When Gary Cooper's daughter had one of her father's prized possessions appraised, she found out it was a really hot item - as in stolen.
The 1777 letter written by George Washington was found to have been among 17 letters taken from the Massachusetts state archives in the 1940s.Maria Cooper Janis, who was informed of the purloined letter by Christie's auction house, wrote state officials to say she would turn it over and explain "an unknown party" gave it to her father.
Secretary of State William Galvin said Tuesday he suspects the letter, appraised at $24,000, may have been stolen by some of the people handling the documents at the time.