A quick Google search for pawn shops in the greater Toronto area nets over 40 results. That’s over 40 places where people can take items such as brooches, family heirlooms, artwork, old machinery and tools … anything they can swap for money, and fast.
For the Harrison family, owning a pawn shop and buying and selling customers’ treasures not only pays their bills, it’s made them famous with Pawn Stars.
“I did (the show) because it would be good for business,” Rick Harrison says from a coffee shop in the north end of Toronto. He and son Corey have dropped by for a quick coffee after shooting a segment for Canada AM, where they spotlighted some of their wares from the family business the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas. The History Television documentary series returns for Season 3 on Tuesday highlighting the staff – including expert spotter Rick, gentle giant Corey and shop owner Richard otherwise known as “The Old Man” – and patrons who come into Gold & Silver.
The boys say there are hundreds of stories that don’t make it to the television show, as the shop moves an average of 150 items a day. People come in for a variety of reasons – mothers hoping for a few ducats to pay monthly bills, millionaires to dump off pricey baubles given as gifts – but they all want the same thing: cash quickly.
“We catch a lot of flack who say people can get more (for an item) at auction,” soft-spoken Corey explains from his side of the café’s booth. “So, let’s take it to the auction, where you have to pay fees, and then maybe in a year you get money. It can be a really cool item, but if no one is buying that day, it won’t sell.”
When the subject of stolen items being brought into the establishment comes up, Rick demurs, explaining “we download almost 200 police reports a day to local police and to the FBI to check on the people and their items.” That’s a lot of paperwork, and the boring stuff viewers don’t get to see. Instead, they’re treated to a man looking to move a gun with a key embedded in it, miniature paintings of French ruler Napoleon Bonaparte and wife Josephine, or a woman looking to score $1,500 on what she thought was an ivory elephant tusk (it wasn’t).
It turns out Florida and Arizona aren’t the only places seniors go to live out their final years. Because of tax breaks, Sin City attracts older folk, leaving their kids to settle up estates when Mom and Dad pass away. Plenty of Rick’s clientele are family who aren’t interested in holding on to keepsakes. He unwraps just such an item, a jewel-encrusted scorpion brooch which once held snuff. How much is it worth? “That’s Imperial Fabergé,” he announces, pushing at it with a thick finger. “It’s worth $25,000.” It and another item were offloaded by a family who had no idea they existed in the first place. It’s a refrain Rick and Corey hear a lot.
“I bought an Olympic medal off a guy,” Rick recalls, sitting back. “He was going through his father-in-law’s garage and in this shoe box was a bronze medal from the 1960 Olympics. He has no clue where his father-in-law got it. No one in his family was involved in sports, but there it was. That’s what I love about this job. You never know what you’re going to get.”
The duo produce several more objects onto the café’s table, including a cannon ball worth $300, and a fossil of a fern from prehistoric times. We examine a piece of American money from the 1800s now worth between $3,500 and $4,500. The government at the time commissioned works of art and had them put on the fledgling country’s money. The idea, Rick outlines, was that people in rural communities and could never get to a museum would see art every day. The note is emblazoned with a robed woman holding a light bulb aloft, signifying the importance of electricity. She’s on the front, and the politicians are on the back.
“But politicians being politicians, they decided almost right away that they wanted to be on the front,” he concludes with a chuckle.
As the duo pack up their wares and ready to head off to other appointments, I enquire after the most pricey item they’ve had brought in (“Easy. I had a guy bring in $250,000 worth of gold bars,” boasts Corey), the strangest (“I have Japanese porn,” Rick offers) and whether they own anything with a sentimental attachment that they wouldn’t pawn for an instant handful of cash.
“Sentimental don’t mean nothing to me,” Rick announces with finality. Spoken like a true businessman.
Pawn Stars returns Tuesday, Aug. 31 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on History Television.
Thoughts? greg@tvguide.ca or comment below.
Check out the latest behind-the-scenes TV news in Nuts & Bolts.
Follow Greg on Twitter
Follow TV Guide Canada on Facebook