John M. Reznikoff

I got a story for you today that I originally did for the show This American Life.

It's a story about a guy named John Reznikoff, who is this brilliant expert at authenticating historical artifacts.

He's a collector, but he's also like a detective.

It's his job to discern the real from the unreal.

And this is a story about John meeting his match in a man who is every bit as equal in the realm of deception.

I hope you enjoy.

John Reznikoff buys and sells relics and documents.

He's got a sprawling office in Westport, Connecticut that's floor-to-ceiling history.

Jake Halpern tells what happened when somebody stumbled onto a trove of astounding papers, which lots of people thought was worth millions.

John Reznikoff buys and sells relics and documents.

He's got a sprawling office in Westport, Connecticut, that's floor-to-ceiling history, old documents hanging everywhere signed by Thomas Jefferson or James Madison or John Hancock.

He's got Abraham Lincoln's spectacles in a file cabinet, and in the middle of the room, as if some movers just dumped it there, something that looks like an old school desk.

Did you

know that Connecticut's John Reznikoff holds the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of hair from historical figures? His trove features tresses from 115 different people, including Elvis, Napoleon, Marilyn Monroe, and King Charles I.

Now you know.

Everybody's got to have a hobby, Jeff.