RICK: Hey, what's up, Adam?
ADAM: Nice to see you.
Great to see you.
Got something for you.
Pick a card first, any card.
RICK: I'm just assuming it's this one?
[laughs]
It's one of the oldest American
playing cards from 1769.
RICK: Whoa.
Even in the 18th century in America,
they had lots of card games.
Well, it was the 1700s.
There wasn't a lot to do.
You know, you had to entertain yourself,
and we all know what the world's oldest profession is.
I think gambling was the second, and then pawnshops
to pay for the first two.
[laughs]
ADAM: Sure.
RICK: This is really cool.
ADAM: Yeah, this is not just a playing card, actually.
This is also a political document.
On one side it has, like, a secret political message.
RICK: OK.
Old card from colonial America is something you
definitely don't see every day.
And this card wasn't used for playing cards.
This card was used for propaganda,
and that's got me intrigued.
So how much do you want for it?
I'd like $1,500 for it.
I think it's a fair price.
It's a very rare and interesting card, so.
You've met Mark Hall-Patton, right?
ADAM: I did.
OK, let me have him take a look at it.
I just want to make sure it's legit
and everything's cool with it.
This is the card I called you about.
Interesting, the four of clubs.
One of the more interesting cards out there, obviously.
[laughs]
So how did you end up with this?
I bought it at a small auction.
I didn't think it was highlighted in terms
of its historical importance, so I
picked it up reasonably cheap.
MARK: OK.
This is an interesting piece.
The playing-card portion of this was not actually
printed in the United States.
Cards were printed in England.
They were brought into the United States,
and they didn't have any back on them.
It was just blank paper.
So people would start using them.
This one is particularly nice because it's 1769,
and it's a political message.
What this is actually saying, "Escape the designs
of those men of faction."
Faction was considered a bad thing because you were only
going to be supporting one side and you
needed to support everybody if you were running for office.
This M-R-Y, this person named Murray,
and a person named Brasher.
And he's basically saying to people,
don't vote for these guys.
It is a political broadside from 1769.
So it's all legit.
It's the real deal.
It wasn't made in the 1960s.
[laughter]
No.
As far as I can tell, this is absolutely legit,
and it's scarce.
It's very scarce.
I know of only four or five in public collections.
You're not going to see another one of these.
RICK: Thanks, man. You're the best.
ADAM: Thank you. MARK: Very Interesting.
ADAM: Thanks for all the insight.
Thank you.
This card is a very unique original piece of printing
from pre-revolutionary times.
I certainly would want to have it.
If he buys it, I think Rick's enough of a geek
when it comes to history that he's going to love it.
So you heard it, 1760s, rebellious spirit
in America, a very rare card.
It's cool.
But you know how it is when you have that rare one thing.
You know, that's trying to figure out a price.
Sure.
So 1,000 bucks.
ADAM: $1,000, huh?
I think I'd like $1,200 for it.
I think that's fair.
It's very rare.
You got a deal, man.
ADAM: Sounds good.
You've got yourself a card.
This is cool.
I like this.
ADAM: I think it's a fair price.
It is very hard to value things that
are very unique and very rare.
With the $1,200, I'm definitely going to look for more things
that I think they'll be interested in.
I'll bring them back in.
You know Adam, the picker that goes
around looking for old books?
Yeah.
He came in earlier with a playing card from the 1700s,
and I paid him a ridiculous amount of money for it.
And he bought the card for nothing.
CORY: The guy's lucky.
RICK: There's no such thing as luck.
CORY: There is luck.
No, no, there is hard work.
I mean, some bad things happen every once in a while,
but it's not luck.
In general, you will do well in life if you just work hard.
I mean, you're not going to walk in a casino
and play craps all night long and win
just because you're wearing a certain sweater or something.
How do you know you just haven't
found the right sweater?
Some people are just more lucky than others.
CHUMLEE: I'm the luckiest person in the world.
Why are you so lucky?
CORY: Obviously he's lucky.
10 years, he's still here.
CHUMLEE: Pretty awesome, isn't it, Rick?
Yeah.
CORY: Guess we're the unlucky ones.
[laughter]