who has an inheritance so strange, it takes years just to figure out what it is. >> my name is mike meister. my siblings and i inherited something that goes back to our great-uncle more than a hundred years ago. we'd always been told that it came from the white house, but it was just a family story. hi, jamie. welcome to boston. >> thanks, mike. nice to meet you. >> yeah, nice to meet you, too. >> mike leads me inside, saying he has something amazing to show me. he keeps it in its own molded, air-tight protective case. can i take a look? >> sure can. >> you brought me all the way here, mike. this is... what is it? mike's strange inheritance is this piece of decorative pinewood. 30 inches long, 14 inches across, four inches thick. on the back is a faint signature and a date -- j.s. williamson, october 15, 1902. >> there's a real story behind it. family legend is that it's from the white house. >> could that be? the white house does have a colorful past. it's nearly completed at the end of john adams' presidency. he moves in in november 1800, but stays only a few months. thomas jefferson spends two terms there before handing the keys to james madison. then british troops set it ablaze in the war of 1812. [ indistinct shouting ] first lady dolley madison orders the staff to remove this beloved portrait of george washington by gilbert stuart. but according to william seale, author of two books on the white house, the building's interior is destroyed. >> they burned the second floor with rubble, and then they broke up all the furniture and poured lamp oil on it. and the attic fell in, and then it burned through the main floor and the whole thing, in about two hours, was just a shell. >> after the war, the original architect, james hoban, rebuilds it exactly as it had been -- in what will become known as the federal style. >> president madison decreed that it be rebuilt as a symbol of survival. >> by 1817, the renovation is almost complete and our fifth president, james monroe, moves in. a dozen years later, the seventh, andrew jackson, lets a drunken mob trash the place during his inaugural ball. maybe this poor piece of wood was part of the collateral damage. who knows? over the years, presidents come and presidents go, redecorating, repainting, and renovating to suit their individual tastes. then, in 1902, theodore roosevelt begins the first wholesale restoration of the mansion that he officially names "the white house." it's time to pick up the thread of this strange inheritance story. according to mike meister, in 1902, his great-uncle, joseph williamson jr., is a law student at georgetown university in d.c. one day, he strolls down pennsylvania avenue, spots the piece of wood in a junk pile, and thinks, "it's pretty neat." >> joseph jr. picked it up. >> like a yard sale? did they buy it? >> no, it was scrap. i mean, it was things that were gonna be eventually hauled off to landfills, burned, whatever. >> he brings it home to illinois from law school and gives it to his father as a memento. his dad inscribes his name and writes the date on the back. the piece is handed down in the family to mike's dad, wayne meister, in the 1930s. where was it kept? >> it was in the basement of our house out in illinois -- a farm that my parents bought after world war ii. and it was hanging on a wall. i can remember being a little kid and asking my father what it was. and he would say, "that's a piece of the white house." >> did you believe him? you're a farm kid in illinois, and your parents have a piece of a white house? >> when he said something, it meant he wasn't making things up. >> pretty cool, though it's just one conversation piece in a house that wayne and his wife, ann, pack with all sorts of gewgaws, knickknacks, and odd antiques. >> one of their hobbies was going to auctions and tag sales and finding things of value, and then, if they needed refinishing, they would refinish them. >> did they ever consider taking sandpaper or a paintbrush to that mysterious hunk of wood in the cellar? mike shudders to think. >> what if she decided, "this ugly old thing, i'm gonna strip the paint"? but she certainly never did. >> are you kidding? that could have happened? >> well, it didn't. >> in 1964, the meisters -- and a moving van full of antiques -- relocate to massachusetts. it's there, during christmastime in 1988, that mike, all grown up, announces he's getting married. >> we had a family dinner to meet the in-laws. and my brother-in-law, larry forrest, was there. >> that night, mike brings larry into the attic. >> i said to larry, "i want to show you something," and i took him upstairs, and i showed him. it was in a moving box from 1964. >> they didn't even unpack it. >> no, no. >> mike pulled out a piece out of the box, and he said, "it's from the white house." and i go, "talking about d.c. white house?" he goes, "yeah." i was just stunned. if you asked somebody what's the most important building in our history, they're gonna say the white house. and here it was, sitting right next to me. >> did mike ask you to learn more about it for him? >> the more we got talking about it, we said, "let's find out where this came from." >> but it's just talk, and it will be for years. mike's dad dies in 1996, and his mom in 2001. only then do the meister kids begin to deal with any of the old stuff their parents accumulated. did your parents leave a will? >> we had a trust. >> did they specify? >> not in that particular case, no. to clean the house out, to send things to auction, and sell it, it was probably a good three months. but we kept a lot of the things, too, that meant something to each one of us. >> one of the things they keep is that distressed hunk of wood. >> there was no way we were gonna sell that, because we didn't even know what it was. >> what you think it was? >> an architectural element from the white house. but we had no idea what. >> it's not until 2007 that brother-in-law larry forrest convinces the meister family they need to get some answers. and he takes on the role of lead investigator. his first line of inquiry -- the white house itself. >> i spoke to a gentleman, and i told him about what the family had. and after the laughter and telling me that that wasn't possible, i said, "we're pretty sure, it's written on the back," and so forth. and he goes, "it's probably from some other old building or whatever." >> but larry persists. his letters, his calls turn up nothing. then after two solid years, his search leads him to historian and author bill seale. >> i said, "can i just send you pictures?" so when he received them, he called me back and he goes, "i swear i've seen it." >> was it a eureka moment? that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question. the current oval office was not built until 1934, when f.d.r. was president. the answer when we return. ♪ ♪ he has a sharp wit. a winning smile. and no chance of getting an athletic scholarship. and that is why you invest. the best returns aren't just measured in dollars. >> the answer is "b," a laundry drying area. but if you said "c," you might know that the first formal executive office was created by f.d.r.'s fifth cousin, theodore roosevelt, and today is known as the roosevelt conference room. >> for years, mike meister was told his father had a family heirloom like no other -- a decorative piece of wood with peeling paint, reputed in family lore to be from the white house. the problem -- nobody knows how to find out if the story is true. it's become an irresistible mystery to mike and his brother-in-law, larry forrest, who are determined to solve it. larry's inquiries are all met by laughter and blank stares, until he calls author and historian bill seale. >> he was skeptical that it could be the actual white house. so i said, "can i just send you pictures?" >> what was your initial reaction? >> well, i thought it looked suspicious. [ laughs ] and so, i didn't tell them much until i researched it. >> did you say, "ah, just leave it in the attic another 50 years. it'll be fine"? >> no. no, i was too curious for that. >> in fact, the meisters' photos have bill scratching his head. >> he called me back, and he goes, "i swear i've seen it." >> bill is remembering a particular photo from 1898, during the mckinley administration, that he used in one of his books about the white house. the photo shows a hallway called the cross hall. >> this is the cross hall. it's used a lot now. started by president george w. bush. >> there it is. >> and this is that march to the east room. in those days, you had a grand staircase here. >> and then, suddenly, bill spots it -- off in the corner, between a chair and a potted plant. right there -- see it? look familiar? sure looks like mike's strange inheritance. and there it is, in the white house, in 1898, when william mckinley is president. >> and there is the plinth. it's the only one it could be because it's for that side. >> i'd never heard of a plinth. what is a plinth? >> it's a base of a column that runs up the wall. >> how many were there? >> well, there were four. they were in niches in the hall where originally built for stoves. >> do we know where the other three are? >> no, nobody does. >> never been seen. so now i'm wondering, how does the plinth get from that cozy corner in the white house to the meister's attic? well, in september 1901, president mckinley is in buffalo, new york, at the pan-american exposition. he's shaking hands with the public, when an anarchist named leon czolgosz assassinates him. suddenly, vice president teddy roosevelt is sworn in. among his many big ambitions is a gut rehab of the executive mansion. >> 1902 was a major reshaping of the symbol of the white house into a more worldly time. america became more international, and the white house was redone to be compatible with that. >> t.r.'s goal is to return it to its original federalist incarnation, while clearing it out to accommodate a brood of six children and a pony. it also means separating the living quarters from our nation's most important executive offices. >> he moved the offices out of the family floor and built the west wing. he reorganized the place so it wasn't just an old plantation house. >> to that end, roosevelt's architects rearrange the entrance, removing this stairway and these victorian tiffany panels from the cross hall -- as well as all that old ornamental woodwork, like the plinths. the workers pile loads of rubbish outside, and souvenir hunters snatch it up. >> there is one letter from theodore roosevelt, and he said, "people are scattering around for souvenirs." >> so bill seale is beginning to believe that the meister family lore about great-uncle joseph must be true. and that this hunk of wood really is a relic of the white house, going all the way back to 1817, when president monroe moved in after that nasty business with the british. were you interested in it? >> very. i was stricken by it, to tell you the truth. >> so, something that looks like wood or plaster is actually a whole story, in and of itself? >> it's like dna. and the object has many, many things to say. >> and the next step is very much like a dna test. what they discover was that this strange inheritance was a lot more important and valuable an artifact than even bill seale had imagined. you're smiling. that's next. >> here's another quiz question for you. which amenity was added during the obama administration? was it the white house... the answer when we return. when you think about success, what does it look like? is it becoming a better professor by being a more adventurous student? is it one day giving your daughter the opportunity she deserves? is it finally witnessing all the artistic wonders of the natural world? whatever your definition of success is, helping you pursue it, is ours. t-i-a-a. i don't want to live with the uncertainties of hep c. or wonder whether i should seek treatment. i am ready. because today there's harvoni. a revolutionary treatment for the most common type of chronic hepatitis c. harvoni is proven to cure up to 99% of patients who've had no prior treatment. it's the one and only cure that's one pill, once a day for 12 weeks. certain patients... can be cured with just 8 weeks of harvoni. with harvoni, there's no interferon and there are no complex regimens. tell your doctor if you have other liver or kidney problems, hiv, or other medical conditions, and about all the medicines you take including herbal supplements. taking amiodarone with harvoni may cause a serious slowing of your heart rate. common side effects of harvoni may include tiredness, headache and weakness. i am ready to put hep c behind me. i am ready to be cured. are you ready? ask your hep c specialist if harvoni is right for you. weinto a new american century. born with a hunger to fly and a passion to build something better. and what an amazing time it's been, decade after decade of innovation, inspiration and wonder. so, we say thank you america for a century of trust, for the privilege of flying higher and higher, together. ♪ [ bird caws ] >> it's "c." the white house tennis court was converted to a basketball court for the former high-school hoops player. >> it's november of 2009, and historian bill seale, based on this photograph, believes that mike meister likely inherited a rare and very important relic -- an actual piece of the white house. it's an ornamental piece of wood called a plinth that may have been removed during teddy roosevelt's 1902 renovation. in order to verify its authenticity, seale advises the family to have the paint analyzed. so mike and his brother-in-law, larry forrest, drive from boston to bryn mawr, pennsylvania, to meet with this guy, historic paint analyst frank welsh. >> he said, "you guys go out for a little while, i'm gonna do analysis on it, and see what i think." >> frank studies the paint layers with a magnifying glass, and then a stereo microscope, as he scrapes away each layer with an x-acto knife. >> then i start recording, starting with the layer closest to the wood numbering layers -- one, two, three, four -- all the way up to the most recent. >> well, we got a call in about half-hour, and he goes, "this is spot-on." there's 17 layers of paint on this, there's three layers of gold leaf on it. he said, "there's absolutely, 100%, exactly what it should be for that time period." >> everything seemed to line up very, very well. i felt very comfortable that the paints that i was looking at could easily be as old as they felt the plinth was. it is very unique. >> as t.r. would say, "that's bully!" in identifying those 17 layers of paint, frank may be the first person to open the door to a previously unknown decorative history of the white house. author bill seale matches each paint layer with a chapter in presidential history. >> if you want accuracy in history, here's the real thing. this is our only touch with those periods. >> bill does the math. there were 21 administrations between presidents james madison and teddy roosevelt. but three of them -- harrison, taylor, and garfield -- were exceptionally short due to death from illness or assassination. if the hallway isn't repainted during those presidencies, and maybe one president lacks the inclination to repaint, you've got your 17 layers right there. after generations of repeating their family legend, the meisters now know they spoke the truth all along. you went from rejection to respect. how'd that feel? >> we had solved a mystery. >> bill seale encourages them to donate the plinth on the spot to the white house historical association. they say they're inclined to, but first they need to find out what it's worth. did you have a number in mind that you thought it would be? >> no. >> what about you, larry? you did all the running around. >> you could shoot real high on this one, just from the fact of how much historical value it has. >> and when the meisters get the appraisal, they'll have some thinking to do. that's next. what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website -- strangeinheritance.com. >> now back to "strange inheritance." >> by the fall of 2014 in boston, mike meister, and his brother-in-law, larry forrest, have determined that a piece of wood called a plinth, handed down through several generations in the meister family, really is from the white house, and very rare indeed. but is it valuable? they take it to an appraiser. you're smiling. >> well, he appraised it at $500,000. >> the appraiser was an old-time white house appraiser. i was very surprised -- that was more than i expected it would be. >> who would buy such a thing? >> someone with the money to buy it, or someone that wants to buy it and give it to a museum or presidential library. >> historian bill seale is hoping the meister family will cut out the middleman, donate the plinth to the white house historical association themselves, and take a tax write-off. but that's a lot to ask of mike and his three siblings, who could be looking at walking away with $125,000 apiece. are you gonna sell? >> we're having it put up for auction. i think in the long run, and i'm hoping, that it'll be appreciated by many more people than might have been with the white house historical association. >> the meisters reach out to bobby livingston at rr auction in amherst, new hampshire. >> when i first laid eyes on the plinth, i was like, "wow! it's spectacular." as someone who handles a lot of historic items, when you see something like 17 layers of paint, it tells a story. >> he joins us live from new hampshire. >> next thing you know, the story is getting big media coverage, including on fox news. >> we've never, in 30 years, offered any pieces of the 1817 white house. because there's no, you know, photography from that era, it's incredibly important. we've had registrations from all over the world, so we expect the bidding to be quite lively. >> number 22 -- architectural ornament from the main hall of the white house. >> the meister family is on hand for the auction in boston in september 2015. >> $100,000, $100,000, $110,000. >> here we go. >> $120,000. looking for $120,000. >> the bidding starts to pick up a little momentum. >> $120,000, $130,000, $140,000. >> but then it just fizzles. >> $160,000 once, $160,000 twice. sold, $150,000. fantastic. >> it's nowhere near the half-million dollar appraisal, though a $150,000 is nothing to sneeze at. and mike reminds us that it wasn't only about the money but sharing a neat piece of america's past -- just like his ancestor, who wandered by the white house one day in 1902 and thought to snatch up a souvenir to send back home. is this the best case of being in the right place at the right time? >> i believe it is, i really do. i think from what we've learned of it and what hopefully other people can learn from it, i think it's a living piece of history. >> so, who bought mike meister's strange inheritance? well, we know this much -- a fox viewer. all bobby livingston would say is that one of those watching him on fox news before the auction was so intrigued, he phoned in and plunked down 150 grand. if you're watching now, enjoy your piece of history. and, remember -- you can't take it with you. i'm jamie colby. thanks for watching "strange inheritance." >> amid the terror of hitler's bombs... >> the airpower of the nazis was turned against britain. >> ...an unmistakable voice rallies the brits. >> i have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat. >> you think churchill saw his lisp as beneficial? >> what hitlerism is suffering in libya is only a sample and a foretaste of what we have got to give him and his accomplices. >> it was such an inspiring speech that it just worked magic on people. >> his dental tech worked magic, too. >> churchill said to my father, "you're not going anywhere. you're staying here with me." >> how did he earn a place in history? >> when you opened the box, what did you see? >> well, i saw some teeth staring at me. >> fighting tooth and nail, dentistry's finest hour. >> these are the teeth that won the second world war. >> any way to get a closer look? >> for you, yes. >> hello. i'm jamie colby. and, today, i'm in the back seat of one of those fabulous london taxis. after crossing the pond, i figured i'll leave the driving to somebody else. i'm here to meet an heir whose father played a big part in world history through his connection to great britain's indispensable leader in world war ii, the one-and-only winston churchill. and i have to warn you folks, they don't call this show "strange inheritance" for nothing. >> my name is nigel cudlipp. my father, derek, was a master dental technician here in london for over 50 years. he died in 2007 and left his most important work to me. >> hello. i'm jamie. >> nice to meet you, jamie. i'm nigel. welcome to london and welcome to limehouse. >> thank you. it's a beautiful spot. is this where you live? >> we do. we live on a yacht out there. please come this way. >> thank you. nigel's career is in finance, originally for posh resorts and hotels and now for a museum here in london. but i didn't climb aboardto talt that. when i was told that i was coming to london to see teeth, i thought it was crazy. do you think it's crazy? >> it might look that way to many people, but churchill was a very, very important man. >> the most important man on the planet, arguably, when, in the spring of 1940, as hitler's forces overrun europe, winston churchill becomes prime minister. and his words become his country's most powerful weapon. >> never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. >> and never in the field of human dentistry, nigel cudlipp believes, was so much owed by so many to one technician, his father. derek cudlipp is born in 1915 and raised in a modest home in south london. >> i don't think he got on terribly well at school, because he was a quiet, very, very shy man. >> his schoolmasters steer derek to apprentice as a technician making dentures. darn good career advice in the pre-fluoride days, when most britons lose at least some of their adult teeth and end up needing dentures. derek cudlipp discovers he really likes the exacting work, and he's a whiz at it. >> the nature of his personality was somebody who was a perfectionist, and i think, in dentistry, he found an outlet for that part of his personality. >> in 1936, derek is snapped up by a prominent dentist, in london's fashionable cavendish square, named wilfred fish. >> fish was at the top of the profession, dentistry to royalty and to many, many important people of the day. >> you think your dad aspired to have famous clients? >> no. definitely not. i think his pleasure came from the quality of the work that he produced. my father was a frustrated artist, to be honest with you, but he was absolutely passionate about what he did. >> one of dr. fish's dental patients is winston churchill. a backbencher in parliament, churchill issues dire warnings about the growing threat of adolf hitler and nazi germany. >> [ shouting in german ] [ crowd cheering ] >> now they are rearming with the utmost speed, and ready to their hands is this new lamentable weapon of the air. >> from the air, hitler's luftwaffe rains down terror on london in the fall of 1940. with the blitz as a backdrop, derek marries his bride, dorothy. >> they went on a honeymoon, they said, on a train with the bombs falling all around them. >> for 76 consecutive days, london is bombed day and night. in the middle of it all, derek cudlipp gets the assignment of a lifetime. >> churchill said to my father, "you're not going anywhere. you're staying here with me." >> that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question. the answer when we return. ♪ there's a lot of places you never want to see "$7.95." [ beep ] but you'll be glad to see it here. fidelity -- where smarter investors will always be. if only the signs were as obvious when you trade. fidelity's active trader pro can help you find smarter entry and exit points and can help protect your potential profits. fidelity -- where smarter investors will always be. type 2 diabetes doesn't care who you are. man. woman. or where you're from. city. country. we're just everyday people fighting high blood sugar. ♪ i am everyday people, yea, yea. ♪ farxiga may help in that fight every day. along with diet and exercise, farxiga helps lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. one pill a day helps lower your a1c. and, although it's not a weight-loss or blood-pressure drug, farxiga may help you lose weight and may even lower systolic blood pressure when used with metformin. do not take if allergic to farxiga or its ingredients. symptoms of a serious allergic reaction include rash, swelling, or difficulty breathing or swallowing. if you have any of these symptoms stop taking farxiga and seek medical help right away. do not take farxiga if you have severe kidney problems, are on dialysis, or have bladder cancer. tell your doctor right away if you have blood or red color in your urine or pain while you urinate. farxiga can cause serious side effects, including dehydration, genital yeast infections in women and men, serious urinary tract infections, low blood sugar and kidney problems. stop taking farxiga and call your doctor right away if you have signs of ketoacidosis, which can be serious or life threatening. farxiga. we are everyday people. ♪ i am everyday people, yea, yea. ♪ ask your doctor if farxiga is right for you and visit farxiga.com to learn how you can get it for free. >> it's "c." he called it "the black dog." churchill also had periods of manic high energy. some believe he was a manic-depressive. [ bombs whistling ] >> in 1940, as londoners struggle under a nazi onslaught from the sky, one familiar voice bolsters their resolve, that of prime minister winston churchill. >> you ask, what is our policy? i will say it is to wage war by sea, land, and air with all our might and with all the strength that god can give us. >> people were losing their sons, their fathers, and somehow, he managed to rally the country. >> we ask no favors of the enemy. >> he will become perhaps the most effective order ever to speak into a microphone. >> we will mete out, of the germans, the measure and more than the measure they have meted out to us. >> but churchill was not a natural-born public speaker. from childhood, he struggles with a lisp. >> he made every effort to master it. >> but phil reed, director of the churchill war room museum, says by the time he reaches 10 downing street, the prime minister has more than mastered his lisp. he's embracing it. >> what hitlerism is suffering in libya is only a sample and a foretaste of what we have got to give him and his accomplices wherever this war should lead us. >> do you think churchill saw his lisp as beneficial or a hindrance to his power? >> i think, in the war, he saw it as being something that characterized him and added a bit of humor to it. remember, this is a man who feigned not to be able to pronounce the word nazis. always referred to them as "nazzies." and it was his way of making fools of them. >> wounds have been inflicted upon the nazi tyranny and the system, which have bitten deep and will fester and inflame. >> how important were his words? >> they were immensely important, because churchill had to tell it like it was, which is, "it's gonna be tough. a lot of people are gonna be killed. but you got to stick with it." and that really did genuinely inspire people with a bit of backbone, basically. >> i have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat. >> he was such an inspiring speaker. the manner in which he delivered, it just worked magic on people. >> churchill is a virtuoso performer. like the pegs, bridge, and strings of a fine stradivarius, the components of his instrument -- his voice, breath, tongue, and teeth -- have to be just so. >> he roused people to the flag, if you like, with his voice and the way he delivered his lines. >> unfortunately, reports nigel cudlipp, the heir in this "strange inheritance" story, churchill treats his dentures not the way maestros treat their violins, but how british rock stars treat their guitars. >> churchill, when he was angry, would put his thumb under the teeth and flick them across the room. and my father always said that he could tell how well the war was going by how far they flew across the room. things were really bad when they hit the opposite wall. nigel's dad, derek, a mild-mannered 26-year-old dental tech, is churchill's denture repairman. >> my father would be quite anxious about the whole thing. churchill was not a man who was to be messed with. he was quite an impatient man. in the dentist's chair, he would have a cigar in one hand, a brandy in the other. >> and an odd demand well-suited to derek's skills -- make sure those false teeth keep churchill sounding like churchill. >> he is now but a lackey and a serf, the merest utensil of his master's will. [ cheers and applause ] >> do you know, technically, what your father did for winston churchill that was different than normal? >> my father invented, with sir wilfred fish, this distinctive plate that would retain his lisp and his natural speaking voice. >> nigel tells me that i can see what he's talking about at london's royal college of surgeons. hi, sam. i'm jamie colby. >> hi, jamie. >> sam alberti is the director. i guess when you donate yourself to science, you might end up in a place like this. sam brings me right to the winston churchill display. >> wilfred fish, the dentist, designed the teeth, but, of course, it was the technician who made them. and churchill was devoted to derek cudlipp. the star item is this little item here. >> "made for and worn by sir winston churchill." >> that's right. >> any way to get a closer look? >> for you, i'll take them out. >> you would? >> yes. he wanted to maintain churchill's very particular oratorial style. >> a lisp. >> precisely. in order to do this, he added clasps to the side. and these would just keep the dentures slightly proud of the palate and allow a flow of saliva around them. and this maintained that very famous lisp. >> you think any dental technician could have made those? >> no. these are extremely rare and very, very difficult to make. >> churchill makes clear he knows that when derek cudlipp breaks some personal news to the prime minister. >> he told churchill that his papers had come through to go into the army, and churchill literally just tore them to shreds in front of my father's face and said to my father, "you're not going anywhere. you're staying here with me." >> because of his dentures. >> because of his dentures, yes. >> you ask, what is our aim? i can answer in one word -- victory. >> this is churchill's office in which he delivered four of his speeches during the war. >> the secret bunker under the streets of westminster is now a museum. >> victory at all costs. victory in spite of all terror. victory however long and hard the road may be. >> the last of the bombing raids happen, and they left everything that you see. and so, for instance, this here is churchill's original chair, and you are going to sit in it. >> oh, my god. you can feel the unimaginable pressure on churchill. >> churchill was obviously pretty tense. if you just feel that notch at the end there -- that he made with the ring that he wore on that hand, and he belted it like that. [ bells tolling ] >> but his voice never cracks. >> this is your victory. >> may 8, 1945, "v-e day." >> victory of the cause of freedom in every land. [ crowd cheering ] >> when derek's wartime post with churchill ends, he keeps two spare sets of the prime minister's dentures. he goes on to open his own prosthetics service. >> he was probably recognized to be the best in the country. all his clients came to him, word of mouth. >> word of mouth? >> yeah, very much so. >> [ laughs ] >> yes, very much so. >> decades later, nigel's father donates one of his sets of churchill's dentures to the royal college of surgeons. >> it was something he was very proud of, but, of course, it was a quiet donation, which suited him. >> but nigel thinks his dad deserves a more prominent place in the history books. so when derek dies, in 2007, and nigel inherits the remaining set of churchill's dentures, he stows them in his cufflinks drawer. >> they're not something that you have on the mantelpiece. and i kept thinking to myself, "i must do something about these. they're just sitting there." >> was it about the money? >> it was more about recognition for my father. he was too shy during his life to mention them. >> coming up, nigel's plan to get his dad that recognition. how much interest were you able to generate in these? >> you know, the term is "gone viral," and it did. >> that's next. >> here's another quiz question for you. which american revolutionary war figure was also a practicing dentist? the answer in a moment. my school reunion's coming fast. could be bad. could be a blast. can't find a single thing to wear. will they be looking at my hair? won't be the same without you bro. ♪ when it's go, the new choice privileges gets you there faster. and now, stay two times and you can earn a free night. book now at choicehotels.com every day, america prints about half a billion dollars. wow! sadly, a whole bunch of those dollars are used to pay too much for car insurance. luckily, there's esurance. born online, raised by technology and majors in efficiency. which saves dollars. and when they save, you save. so you can tell some of your dollars, "good news, gang! we're going out for ice cream!" auto and home insurance for the modern world. esurance. backed by allstate. click or call. >> so, which american revolutionary war figure was also a practicing dentist? it's paul revere, who started out by apprenticing with a dentist who made dentures for none other than george washington. >> when british dentalies in 2007, he passes down to his son, nigel, his finest piece of work, a set of false teeth he made during world war ii for prime minister winston churchill. nigel puts the dentures in a drawer but never forgets them. he wants to figure out how to use them to honor his dad. >> i wanted to tell the people about my father, because he was too shy during his life to mention them. >> since his dad already donated one set to a british museum, nigel dreams up another plan. he figures he'll find someone to auction them off. he says he doesn't need the money. he just wants to get his father in the newspapers. >> i could never have sold them while he was alive, 'cause he wouldn't have liked the publicity. >> hello, andrew. i'm jamie. >> oh, hello. so very pleased to meet you. >> nigel thinks he's found the man to finally get him some -- appraiser andrew bullock of keys auctions in norfolk, england. i have a place over here. andrew's sold a lot of odd churchill items -- unsmoked cigars, playing cards, cigar boxes -- but never imagines he'd receive a commission like the one from nigel. when you opened the box, what did you see? >> well, i saw some teeth staring at me. >> andrew immediately knows he can get nigel exactly what he wants. how much interest were you able to generate in these? >> you know, the term is "gone viral," and it did. >> so it's global. >> it was worldwide, and it got to be sort of quite a joke that the next phone call was gonna be for andrew from timbuktu or somewhere. a lot of people actually found the whole episode a little bit macabre, where others were absolutely fascinated. when something of interest arrives for auction, it may not necessarily be of great value, but there's very often a wonderful story behind it. >> it's a wild story. >> it is. churchill had a lisp, and these partial dentures were specially designed to maintain that lisp. so it was, you know, of paramount importance. >> word got out. >> yep. i came across it in the himalayan times newspaper. and i thought, "probably now, we've done enough p.r." >> coming up, the bidding begins. >> and it just went rapidly, rapidly, rapidly up. >> who buys dentures? >> well, a very, very good question. >> and one we'll answer next. what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com. when you think about success, what does it look like? is it becoming a better professor by being a more adventurous student? is it one day giving your daughter the opportunity she deserves? is it finally witnessing all the artistic wonders of the natural world? whatever your definition of success is, helping you pursue it, is ours. t-i-a-a. [martha and mildred are good to. go. here's your invoice, ladies. a few stops later, and it looks like big ollie is on the mend. it might not seem that glamorous having an old pickup truck for an office... or filling your days looking down the south end of a heifer, but...i wouldn't have it any other way. look at that, i had my best month ever. and earned a shiny new office upgrade. i run on quickbooks. that's how i own it. >> now back to strange inheritance." >> if the british empire and its commonwealth last for 1,000 years, men will still say this was their finest hour. >> prime minister winston churchill's voice helped save europe. dental technician derek cudlipp helped save that voice. and when he leaves his son, nigel, the teeth that won world war ii, well, that's one strange inheritance. no surprise that, after nigel puts churchill's chompers up for auction, the story goes viral. in fact, that's the point. how do you think your father would have felt about so many people knowing about the dentures? >> i mean, he would have been secretly proud, but because he was so shy, he needed someone to speak for him, so i'm pleased to have done that. >> as history called derek cudlipp to fashion false teeth that preserved churchill's lisp, nigel calls andrew bullock to sell them. did you think they were immediately something that you would take to auction? >> oh, yes, yes. one felt sort of quite honored to be handling something to do with a great man. >> after andrew examines the dentures, he estimates their value at around £5,000, or $8,000. they were solid gold. >> yes. i did joke that i thought they would actually fetch more than the scrap price for gold. >> what did the bidding start at? >> i started it at £3,800. >> that's about $5,800. but it didn't stay there long. >> and it just went rapidly, rapidly, rapidly up, until the hammer fell at £15,200. >> or about 24,000 bucks. the buyer? george ridgeon, a retired english fireman willing to pay three times what andrew expected. were you smiling? >> we smiled. [ both laugh ] >> more smiles may come in this toothy tale, courtesy of nigel's 18-year-old daughter, lauren. >> i was going through a few pieces, and this was one of the books that i came across. >> in june of 2015, she discovers yet another set of gold dentures in a box of jewelry which she inherited from nigel's mother. um, ick. so, there's another mystery. >> they wouldn't have just been left there, and i would like to think that they belonged to somebody that's quite important, but... >> if they do, nigel and his daughter say expect to hear from them again -- a "strange inheritance" story for another day. six months after nigel's auction, a third set of churchill's dentures surfaced and sold for $25,000. so, the fireman who bought the teeth that won world war ii tried to resell nigel's inheritance on a british tv game show. but when the highest offer came in at only about $7,800, the fireman said, "no deal." i'd tell him, "don't give up." as churchill once famously said, "success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." i'm jamie colby. thanks so much for watching this special edition of "strange inheritance." and remember, you can't take it with you. are you having trouble sleeping? do you toss and turn at night? do you wake up feeling tired and with a stiff neck? your pillow could be the problem. if you want a better night's sleep then you need to try the incredible miracle bamboo pillow! you want to wake up well rested and energized this pillow will give you what you need and give you the night's rest that you're looking for. i have been amazed. it is so soft. it is so comfortable, and i am really able to get a great night's sleep. i was skeptical at first because i've tried so many pillows and this has been the answer to my comfort. first night i slept through the night and i haven't done that in years. i'm sleeping again. i'm sleeping again because of this pillow. i love this micl