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Charles Lewis Tiffany, founder of Tiffany & Co., was among those said to have been taken in by the diamond scam. Tiffany & Co. image, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Diamond hoax of 1872 to be featured on Travel Channel

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
Charles Lewis Tiffany, founder of Tiffany & Co., was among those said to have been taken in by the diamond scam. Tiffany & Co. image, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Charles Lewis Tiffany, founder of Tiffany & Co., was among those said to have been taken in by the diamond scam. Tiffany & Co. image, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (AP) – A film crew from the Travel Channel has traveled to central Kentucky to document a diamond hoax that occurred in 1872.

The News-Enterprise reports that the 19th century hoax involving Elizabethtown residents Philip Arnold and John Slack will be included on an upcoming episode of the series Mysteries at the Museum.

The film crew spent time Monday at the Hardin County History Museum getting information about the hoax.

The newspaper reports Arnold and Slack convinced several people that western parts of the U.S. were filled with diamonds by using only a few industrial-grade gems. Notable people such as Charles Tiffany, founder of Tiffany & Co., and Baron F. Rothschild, a member of the British Parliament, were taken in by the scam.

The crew from the cable network also interviewed Bardstown resident Ron Elliott, who wrote American El Dorado: The Great Diamond Hoax of 1872.

“I was just delighted they were going to bring some national attention to Hardin County,” Elliot said.

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Information from: The News-Enterprise, http://www.thenewsenterprise.com

Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-07-23-13 1644GMT

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

Charles Lewis Tiffany, founder of Tiffany & Co., was among those said to have been taken in by the diamond scam. Tiffany & Co. image, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Charles Lewis Tiffany, founder of Tiffany & Co., was among those said to have been taken in by the diamond scam. Tiffany & Co. image, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.