DONALD: Hi, how you doing?
COREY: What do we got?
DONALD: It's my uncle's Masonic sword.
I believe it's 19th century.
COREY: It's pretty cool.
Was he high up in the Masons?
32nd degree is all I know.
COREY: What I know about them is that I think George
Washington was a Freemason.
I think they had a lot to do with what's
on the back of a $1 bill.
And it's a secret organization, so you really don't
know what's true or what's not.
There's grand conspiracies from everything
that they control the universe to they're
a bunch of guys who get together and drink
in lodges around the country.
Drinking and swords, good choice.
[sheathing sword]
[music playing]
DONALD: My uncle, he didn't talk much
about being part of any of the fraternities,
so I really didn't know a lot.
I'm hoping to get $300 to $400 for it.
It's not actually a sword I can fight with
and my wife wants it gone.
COREY: I mean, the sword's really cool.
It's decorative.
I mean, I can't imagine anybody would ever go fight with this.
You have any idea about how old it is?
The only way I was able to come close to a date
was by the Ames Company back here on the back.
They actually were in business 'til 1923,
so I know it's got to be pre-1923.
OK.
The thing that was the most impressive
was the crosses and all that because of the Knights
Templar connection.
Are they the same thing?
Do you know anything about--
I know there's the Freemasons, the Knights
Templar, the Shriners.
I mean, are they all related or are they all different?
I believe they're all connected
some way, shape, or form, but I'm not actually sure.
I know I occasionally get the rings in here.
The guys from the temple right down the street
come down and buy every one the second they even
hear of one being in the case.
So I don't know anything about it.
I mean, it could be worth a lot of money
or it could be worth nothing.
I mean, I've looked it up online and all that,
and they range anywhere from like $300 to $600.
All right.
Do me a favor, hang out for a minute
so I can go find my dad so he can
give me an idea of what this thing's
worth, because I have no idea.
OK.
All right, appreciate it.
This sword's really interesting.
It's not like anything we've had in the shop before.
But because there's so many unknown things
about the Masons, it's going to be hard to find
out what it's worth
COREY: How did it all come together, the Knights
Templar, the Freemasons, or Masons,
or whatever they're called?
There was speculation that the remnants of the Knights Templar
became the Freemasons.
The Knights Templar, they were involved in the Crusades.
And their original purpose was to help out travelers
going to the Holy Land.
Somehow or the other, they ended up getting a lot of money,
and they grew very quickly.
They loaned money to governments.
And it wasn't much long after the Templar
dissolved that the Freemasons started.
They were not well-liked by the governments in Europe.
Over in the United States, it was really well-accepted.
Most of the signers of the Declaration of Independence
were Freemasons.
George Washington was.
Benjamin Franklin was.
I can tell you a million rumors, myths, or whatever
they are about the Freemasons.
But what we have here is not a Masonic sword.
That's not?
I mean, we got a Masonic symbol right here.
DONALD: Mhm.
And this symbol from a different organization
right here.
This is Knights of Columbus.
What appears that happened here is this was originally
a presentation sword to someone in the Knights of Columbus, OK?
Someone came along and did a terrible job
of adding a compass and square.
That is not factory.
That is just a really bad jeweler that did that.
That's just soldered on there really badly.
So what do you think it's worth?
Nothing.
DONALD: Nothing?
It's not worth anything.
The sword itself, just by itself, is not worth--
Generally, guys that are Knights of Columbus
are not Masons.
Masons are not Knights of Columbus.
So there's no value?
I wouldn't be interested in it at all.
Appreciate you coming in, man.
There is a lot of intriguing history surrounding the Masons.
But this thing is basically ruined.
No conspiracy theory here, I just wouldn't
be able to sell the damn thing.
[laughs]