So a really good client of mine
has one of the largest Revolutionary War collections
in the world, and forever I've been trying to get him to bring
me something from John Hancock.
He's one of my favorite Founding Fathers.
So I'm here at my gallery because if he has something
from Hancock and I purchase it from him,
it's going to go straight in that showcase.
Are you ready for this, Rick?
That's John Hancock's pocket watch.
I'm intrigued.
And what's that?
Wow, that's his waistcoat, right?
From the 1700s.
There's a lot more clothing you wore back then.
Yes.
BRIAN: I have John Hancock's waistcoat
and a pocket watch he owned, and it comes with great provenance.
It's been in the family ever since for the last 150 years.
I purchased these items about 10 or 15 years ago in an auction,
and I think the fairest price would be $400,000 for the pair.
That's really cool.
A watch back in late 1700s, it was
like one of the biggest status symbols you could have, OK?
Just to have any functioning watch,
especially one made out of 18 karat gold,
was an extravagance.
Just to show you how rare watches were back then,
notice he doesn't have a watch pocket on this.
So this was incredibly expensive even at the day.
But then again, Hancock was the richest man in New England.
BRIAN: Right.
RICK: To me, Hancock is like one of the most interesting
of all the Founding Fathers.
He was sort of a mobster because he
did a lot of criminal activity.
The way Parliament made it was, like,
the only party that could be purchased in the colonies
was from the British East India Company.
But tea from the Dutch East India company
was much cheaper, so John Hancock was smuggling it in.
Right.
And Hancock's revolutionary activities made him
a target for British agents.
It's always amazed me.
These were all really wealthy men with great lives,
and they risked everything. Because--
They risked everything.
--because if the revolution didn't turn
out the way it would, they would have all been hung.
Yep.
So, what's that right there?
Well, this is a letter from the family
authenticating where the watch was handed
down through family members.
The letters dated 1890.
RICK: That's pretty amazing.
So how much do you want for these?
I guess if I had to put a price on them,
I'd sell the pair at $400,000.
How about just the watch?
Just the watch--
I guess I'd price the watch at $150,000.
So why don't we just do this?
Why don't you just let me give you $125,000,
and then we don't have to go back and forth.
I don't have to go 100,000 and you go 140, and then I go 110,
and then, you know, we-- we settle on 125.
You have a deal.
Oh, thanks.
Let me take you out to dinner.
We'll do all the paperwork tomorrow.
I'll have my staff put all the stuff in the vault for us.
BRIAN: Sounds great.
I'm happy for you.
Let's go.
Oh, that is amazing.
BRIAN: 125,000 I thought was a fair price
for the pocket watch.
The waistcoat is going to come back home with me
in my collection, and I'll probably
loan it to one of the-- the other museums that need it.
RICK: The story of the Boston Tea Party is told far and wide.
What many people don't know is the mastermind
behind the Boston Tea Party, John Hancock, the guy we assume
was the first person to sign the Declaration of Independence.
John Hancock is talked about it historically with reverence,
but in actuality, he was the colony's biggest smuggler.
So I think it's fair to say that Hancock's
motives weren't 100% noble when it
came to the Boston Tea Party.
Sure, he was against taxation without representation.
He didn't like British rule over the colonies.
But let's be real, this was affecting his bottom line.
116 patriots in Boston dressed up like Native Americans,
and they boarded three English ships that had just imported
90,000 pounds of tea into the colonies,
and they threw it all overboard into Boston Harbor.
It was worth over a million dollars in today's money.
Hancock was definitely on the British radar for sure.
But in the end, he definitely got the last laugh.