>> i'm jamie colby. and today i am cruising ocean side in beautiful la jolla, california, just north of san diego. i'm on my way to meet an heir whose strange inheritance stunned the coin-collecting world, then led to a showdown with uncle sam. >> my name is randy lawrence. i inherited a baggie of coins from my father, who worked at the denver mint. imagine a shiny penny. but instead of being copper-colored, it's silver. that was one of the coins my dad left me. and it turned my life upside down. >> hi, randy. i'm jamie. >> hello. nice to meet you. >> so great to meet you, too. and i heard that your inheritance came in a small plastic bag? >> it did. >> randy shows me in, sits me down, and hands me a baggie full of coins. well, they can't be very valuable, i guess, if they're still sitting here in a ziploc. >> well, those particular ones aren't necessarily. but there was one in that bag that was quite valuable. >> where is it? can i see it? >> well, i don't have it. >> huh? >> yeah, there's a little bit of a story. >> it's the story of randy's dad, harry lawrence, who grows up near denver, takes a shine to engineering, and studies metallurgy at the colorado school of mines. after serving in the army corps of engineers during world war ii, harry heads to chicago, where he lands a job as a foreman at a smelting plant, sweltering work, but not nearly as hot as the time harry spends hanging around the water cooler. >> that's where he met my mother. she was a receptionist, and he was a manager. and she was much younger and very pretty. and i think she just made him work for it. >> and he won. >> and he won. >> randy is the second of two boys. in 1960, when he's 3, his dad accepts a job at the us mint in denver, packs up the family, and heads west. it was a dream job for him because it was bringing him back to colorado. >> was it pretty prestigious to have a father who worked at the denver mint? >> i felt it was. in the schoolyard, when other children would ask me, "well, what's your dad do," i... "makes money." and they said, "no, no, really, what's he do?" "no, he makes money." >> randy's dad loves the precision that goes into minting the nation's coins. but as with any perfectionist, it's the flaws that really catch his eye. >> he had a bag full of these coins. and there was a few of these error coins in there. >> what is an error coin? >> an error coin is one that was mis-struck at the mint. so it didn't land correctly in the press. and therefore, it might be off center, or the edge might be curled. >> this is a pretty interesting penny. but it looks like two pennies! >> michael mcconnell is a la jolla coin shop owner who knows all about error coins. >> it's simply a penny that was struck twice. it got stuck in the press. and it got struck again. >> randy's father collects the error coins that he finds in a plastic baggie that he keeps at home in a drawer. >> so when you work for the mint and they mis-strike a coin, they let you take it home? >> well, i guess so. there are many error coins out there that are bought and sold every day. >> randy's mistaken about that. taking home error coins is illegal, but apparently ignored sometimes, at least in his dad's day. so it's quite possible that when harry retires from the mint in 1980, his bosses do say he can keep his error coins, a retirement gift, harry explains. what's harry's plan for them? no way to know. just six months later, he dies of a heart attack at the age of 60. i'm so sorry. he was young. >> yes, very young. it was a shame that he didn't get to enjoy his retirement. >> did he leave a will? >> he did. >> did he reference the coins in any way? >> i got the bag of coins. my brother got a set of guns. my father collected guns as well. >> randy has zero interest in coin collecting and tosses his inheritance in his desk drawer. for the next three decades, he says, he forgets all about it until he moves from denver to la jolla and, one day, is checking out the new neighborhood. >> i walked into michael's coin shop, la jolla coin. >> yep, that michael. before long, the coin dealer will be on the scent of a fortune. that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question. us coins have mint marks p, d, s, and w, designating the locations where they're made. can you name all four? extra credit if you know what the government makes at the w location. the answers after the break. i'm your mother in law. and i like to question your every move. like this left turn. it's the next one. you always drive this slow? how did you make someone i love? that must be why you're always so late. i do not speed. and that's saving me cash with drivewise. my son, he did say that you were the safe option. and that's the nicest thing you ever said to me. so get allstate. stop bossing. where good drivers save 40% for avoiding mayhem, like me. this is my son's favorite color, you should try it. 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>> correct. and the first thing that came to my mind was, because the us mint has struck over 1,000 different coins for over 40 different countries, that this coin was struck on a planchet meant for a foreign coin. >> what's a planchet? >> the planchet is a round disk of metal that the coin is actually made out of. >> a us penny stamped on a blank intended for a foreign coin, michael says, might be worth a few hundred dollars. the other coins have some value, too. so michael makes randy an offer for the whole collection. what was the total price for everything? >> i think i left there with a little over 2,000. >> were you happy? >> i was happy with it. love you, dad. but you know what? i'm over it. i don't need the coins. >> but the coin-shop owner keeps thinking about that pretty penny. you see, there's this tale in the annals of coin history about an unusual batch of pennies the government minted in the 1970s. >> the price of copper had gone up in 1973. and so it actually became not cost-effective to make the penny out of that. and so they were looking for alternatives. >> paul montgomery tells me the story. he's a rare-coin dealer and author. and he explains that the mint's solution is to switch from costly copper to a cheaper metal. what was the composition of them? >> the coin is made out of 96 percent aluminum. >> the mint's proud of the coin. it strikes a million and a half and even hands out a few to members of congress before its release. but the aluminum penny is a bigger '70s flop than the gremlin or the leisure suit. >> the coins didn't work in vending machines, uh, i guess because of the metal. kids would swallow 'em, and they wouldn't show up in x-rays, either. >> so instead of circulating the coins, the mint melts them down. and it takes back the few it handed out. the 1974 aluminum penny becomes as elusive as the proverbial unicorn... or maybe not. >> i began doing additional research, which led me to think that it may actually be that unicorn. >> the next thing he does it call a lawyer. so what does the lawyer advise you? >> he advised me to go and get the coin certified, to make sure that it truly was an aluminum penny. >> tests show it is indeed made of 96 percent aluminum, just like those minted, then melted-down pennies from the 1970s. were you excited? >> it was obviously the scarcest coin i've ever handled. >> and things are going to get complicated because the heir of this "strange inheritance" story is about to reenter the picture. what's michael offering you? that's next. >> here's another quiz question for you. who preceded john f. kennedy on the half dollar? the answer when we return. at comcast, we didn't build the nation's largest gig-speed network just to make businesses run faster. we built it to help them go beyond. because beyond risk... welcome to the neighborhood, guys. there is reward. ♪ ♪ beyond work and life... who else could he be? there is the moment. beyond technology... there is human ingenuity. ♪ ♪ every day, comcast business is helping businesses go beyond the expected, to do the extraordinary. take your business beyond. my money should work as hard as i do. that's why i use my freedom unlimited card every time i get gas. give me a little slack! with freedom unlimited, you're always earning. i said i need some slack on pump three! ♪ ♪ everything your trip needs, for everyone you love. expedia. were cooking with mom. she always said, "food is love," so when she moved in with us, a new kitchen became part of our financial plan. ♪ i want to make the most of every meal we have together. ♪ at northwestern mutual, our version of financial planning helps you live your dreams today. find a northwestern mutual advisor at nm dot com. ♪ g♪ i want to go, go,es yogo where my baby is ♪ hey. hey. you must be steven's phone. now you can take control of your home wifi and get a notification the instant someone new joins your network. only with xfinity xfi. downlaod the xfi app today. >> so, who was on the half dollar before jfk? it's "a," benjamin franklin, from 1948 to 1963. >> a baggie full of coins, that's randy lawrence's strange inheritance from his father, who worked at the denver mint. when he brings it to this la jolla, california, coin shop, owner michael mcconnell tells him the fistful of change is worth a couple of grand. after randy takes the deal, michael determines one of the coins, a 1974 penny, is made of aluminum. that suggests it's from a run of coins never put into circulation. if so, it's one of those finds collectors dream about. michael knows he owes randy, just for starters, a phone call. >> people come to us because we're the experts. and so if we give somebody bad advice on something like that, we, of course, have to go back to 'em and tell 'em that's not right, that's not what i originally thought the coin was. >> and he wanted to set up a meeting with me. so i went down to his coin shop. >> what's michael offering you? >> well, technically, he was the owner of this coin. so we worked out a 60-40 split. i took back 60 percent ownership. he gave me back 60 percent value of the coin. >> interesting. so michael buys the coin and owns it outright in your mind. >> mm-hmm. >> but when he learns that it's more valuable, he's willing to bring you back in as a partner? >> he felt that was the right thing to do. >> what were randy's options when you told him the news? what could he have said? >> he could have said anything. >> could he say, "give me my coin back?" >> absolutely. >> so for $300, he could have bought this coin back from you? >> sure. >> what did he say? >> after we talked about it, and we talked about the options, he said, "let's partner up and go forward." >> how do you decide what's fair? >> well, it's kinda tough in this kinda situation. but this was a coin that had been in randy's family for a long time. this was a family heirloom. and i was certainly happy to give that split. >> i'll say, for it turns out that randy's rare penny has one more strange characteristic that will set the coin world abuzz -- that little d. >> so this one has a d mint, signifying it was made in denver. >> that's where randy's dad worked. >> and that is why this coin was so unique. >> because as far as anyone knows, the 1.5 million aluminum coins minted, then recalled in 1974, all came from philadelphia, not denver. that could lift its value into the stratosphere. did michael give you a sense of what it could be worth? >> anywhere from a low end of 250,000 up to 2 million. >> one coin, potentially worth $2 million? >> one penny. >> as co-owners of the coin, randy and michael decide to put it up for auction, beginning with a sneak peak at a coin expo in long beach, california. >> it was phenomenal. >> a rare coin that's spent years lost in a drawer could bring in millions of dollars at auction. >> we were on every television station. >> and realized it might be something a little more special. >> i was getting phone calls from across the country, as well as seeing articles across the world -- russia, china... >> is the price going up at this point with all that interest? >> in my mind, it is. >> then out of the blue, the postman knocks. >> well, i got a very interesting letter from the government. >> a letter? do you have the letter? >> i do, right here. >> oh, this doesn't look good. what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com. the better question would be where do i not listen to it. while i'm eating my breakfast... on the edges of cliffs... on a ski lift... everywhere. ♪ download audible and start listening today. i need all the breaks as athat i can get.or, at liberty butchemel... cut. liberty mu... line? 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"dear mr. lawrence, it has come to the attention of the united states mint that you may be in the possession or control of an aluminum one-cent coin. it is our understanding that you may have obtained this item from your late father." boy, they know a lot! >> they sure do. >> "please contact me at your earliest opportunity so we may discuss arrangements for the timely return of the subject piece." they're coming after you. >> they are. >> recall that randy's father works at the denver mint for 20 years. upon retiring in 1980, he's apparently allowed to keep a bag full of error coins as part of his retirement gift. you were convinced, in your mind, that your dad received this coin legally and was entitled to keep it? >> absolutely, 100 percent. >> but now, 34 years later, the government claims otherwise. what are your options? >> well, our options was to immediately turn over the coin, or do what we did. and that was to file a lawsuit against the united states treasury to keep ownership of the coin. >> the other half of "we" is coin-shop owner michael mcconnell. why didn't you just turn it over to the mint? >> i didn't think it belonged to them. and there certainly wasn't evidence that said it belonged to them. >> the same circumstances have existed so many times in the past, and so there are precedents. >> and rare-coin expert paul montgomery believes those precedents favor randy. exhibit a -- the super-rare 1913 liberty head nickels, which montgomery wrote a book about. his research indicates they likely were struck by a rogue mint worker, just as the government's claiming in randy's case. >> each one of these coins had been owned and purchased. and millions of dollars had traded hands. and yet the government has never gone after those. why this one? >> in their lawsuit, randy and michael cite other rare coins with similar histories that collectors buy, sell, and own freely. the government's response -- "so what?" then it ups the ante by putting on the public record serious allegations against harry. >> accusations of my father not being of the highest standard. >> for example? >> well, that he could have been the one who made the coin, or my father should have known better than to accept it and keep it. >> what was the government's beef against harold lawrence? >> well, they suspected that mr. lawrence had a nefarious scheme to produce coins that weren't supposed to be produced. >> bottom line -- the government is strongly suggesting that randy's dad is a crook. did that make you mad? >> very, very angry, yeah. >> two stories, two sides of the coin. and before the case goes to trial, the government deposes the man who headed the aluminum cent project back in the 1970s, former mint director alan goldman. to randy's great relief, goldman's testimony exonerates his father. under oath, the former mint director states, "i knew harry lawrence very well, and he was a straight shooter. he would not have engineered this." >> when i read that, i knew that my father's name was cleared. >> but that's all the good news because goldman also bolsters the government's claim that the penny was struck improperly. >> he believed that it was actually made as a practical joke by one of the mint employees. and as far as how it came to my father, again, probably as a memento when he retired. >> with no star witnesses of their own, it's going to be hard for randy and michael to convince a jury the coin rightfully belonged to harry. they drop their lawsuit. you're willing to walk away from $2 million? >> apparently so. i did. >> it seems like you caved. >> at the end of the day, because there aren't enough people left to be able to tell the whole story as to how it really came to be, i felt like it was kind of a case that we weren't ever going to be able to win. >> the man from la jolla is forced to return a rare and valuable coin to the us government. >> the us mint declined our request for an interview about randy's aluminum penny. is the government becoming more strict in that regard? >> this is first i've seen anything like this. i see the government getting very active in lots of things. but confiscating collectible rare coins has never been one of them. >> this has never happened, either. after receiving randy's strange inheritance, the mint puts it on display at a coin show near los angeles. collectors press their face against the glass to get a good look-see. >> this is the first time that this coin's ever been displayed like this. and while the lawrence family may not even know this, they've already become a tremendous piece of the history and numismatic lore. >> so randy lawrence did not cash in his legendary aluminum penny for millions. but he did get a consolation prize of sorts. in coin-collecting circles, he and his father are now legends themselves, with the lawrence name forever attached to the one-of-a-kind 1974 d aluminum one-cent piece. your dad's reputation is restored. >> perfect, yes. >> the coin is gone. >> yes. >> and you didn't make a buck. >> didn't make a penny. [ laughs ] i say the government's taken my last penny. >> remember how a handful of aluminum pennies were handed out to lawmakers back in 1974? legend has it that, one day, a congressman dropped his while rushing to vote on a bill. a capitol police officer tried to return it. the congressman, thinking it was just a dime, told the officer, "keep it." it's believed that officer's family may still have that super-rare penny. but the mint is now on record saying it would like it back, just like it wanted randy's. i guess you could say the mint's really pinching pennies these days. i'm jamie colby. thanks for watching "strange inheritance." and remember -- you can't take it with you. >> his dream? big as a t-rex. >> when everybody else told him he was crazy, he just said, "no, i'm gonna build dinosaurs." >> his creation? a land before time. >> he was almost an engineer when it came to dinosaurs. >> can it survive without him? >> a lot of attractions that were the vision of a single person, all of a sudden they're gone, demolished. >> depends on his daughter... >> when you have an absolute passion, you think that other people feel the same way you do. >> his granddaughter... >> are you living on the edge, kiki, to make this all happen? >> a little bit. >> and his great-granddaughter. >> has your mom ever said, "we need to talk about the future of the park"? >> never. [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] >> i'm jamie colby, and today i'm in southwest oregon, on the breathtaking pacific coast highway. if you've ever made this drive, you may have visited this strange inheritance and even met the heir trying to save it from extinction. >> my name is kiki mcgrath. my grandfather was really into dinosaurs. i inherited his version of jurassic park from a bygone era. >> hi. i'm jamie. >> hi, jamie. i'm kiki. >> great to meet you, kiki, and i like your friend. it was pretty clear i was in the right place. >> this is my grandfather's creation. let's go take a look. >> that "creation" is prehistoric gardens, which sits in a lush stretch of old-growth forest, with ocean mist filtering sunlight through its towering trees. i would camp out here, and i don't camp. but be careful! giant monsters lurk. triceratops, wow. the grounds are teeming with dinosaurs. feast your eyes on 'em. there's the plate-covered stegosaurus... a towering t-rex... a soaring pteranodon and many more. each imposing creature a life-size replica of an ancient past, including this 46-foot-high, 86-foot-long brachiosaurus. >> four years from start to finish... >> amazing! >> ...to build this one. >> i just really can't believe the scale. the story of these creatures begins in 1907, in gordonsville, minnesota, where ernie nelson is born. young ernie can't stop drawing on his sketch pad, especially the prehistoric creatures he sees in national geographic. definitely a creative character, according to his daughter bennii. was he always an artist? >> he always drew. he came out of the womb carrying a pen. >> a few decades later, in the 1930s, ernie gets married and has two kids. he settles down on the west coast and opts for a stable career path. >> he owned a gravel company when he was very young, and he was a public accountant in eugene, oregon. >> an accountant ever on the lookout for a more creative living. his dream job? a cartoonist at walt disney studios. he gets the offer, then talks himself out of taking it. >> he had two children, and it was during the depression, so he decided he just couldn't pick up and leave. >> so, ernie keeps counting beans for another two decades, knowing deep inside he's missing his true calling. then, when ernie's 47 years old, he makes an announcement during christmas dinner that stuns his family. >> he goes out to the car, and he gets this cement dinosaur. it was a tyrannosaurus rex, and he brings it in, and he sets it down, and then he said, "this is what i'm going to do." we thought, "what?" he said, "i'm going to build dinosaurs." >> did you all think maybe he had had too much to drink? >> no one said a word. they felt that he had gone off the deep end. >> "no, really," ernie explains. he intends to open a roadside attraction filled with dinosaurs! he reveals he's been fascinated by the creatures his entire life. >> i said to mom, "why would he do something like that?" she said, "i'll go any place he wants to go." >> was that true love? >> yeah, that was true love. >> and it turns out his timing couldn't be better. >> ernie knew what he was doing when he started his attraction in the early 1950s. >> doug kirby is the author of two books on roadside attractions. >> the golden age was after world war ii. gi's came home. they had families. they were starting to have money to buy better cars and take summer vacations. the u.s. highway system was built out across the whole country. attractions could find an audience. then all of these things started to crop up. >> these entertaining, and sometimes bizarre, roadside attractions become an american phenomenon. ernie the accountant figures a dinosaur park is a sure thing. what made your dad think that this was gonna be a winner? >> when you have an absolute passion for something, you think that other people feel the same way you do. >> before he can bring forth his creation, ernie must find his eden. he comes across 70 acres of lush forest in southern oregon, right off the famed 101, pacific coast highway. it's listed for 17 grand. did he have the money to buy that property? were you rich? >> no, no, ultra-poor. they had practically no money when they came down here. >> but ernie works his accounting magic, selling his home and business. and presto! he has the cash. now he's ready to flesh out some dinosaurs. he researches the creatures exhaustively, drawing up sketches and blueprints. i mean, he was almost an engineer when it came to dinosaurs. >> yes, the steel frame went on and then, after that they put metal lath, and they molded it, and then on top of that they put cement. >> then comes the fine artistry. ernie adds details and hand-paints precise features -- eyes, scales, teeth. look at the skin texture even. >> yes. >> but ernie does take some artistic license, adding splashes of bright paint and vibrant patterns. >> grandpa didn't know the exact color scheme, but he said it was the man behind the paintbrush that chose the colors. >> and "the man behind the paintbrush" chooses colors that draw customers. >> part of the formula with the roadside attraction is people want to be able to take pictures that they can share when they get home. ernie had an eye for what would make a great photo. painting things in bright, garish colors was a way to make those dinosaurs pop out. >> after a year of construction, ernie's ready to open his prehistoric gardens. so, what was the reaction initially? >> they loved it. >> and not just the tourists. do you have some recollections as a kid of playing in that park? >> oh, my gosh, do i? like, i just got chills, yeah. >> ernie's great-granddaughter tells us why. that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question... the film "jurassic park" made an infamous villain out of the velociraptor. how big was the dinosaur in real life? the size of a... the answer after the break. fun fact: 1 in 4 of us millennials have debt we might die with. and most of that debt is actually from credit cards. it's just not right. but with sofi, you can get your credit cards right by consolidating your credit card debt into one monthly payment. including your interest rate right by locking in a fixed low rate today. and you can get your money right with sofi. check your rate in two minutes or less. get a no-fee personal loan up to $100k. get a no-fee personal loan i am not for ignoring the first sign of a cold. i am for shortening my cold, with zicam! zicam is completely different. unlike most other cold medicines, zicam is clinically proven to shorten colds. i am a zifan for zicam! oral or nasal. >> so, how big were velociraptors in real life? the speedy dinosaurs were only the size of a turkey. >> it's 1955. accountant ernie nelson has quit his office job, uprooted his family, and depleted his life savings to create a roadside dinosaur attraction in southwest oregon, along the pacific coast highway. that's a big jump from being an accountant. >> he just had a real drive. he wanted to create something and share it with everybody. >> on new year's day, ernie's "prehistoric gardens" is finally ready. signs point the way from the highway. admission's 50 cents for adults, a quarter for kids. to the family's relief, tourists flock to it, just as ernie predicted. so, what was the reaction initially? >> they loved it. we would walk with them through the gardens. we would point and tell them what the name of the dinosaur was. >> the family enlists every visitor to spread the word. >> we used to put on bumper stickers. it said prehistoric gardens on it. it showed a picture of a tyrannosaurus rex. >> bennii spends almost all her time at the gardens during the park's first few years. and her daughter, kiki, born in 1957, does, too. in fact, when bennii divorces in 1959, she moves away, leaving kiki to be raised by her grandparents in the family home, right on the property. kiki watches her grandfather expand his shangri-la year after year. >> i remember rvs and trailers parked everywhere. >> was it magical to watch him create this? >> magical, yes. he would get, like, a just big, you know, grin on his face when he would see kids coming in, and they'd be squealing with the parents. i think it was really important for him to see people be happy. >> after high school, kiki ventures beyond the dino park but within a year returns. what brought you back? >> i really like being around my grandparents, and i didn't want to do anything different. >> it was a life kiki would also want for her daughter, rain, who's born in 1982 and spends her childhood playing amongst the massive dinosaurs. do you have some recollections as a kid of playing in that park? >> oh, my gosh, do i? like, i just got chills, yeah. my whole childhood was that park. my friends and i, we'd kind of climb up the stegosaurus or we'd climb up the elasmosaurus and slide down his back. we would even hide in the bushes sometimes and make noises and stuff when the guests came by. [ laughs ] >> but the world has changed in the four decades since the 47-year-old accountant chucked everything to open his prehistoric gardens. the "jurassic park" generation doesn't see these guys so much as prehistoric creatures but corny 1950's kitsch. fewer visitors turn in to the aging park that's increasingly difficult for its octogenarian founder to maintain. >> the '80s and the '90s were really, really tough, and my great-grandmother had a stroke. so, that set the family back. there was some tough times, definitely. >> did dad ever consider selling or closing? >> oh, no, oh, no, unh-unh. that was his baby. he loved the prehistoric gardens. >> loved them till the day he dies, in 1999, a dinosaur himself at age 91. his funeral is held right in the park near his favorite creature -- that 46-foot-high brachiosaurus. >> and it rained, and it hailed, and it snowed, and there was sunshine. it was very, very magical, very magical. >> a few months later, ernie's wife, kari, passes away. the will does not say who should inherit the business. did your grandfather sit down at some point and say, "here's what i want to happen with the park"? >> no, i think he was hoping that someone would carry it on, but i don't think he thought about who was going to do it. >> ernie's daughter, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter now must choose. keep his dream alive or cash out? it's near the coast, if not right on it. you know what that property is worth. >> mm-hmm. mm-hmm. >> did you ever think about selling or closing the park? that's next. >> here's another quiz question for you. the answer when we return. my money should work as hard as i do. that's why i use my freedom unlimited card every time i get gas. give me a little slack! with freedom unlimited, you're always earning. i said i need some slack on pump three! the better question would be where do i not listen to it. while i'm eating my breakfast... on the edges of cliffs... on a ski lift... everywhere. ♪ download audible and start listening today. or here on a wifi hotspot. lte xfinity mobile has more coverage to keep you connected to what matters most. that's because it's the only wireless network that automatically connects you to millions of secure wifi hotspots and the best lte everywhere else. save up to $400 a year when you switch. plus, save even more with $100 off galaxy a50. click, call or visit a store today. >> the snorkasaurus is the family pet of fred and wilma flintstone. >> in 1999, ernie nelson leaves behind 70 acres of oregon coastland, evenly dividing the property among his two children and granddaughter, kiki. the inheritance includes his prehistoric gardens, a roadside attraction, featuring 23 life-size dinosaur replicas that ernie created himself. >> he loved dinosaurs. like, he absolutely loved them. when everybody else told him he was crazy, he just said, "no, i'm gonna build dinosaurs." to think of how much strength and tenacity he had. >> but now that he's gone, the fate of the 44-year-old dino park is unclear. ernie's daughter bennii, now in her mid-60s, has no interest in taking over the reins. >> i don't have a sense of business. i don't have the drive. >> so, she and her brother opt to put the dino park, family home, and surrounding forest up for sale. originally purchased for $17,000, it could be a dino-mite windfall. bennii's daughter, kiki, agrees initially, then has second thoughts. >> i didn't want the gardens to go with the whole lump sum because i didn't want it to go to someone that didn't have the passion. >> that's because prehistoric gardens isn't just a park to kiki. it's the only home she's really known, and she's never wanted to leave. you love it that much? >> i kind of feel a little bit of my grandfather in me. he had to be there every day, and i feel that. >> you couldn't live without that. >> no, i don't think so. >> so, the three heirs carve out 44 acres of ernie's land along the ocean. bennii and her brother get that. it's valued in the millions. the remaining 26 acres, including all the dinosaurs and the roadside-attraction business, go to kiki, now a single mom in her early 40s, and raising her teenage daughter, rain. did people say, "what, are you nuts"? >> yeah, they thought she was crazy, you know, like she's sitting on a gold mine, and she's keeping it. >> running the dino park proves more difficult than either mother or daughter imagines. >> i resented the gardens when i was younger, just because it took my mom away from me all the time. >> fifteen years later, the job's no easier. >> she works there every single day -- 12-, 14-hour days. she's the janitor. she is the ticket taker. she has to clean the dinosaurs. she does it all. >> planning any vacations? >> not right now. >> ever consider a sick day? >> not really, no. >> nowadays, about 200 guests visit the park daily during peak tourist season. at 12 bucks for an adult and 8 for a kid, the park brings in around $150,000 a year. but there's not much money left over after taxes, landscaping, and costly dinosaur repairs. he looks like he may have had an injury. >> pteranodon did have an injury. a tree came down on his cute, little wing and broke it. so, it was just dangling for quite some time, but, as you can see, it needs a little bit more work again. >> are you living on the edge, kiki, to make this all happen? >> a little bit. it's kind of a one day at a time. >> she's constantly putting the park before herself. sometimes she had to put it before her family. >> do you get it? >> i get it, but i don't get it. i get it because it's her legacy, and it's what she knows. but it zaps her energy, and it takes away her life. >> a life, rain says, that could be so much easier for her mom. >> when things are tough, i've been, "well, mom, you know, you could sell it and retire and live on the beach," but i don't think she'll sell it. >> so, you're never gonna let it go? >> no. >> and yet, with all her determination to continue her grandfather's legacy, has kiki made any plans for the dino park to outlast her? has your mom ever sat you down and said, "we need to talk about the future of the park"? >> never. it's a running theme in our family that nobody talks about it. >> doug kirby has seen this scenario many times before. >> a lot of attractions that were the vision of a single person -- you can feel their enthusiasm around everything. by the third generation, it's tough to say whether that's gonna be a generation that's gonna carry it on. i've seen great parks that, all of a sudden they're gone, demolished. >> kiki's best hope for a successor is her daughter, rain. oh, and did we mention that she got married and ran off to europe? do you think there's more than a 50% chance they'll step up, like you did? >> probably 75. >> not 100. >> not 100. >> could you ever see, rain, going back to oregon? what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail, or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com. apps are used everywhere... except work. why is that? is it because people love filling out forms? maybe they like checking with their supervisor to see how much vacation time they have. or sending corporate their expense reports. i'll let you in on a little secret. they don't. by empowering employees to manage their own tasks, paycom frees you to focus on the business of business. to learn more, visit paycom.com >> now back to "strange inheritance." >> kiki mcgrath inherited prehistoric gardens, a dinosaur park which her grandfather, ernie nelson, first opened in 1955. she's dedicated her life to keeping the roadside attraction in the family and in business. what about when you can't do it anymore? >> well, hopefully someone in my family will want to continue on. >> that puts the pressure on kiki's 34-year-old daughter, rain. she's married and living 5,000 miles away, in london. >> i'm really happy right now. this is where i want to be, and it would take a lot to go back and work at the gardens. >> but in the back of your mind, could you ever see, rain, going back to oregon with your husband? >> not full-time. it's a part of me, but i don't want to be defined by it. >> that may not be so easy for rain. >> so, there's just a lot of guilt that i feel, being this far away from home and, you know, not being there to help her. but -- sorry, guys. >> meantime, back in southern oregon, prehistoric gardens still has the power to delight travelers who pull over, stretch their legs, and check out ernie nelson's dinosaurs, not yet extinct. >> i've heard of this place since i was a kid. this place is kind of legendary. >> i think it's a must-see because a couple people just built this by themselves. it's just a great thing to see. >> don't you ever come out here and say, "i can't do this anymore"? >> mm-hmm. yeah, i do think that, but when i come out to the registry room and look at these different remarks that people have made, it brings back a feeling of resurgence. >> oh, my goodness -- "haven't been here in fifty years"? >> mm-hmm. >> a boyhood fascination never outgrown compels a frustrated accountant to build a dinosaur playground. the future of the prehistoric gardens may be uncertain, but for now, this strange inheritance remains a testament to the will of bennii's father, kiki's grandfather, and rain's great-grandfather to seize his dream and share it with the world. >> it's more than just a park now, because it's so ingrained in the history of the place. it's not just our park. it's everybody's now. >> a lot of people tell me that, that go through the gardens. they tell me it's magical. i hear that all the time. there's a magical something out there. >> but whatever happened to the other part of ernie's land that kiki did not inherit, here along the pacific coast highway? her mother and uncle sold it for 1.6 million bucks and split the profits. the new owners have kept the land undeveloped and say they plan to one day either donate it to the state of oregon or place it in a trust in order to protect its magnificent rain forest forever. i'm jamie colby. thanks so much for watching "strange inheritance." and remember -- you can't take it with you. special live coverage following the president's state of the union. maria's wall street is next. ♪ ♪. maria: happy super bowl weekend everybody. welcome to our program i'm burnt maria coming up in just a few moments my sitdown interview with goldman sachs and david solomon on business in 2020. and then my amateur view with growth in the global market, allocating capital today. first let's talk earnings. apple's record-breaking quarter relisted its highest revenue ever is $8 billion as last week boosted
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