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Continental Currency - A family in Omaha, Nebraska, has found a
puzzling $6 bill dated February 17, 1776; they're eager to learn
the story behind it. The bill's text and designs are replete with
mysteries and clues. How can it claim to be federal currency when
it's dated five months before the colonies actually declared their
independence? Why does it say it's backed by "Spanish milled
dollars?" What do the strange images on it mean? Britain rightfully
considered these monies sheer provocation and reacted by flooding
the market with counterfeit bills. Is the bill real - or perhaps
real fakery? HISTORY DETECTIVES host Gwen Wright travels to New
York City to investigate an artifact that could represent America's
first declaration of its independence.
Short-Snorter - A man in New York City has a British 10-shilling
note dated July 25, 1942, that is an autograph hunter's dream: a
single slip of paper, called a "short-snorter," signed by most
every luminary on the Allied side of World War II, from Patton to
Churchill to Roosevelt. He wants to learn the story behind this
oddity. The date on the bill is the same as a major Allied meeting
held in London - where a momentous decision was made. Nazi troops
were advancing across Europe. The time had come for America to join
the battle and for the Allies to open a second front - but where?
HISTORY DETECTIVES host Tukufu Zuberi heads to Maryland,
Washington, DC, and New York City to determine whether the
contributor's short-snorter was witness to the fateful agreement
that forged the alliance between America and Britain.
Liberty Bell Pin - A woman in Charlotte, North Carolina, owns an
unassuming pin that, according to family lore, is actually made of
metal drawn from the Liberty Bell. It seems unfathomable that a
piece of this iconic symbol could have been melted down for a mere
memento. But the contributor's great-grandfather claimed that he
wore the pin to an event important enough to lend credibility to
his unlikely story. Even a generation after the Civil War, America
was still recovering from its traumas. Dramatic measures were
called for to heal the nation's economy in those dark days. Elyse
Luray leads HISTORY DETECTIVES to Philadelphia and Atlanta to
recall the staunch efforts for reconciliation during this tenuous
time in U.S. history.
