of them. so far, there are more than 20 and counting. you know, the thing that strikes me, sherri,is he was too tired and too elderly to continue farming, but it sounds to me like with the cars, he was working just as hard. >> in some ways he was, but i think he found a second wind and a second love. >> cal takes a '66 thunderbird down to bare metal and transforms it into this mean, green machine with a black vinyl top and white-walled tires. and this rare 1961 studebaker champ pickup -- cal tunes it up, refreshes the interior and finishes it in cool blue with lots of chrome. >> you're opening this huge barn door, and all you see is these packed-in cars everywhere. >> kandice little is cal's granddaughter. >> he always would take me show me what he was doing. >> kandice has her eye on this cherry-red 1968

mustang convertible. >> he knew that i loved that mustang. every time i went to visit, i asked to ride in it. >> so on one visit, cal just puts kandice behind the wheel. >> he wanted to teach me how to drive, and i was only 14, so i think he knew that that would be something special for me. he had a way of making you feel like you were the most important person in the world. >> one car cal is excited to restore -- this 1950 bentley that his daughter sherri found for sale on the roadside. what kind of shape was it in? >> it was in okay shape. the engine was perfect. the body needed a little work. >> what did he pay for that? >> seventeen thousand dollars. >> was that a deal at the time? >> it was a very good deal at the time. >> really? but how does that old saying go? if it's too good to be true... >> he took it down to literally the bare bones and found out there were holes that were almost 5 inches wide stuffed with tinfoil

and covered up with mesh and painted over, so consequently, he had a lot of work cut out for him. >> to see what it takes to fix someone else's botched job, i meet dave lester, owner of a restoration shop in boise, idaho. he's been building hot rods and classics for more than 40 years. >> this fender has had damage on it in the past, and it was restored by somebody that wasn't real experienced in bodywork. >> we can do better. >> yeah. take this grinder. >> okay. got it. any risk of me going too deep here, you know? >> no. we want to get down >> wow. sparks are flying. hey, dave, are you nervous? >> oh, not yet. >> grinding down a classic takes some guts, but it reveals how this 1946 lincoln continental, like cal's beat-up bentley, is hiding a heap of bad bodywork.

excess body filler was used to mask the damaged metal below. >> i can just restraighten this metal until we don't really need very much body filler. >> we clearly have a long way to go on this baby. stripping off some more paint, properly applying body filler, sanding that down -- just a few of the steps cal would have taken on that 1950 bentley. and after more than a year of painstaking dedication, he gets it looking good as new. ♪ ♪ it's just one of more than 50 cars he goes on to restore. in 2012, at age 87, health problems slow cal down, but he never quite yields. >> he was sick for quite a few months, but even in his worst shape, the man was still trying to find parts for cars. >> cal phillips dies in june

2013 at age 88 and leaves his wife marilyn the 59 cars that he'd lovingly restored and couldn't bring himself to sell. nearly 4 years later, when she passes away, the cars are handed down to their five children. sherri and her stepbrother, randy, are named executors. was he specific about what he wanted to happen to his collection? >> he was very specific. he wanted those cars to be auctioned off. >> really? >> why? >> well, i think for the fact that we have so many beneficiaries in the family, it seemed like the fair thing to do so that no one would have to be squabbling or, you know, upset over who got what car or what. >> so it's time to call in the experts. >> my jaw hit the ground. there was the rolls-royce, the bentley, model t, a mustang, pickup trucks, camaros. he had them sandwiched in there so close you could barely walk. >> but how will cal's cars

appraise outside the barn under the light of day? >> was his goal to make it up to factory standards? >> i think he wanted to be to cal's standards. >> here's another quiz question for you. the most miles ever driven in a single car is over 3 million. was it... the answer when we return. as we work to get through these times together, you may not be thinking about blood donation, but blood is needed to save the lives of people who are sick with a range of illnesses. it's easy and safe to give. if you are in good health, please donate. we need heroes now.

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♪ ♪ >> so what make of car holds the record for the most miles ever driven at more than 3 million? it's b, volvo. the record is held by a american urban gordon and his 1966 p1800. ♪

>> sherri anderson and her four siblings are putting their strange inheritance up for auction, 59 classic cars lovingly restored by their late father, cal phillips. steering the process, brittney edward at dealers auctions of idaho. what's your first reaction when you walk on somebody's property, and you see how many cars? >> my jaw hit the ground. i couldn't believe what we were looking at. in one barn, there was a model t, the rolls-royce, the bentley. it was crazy. i couldn't believe what we saw. >> would one of the determining factors in this auction being a success be the diversity of the collection? >> i think that definitely is the case because it'll bring in a whole variety of car buyers. >> was his goal to make it up to factory standards or something less? >> i think he wanted to be to cal's standards. a collector who wants a museum-quality car, that's probably not what's

in this collection. >> brittney tells me cal's collection will likely attract a big crowd of enthusiasts looking for cars they can still put their own finishing touches on or drive to the local car show without breaking the bank. appeals auction definitely to the average car collector. if you've ever thought about collecting a car, now is your time because there's going to be a car in your price range there. >> that price range starts at about 6,000 bucks for a car like this little hudson metropolitan all the way up to 60,000 for the 1928 rolls-royce. >> we think the collection is going to bring anywhere between 550,000 and 650,000. >> really? that's a nice day's work. >> yes.>> well done, cal. but it's bittersweet for sherri, as she watches her father's cars leaving his barns. >> [ crying ] it was a huge piece of dad. >> i understand. >> sorry, guys. >> in august 2017,

the cars go up for auction in nampa, idaho. >> as you can see, these cars were a labor of love for my dad. take them home. enjoy them and know that there was a man that loved those cars. >> first to cross the block, that 1957 hudson metropolitan. >> eighty-seven now, sold your car, sir, it's sold, 8,700. >> it hammers in at a better-than-expected $9,000. cal's oldest car, that 1919 ford model t coupe... that 1919 ford model t coupe... >> wow. >> wow. >> sold, 9520, 16.5... >> ...fetches 16,500. this '52 chevy truck goes for 11k. >> can i get a 10,? >> remember that '68 mustang that cal taught his granddaughter to drive in? >> here's [indistinct] at 1968. look at that mustang. 21,000... five? sold right there, went and got her bought, 21,000 bucks.

>> wow, 21k! how about that '66 chevelle super sport? it revs up to 25k. in comes that elegant bentley that cal spent more than a year restoring. >> yes, sir, here's one of the stars of the show right now, a 1915 bentley vi. >> the bids quickly jump to 20,000, 30,000, 40,000. how high will it climb? and meet the surprise bidder next. whoa, whoa! what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com. with coronavirus still spreading, people at higher risk, must take extra precautions. you are at higher risk if you are over 65, or if you have any serious underlying medical conditions, like heart disease, chronic lung disease, diabetes, or if your immune system is compromised for any reason.

if you're at higher risk, wash your hands frequently with soap and water for twenty seconds. avoid touching your face. disinfect frequently touched objects. and wash up after being in public spaces. and when it comes to social situations...less is better. stay six feet or two arm lengths away from other people. better still, stay home if you can. if you're sick, please stay home and away from others. and if you think you've been exposed to the virus, call your health care provider before going to their office. in challenging times, the choices you make are critical. please visit coronavirus.gov for more information.

i'm here to warn you about telephone scammers pretending to be government employees. some of these scammers may say threatening things like you will be arrested if you don't make payments or provide personal information. do not fall for these tricks. these calls are not from us!

real social security employees will never threaten you for information or money. if you receive a call like this: hang up! never give the caller your personal information, like your social security number or bank account, or send money in any form: cash, gift cards, wire transfers or pre-paid debit cards. report the call to our law enforcement arm, the office of the inspector general at: oig.ssa.gov share this information with your friends and family. >> now back to "strange inheritance." >> august 2017, sherri anderson and her siblings' strange inheritance, 59 classic cars and trucks all restored by their dad, are rolling across the auction

block in south-central idaho. >> it's been real emotional. these were dad's cars. some of them were just pieces of metal that he took in and made something so beautiful, and it's something that all of us enjoyed at one time or another. so it is a very bittersweet moment. >> the auction house estimated that cal phillips' collection could bring in 650,000 bucks, and the way things are going, that number might be in reach. >> sold at 25,000. >> woo! >> one car receiving a lot of attention, cal's 1950 bentley. it quickly passes 30k, then 40. >> now 40,000, 40,000. now 42.5, now 42.5 again. >> yeah! >> now 45, now 46,000. 46. now .5. we have sold! 46,000, 9541, 46 thou, 9541, one. >> woo! yes! yes! yes! >> and here comes another british beauty, cal's 1928 rolls-royce.

>> can i get 50 grand? fifty, now 54,000, anyone for 54, 54? fifty-five thousand? now 6, 56,000? sold 57,000. sold $57,000. >> woo! >> in all, the sale of 57 of cal's cars brings in just under 600 grand. sherri tells me she and her four brothers and sisters will divide up the profits among themselves with a little going to each of cal's grandchildren. >> i think it went very well. dad would be doing the happy dance right now. this will be the last time we see a lot of these cars, one last look, one last goodbye. >> but is it goodbye or "see you later"? ♪ wait a minute. whoa, whoa. you bought the bentley? >> yes, we did. there was no way i was going to let this car go. >> you see, before the auction,

sherri and her siblings had agreed to sell all the cars, so if any of the heirs wanted to keep one, they'd have to bid on it themselves. >> it is really beautiful. i am so excited to get a good look at it. >> we're not going to just look at it. we're going to ride in it. >> you're taking me for a ride? >> i am taking you for a ride let's go. >> all right. >> i would have thought it woul. it kind of rides smooth. >> it's actually a very, very nice car. this is a classic. >> did you pay more than you thought you'd have to? >> slightly more. our limit was 40. we went up to 46. >> sherri tells me she has big plans for the bentley, along with two other classics she and her husband purchased from her dad's collection. >> we plan on opening up a vintage limo service here in savannah. it's the number-two wedding destination in the nation, so what better way to ride in style than riding in something like this for your special day? in honor of my dad,

we've decided to name the business callan's classics. >> i can just imagine how proud your dad must be, his little girl behind the wheel, making a business out of it. >> i think he would be so thrilled and so honored and so happy. >> was dad a classic? >> dad was an incredible classic. >> sherri tells me that even though her mom supported her dad's car hobby, there was one time she put her foot down. cal was hot on the trail of a 1930 ford model a that came up for sale in a neighboring town. he was in love, but his wife, marilyn, told him he had enough cars and shouldn't spend money on another one. he was upset for months, that is until christmas morning when he found that very car waiting for him outside, red bow and all. it had been her plan to surprise him with it all along.

thanks so much for watching "strange inheritance." and remember -- you can't take it with you. ♪ >> three brothers, one strange picture. >> i always thought, why did we have a painting like that in our dining room? >> it stirs up the sale of the century. >> $750. do have $750 right her. >> oh, my god. i'm thinking, what is this? >> are you thinking that thele g a mistake, or they know something that you don't? >> they know something that i don't.'ll take you $300,000. >> it was a complete shock. >> $830,000. >> he said, "amy, it was a rembrandt." >> not so fast. >> so, it is possible that this thing turns out not to be? >> totally. [ applause ] [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ]

[ bird caws ] ♪ >> i'm jamie colby, heading toward the garden state parkway. i'm meeting a couple of jersey boys who had an old painting in the basement. could it really be a rembrandt? think you're heard a stranger "inheritance" story? forget about it! >> i'm ned landau. neither i, nor my brothers, roger, and steven, had any idea that our mother had left us something so valuable. >> neither did the auction guy up the highway. >> but people around the world were watching. >> hi. how are you guys? i'm jamie. >> hi, jamie.e to new jersey. >> thanks for coming out on such a rainy day. ned, steven, and roger landau grew up here in north jersey, just outside of new york city. >> two parents, three boys, on a street where there's lots of other kids. >> our father had a small chemical company.

they made coatings and industrial finishes. >> three boys can't be easy for your mom. what was she like? >> she was an expert yoga professional, and this was well before yoga was a thing. my mother was almost like a flower child. >> lyla landau was raised in paterson, new jersey, known in the earliest 20th century as silk city, due to its flourishing fabric industry. >> a lot of jewish textile workers who were escaping persecution in eastern europe all came to paterson. as the american dream goes, many of them ended up owning silk companies, and our grandfather was one of them. >> grandpa phil makes his fortune in the silk trade, but then loses it after the great depression. the last remnants of mom's family wealth, a silver collection, some fine china, and half-a-dozen paintings

hanging throughout the house. >> we had art on the walls of our house, and i can't say i particularly appreciated it. >> there's a venetian cityscape hanging over the couch, and a large parisian street scene. the eldest brother ned always wondered about another one of the paintings. >> what was the painting of? >> somebody in a chair, passed out, and there was two people trying to revive the passed out person. >> that could freak a kid out,r. >> i remember thanksgiving or family holidays, i would always look at that painting and think -- >> really? i never even noticed it. [ laughs ] >> yes, it was there. i always looked at it as a kid, because i thought, why did we have a painting like that in our dining room? >> that painting and the others remained on the walls of the family house for decades. mom dies in 2010 at the age of 80.

a year later, their dad walter passes away. when the landau brothers inherit their parents' home in 2011, they follow the standard drill for liquidating a family estate. >> we had a garage sale. but there were a few things, like the china and some silver things that looked very nice, and we thought, well, we don't really want to just give 'em away like that. >> so mom's good stuff goes into the "save" pile. four years later, the landau brothers finally decide to have a long overdue estate sale, and what happens next is incredible, even for "strange inheritance." >> i got a phone call from roger, and he said, "are you sitting down?" >> here's a "strange inheritance" quiz question. before it was silk city, paterson was called "the cradle of the industrial revolution in america. who put the city on the map?

is it...? the answer after the break. this is an athlete, twenty reps deep, sprinting past every leak in our softest, smoothest fabric. she's confident, protected, her strength respected. depend. the only thing stronger than us, is you.

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♪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 >> so, who made paterson, new jersey, the cradle of the industrial revolution in america? it's alexander hamilton, who helped found the city in 1791. he wanted to harness the hydropower of the

passaic river's great falls to secure economic independence from british manufacturers. >> by 2015 in new jersey, the landau brothers have been storing stuff left from their parents' estate in roger's basement for four years. >> it was in the way of the ping pong table, and he wanted to, apparently, clear out some space. >> roger decides to take action before his table tennis game gets too rusty. >> i got around to calling an auctioneer, someone whose name i saw advertised on the side of the garden state parkway. >> john nye is the auction guy. >> so i said, listen, i'll stop and see you on my way to work. >> nye liquidates estates, some big fortunes like luther vandross and perry como's, and a lot of more modest ones like the landaus. you went to his house, what'd you see? >> he takes me down to the basement.

my initial reaction was, i was loving the silver. the paintings were beautiful, but not remarkable. >> nye schleps the stuff over to his auction house to examine each piece and price it for sale. he values some of those silver pieces, which roger was optimistic about, for a few hundred dollars each, and a sterling centerpiece bowl at about $2,000. >> you have a couple of interesting things. >> it's a nice group. >> tchotchkes. >> bingo. >> nye estimates the signed painting of a parisian boulevard could fetch about 500 bucks. not bad. he titles the unsigned smelling salts painting, "triple portrait with lady fainting," and describes it as "continental school, 19th century." >> it's got varnish that has crazed and crackled, and paint loss on the board. it's not a beautiful painting,

and the people sitting in the picture are not beautiful people. it was remarkably unremarkable. >> nye estimates the 9x7-inch picture is worth, say, $500. the heirs aren't even counting on that. >> we thought, if anything, the silver would have some value. >> when the auction day arrives in september 2015, a few bidders phone in. that's when the folks at the new jersey auction house realize there's probably something up with that remarkably unremarkable painting. >> it was just solid bidding, back and forth, back and forth. >> here's another quiz question for you. was rembrandt, the 17th century dutch master's...? the answer when we return.

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>> he was known simply as "rembrandt." so where did that name come from? it's the first name of dutch master rembrandt van rijn. >> in september 2015, in northern new jersey, the three landau brothers are auctioning off some family valuables. >> i guess, to a certain extent, it was just taking care of our parents' estate. >> if i get my, you know, few hundred dollars, i'll be extremely happy. >> their expectations are so modest, they don't even attend the sale. it happens that the auction falls right at the end of the jewish high holidays. >> it was yom kippur. and i'm not terribly observant, but i don't answer my phone. and i even forgot when the auction was happening.

>> expectations are also modest for auctioneer john nye, who's combined the brothers' items with inventory from a few other estate sales. >> we do press releases, we do advertising. it goes online for a two-week period, so people see what's being offered in the sale. >> did anyone express an unusual amount of attention to any of the items? >> no. >> a few days before the auction, three international bidders do express interest in lot 216, the "triple portrait." >> one called from london, one called from paris, and one called from germany. not particularly unusual. all they requested was the opportunity to be on the phone for that specific lot. >> john's wife kathy speaks to the mystery bidder from france. >> we're never allowed to use the phone bidder's name, because they don't want anyone else knowing who it is that we're calling. >> nye employee amy ludlow gets a curious inkling about her

german bidder. >> he said, "i just want you to know that it's really important, and i'm going to win this." >> auction day, september 22nd. john nye breezes through the first bunch of lots in about 45 minutes. the landau family's sterling silver centerpiece bowl sells for $2,100. that parisian street scene, $300. >> okay, our next lot is lot 216. >> then comes lot 216, "triple portrait with lady fainting." it's the one that used to hang in the family dining room, that the young landau boys thought was rather unappetizing. how much was the reserve? >> the estimate was $500-to-$800, and so the opening bid was $250. >> $250, right here. $500 is... >> ready to pounce, any's bidder from germany. >> my bidder definitely wanted to jump in right away. >> us right here, $500. >> so do a half-dozen other bidders. >> $750.

>> it reaches the high $800 estimate, and passes it. then kathy's french phone bidder enters the competition. >> he was a cool cucumber. he was so calm. every time i presented a bid, he would say, "yes." >> and all of a sudden, said, "$5,000," and, man, that happened in no time. >> everyone started creeping back into the sales room, and the bidding just kept going. >> the bidding rises to $80,000, then 100 grand. >> the guy from england gets blown out, and it's going back and forth between kathy, my wife, and amy. >> are you thinking that the people on the phone are making a mistake, or they know something that you don't? >> they know something that i don't. >> when it got up into the $100,000s, i just went, "oh, my gosh!", like this, and just kind of... >> $200,000. then amy's german bidder ups the ante. >> $300,000.

>> i'll take you $300,000. >> amy's bidder from germany jumps it to $300,000, and now i'm really smiling. >> kathy's frenchman is unfazed. he jumps the bidding to 400 grand. >> "we're at $450,000. would you like to bid?" "yes, bid." >> $500,000. >> i was in disbelief. [ laughs ] >> and the bids keep coming in steady increments to $600,000, then $700,000. >> $800,000 is the next bid. $800,000 right here. >> i was just writing down my bids. [ laughs ] >> $830,000. >> trying to keep it together. and my fellow from france, all he said was, "yes." >> i do have $860,000. >> finally, at $860,000, germany surrenders. >> he bowed out. >> sold! >> the painting goes to kathy's anonymous phone bidder in france, with commission, for $1,100,000. vive la france!

♪ best day in your auctioneer history? >> personal best, absolutely. it was so fun. >> but hang on, how could this odd painting that spent decades in a new jersey dining room, unnoticed and unremarked upon, be worth a million bucks? amy gets clued in by her losing german bidder. >> he said, "amy, it was a rembrandt." he said, "i've been looking for this painting my whole adult professional career." >> rembrandt? the rembrandt? the 17th century dutch master who liked to paint himself? how could that be? it's not every day a real rembrandt just pops up out of nowhere in jersey. >> in jersey? >> in jersey. in bloomfield, new jersey. >> where, this whole time, the landau brothers have been observing yom kippur, the jewish "day of atonement," with their phones turned off. >> maybe one, two days after yom kippur, i returned his

call. and i said, "oh, so how'd the auction go?", he said, "well, it actually went quite well." >> and your reaction is? >> i think i actually might've used some profanity. >> when roger called me and told me the amount, and i was -- my jaw just dropped. >> that's the one from the dining room, the one thatd you . >> that was it, yeah. >> it's now your favorite painting. >> right, that's one of rembrandt's best. >> well, in retrospect, john, was it within your scope to know that it's a rembrandt? >> that's a good question. i don't think so. because there was no indication that it was by a master. >> and at this point, no proof yet, either. that's right, despite that million dollar-plus bid, no one has actually verified whether the painting really is a rembrandt. so it is possible that the dealer may have gone all the way with this thing, and it turns out not to be? >> totally. >> what's your

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>> now, back to, "strange inheritance." >> in bloomfield, new jersey... >> sold! >> ...the hammer has just fallen on this curious painting, described as "triple portrait with lady fainting," for $1,100,000. auctioneer john nye is still reeling from the news that the art world believes it's a rembrandt. congratulations. >> thank you. i'm still smiling. >> how remarkable does this unremarkable painting now become? >> it's remarkable in the sense that it's not the type of dramatically lit individuals with the big hats and the ribbon collars that you see, and you just know, boom, that's a rembrandt. >> it's soon revealed that the winning phone bidder for the landau brothers' strange inheritance is a french art

dealer named bertrand gautier. but before the small painting can even be verified as a rembrandt, gautier resells it to a new york billionaire and rembrandt collector, named thomas kaplan for an undisclosed price rumored to be at least $3 million. what's going on here? >> these probably were his earliest-known works. >> art historian dennis heller explains that in the early 1600s, the young rembrandt van rijn, born in the dutch city of leiden, is studying art with some of the local masters. he will soon eclipse them all, but it's during this time that the teenage sensation creates a set of little-known paintings depicting the five senses -- touch, sight, hearing, taste, and smell. >> rembrandt's early works don't bring out this rembrandt-esque quality that we equate with the artist. early rembrandt has really only

been rediscovered in the last 50-to-60 years. >> rembrandt's paintings of touch, hearing, and sight are accounted for. in fact, thomas kaplan owns touch, and hearing, but the remaining two, taste, and smell have been lost for hundreds of years. >> we're all looking for the five senses. [ laughs ] >> so, it seems those european phone bidders had sniffed around and concluded that the landau brothers' strange inheritance must be the master's long-lost painting of smell. >> the fact that it's a triple portrait, it has people dressed in these outlandish clothes, and it's an allegory for one of the human senses, is what told the people in europe to look more closely at this painting. >> seems like someone might want to prove it's a rembrandt about now. curators working with billionaire thomas kaplan get down to work. lo and behold... >> when they cleaned the

painting, you could see that it was signed. rembrandt had a way of signing things, just with an "r," and when it was cleaned, there was an "r" there. >> case closed. >> what's so crazy about this story is that not one person in the united states recognized the significance of this remarkably unremarkable painting. an old master dealer came from the city, and sat in the front row.old master specialist comes and walks right past the rembrandt. >> yes. >> even after the painting's authenticated, we can only guess how it ended up in the landaus' new jersey home. >> would've come from europe at some point. i think the size had a lot to do with it being able to cross the atlantic. >> the landau brothers figure it's time to do a little sleuthing into the grandpa they barely knew. >> we learned that our grandfather phil liked on the weekends to drive from paterson into manhattan, and he would

hang out at this auction house. >> really? >> they sold estate sales from people who had apartments in manhattan. and so, i think that grandpa liked the idea of going and getting some real bargains on some artwork. >> none of them turned out to be valuable, except, says steven, for this one redeeming purchase. >> he was not known as an art collector, certainly, but he did choose that painting to buy. >> grandpa, you think, is winking down at you like... >> i think so, yeah. >> "nice work boys"? the landau brothers say they're a little sad that they're parents couldn't share in the excitement. >> if they had known about that painting, it would've meant so much to them. >> in march 2016, the restored painting, now officially titled, the, "unconscious patient: an allegory of smell," is unveiled to great fanfare in the netherlands.

today, it travels to museums all over the world as part of thomas kaplan's leiden collection, which now includes three-of-the-five senses. a dutch museum owns sight. what happened to taste is a mystery. >> it is an amazing story. and, you know, the money is great.not complaining about that at all. but the story's even better. >> your family in jersey. >> yeah. [ laughs ] in jersey, that's right. ♪ >> another mystery remains with the landau family. did grandpa phil know he had picked up a painting of such value? if he did, he sure kept it tight-lipped, says roger. but grandpa may have left a hint behind for his grandsons. when roger was cleaning out some of grandpa's old boxes, he found a big, dusty, old book -- the title, "the art of rembrandt." hmm. i'm jamie colby. thanks so much for watching

"strange inheritance," and remember, you can't take it with you. ♪ >> a freaky forest that scrapes the sky. >> that's a redwood? >> it's several redwood trees. >> mysterious, incredible. believe it or not. >> you might see something like this in "lord of the rings" or "game of thrones." >> this is natural? >> of course. mother nature can only do this. >> but when life and limb's at risk...omeone could have gotten hurt.verybody in it. >> ...can they work without a net? >> that gives you the direction of where it's gonna fall... hopefully. >> the stress that you go through, the mayhem, the sleepless nights -- we have to do it. that's part of the fun. ♪ [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ]