'Pawn Stars' has featured some amazing items on the show including John F. Kennedy's old cigar case and a gold bar from a 1554 shipwreck.
The Biggest Payouts on Pawn Stars Ever
The hit show, Pawn Stars on History Channel, produced by Leftfield Pictures started back in 2009 and aired its latest season in 2022. It chronicles the life of four family members who operate a 24-hour pawn shop in Las Vegas Nevada. However, the latest season saw them venture outside sin city. Audiences love to watch the shop staff interact with regular people who bring in unique and riveting items that they wish to sell or pawn. There were many such occasions when the customers had no idea what they had in their possession, leaving the Pawn Stars stunned. Here are some of the biggest payouts in the history of the reality show.
1. 1932 Ford Roadster
Rick and Corey "Big Hoss" Harrison traveled across the town to check out the jet-black 1932 Model B Ford Roadster and it was love at first sight. The car was designed by Henry Ford's son Edsel and had a horsepower of 500 with a unique combo folding convertible and roll-up windows. Needless to say, the owner had huge expectations and asked for a mammoth price of $105,000 for the vintage car. Ultimately the car was sold for a cool $68,250.
2. Diamond Earrings
A man dressed in formal attire walked in with a pair of earrings. Rick Harrison fired technical questions at him and he tackled them smartly and even produced a receipt. Harrison was impressed with the jewels and took them off the man for $40,000. Three years later, a shocking revelation took the transaction to a whole new level. Turns out the diamonds were not only real but also stolen diamonds. All's Well That Ends Well- It sure did end well for the victim who got her valuable back and the criminal was sent to prison.
3. Gibson Les Paul SG Custom
It's a matter of fact that guitars that go back to the rock era are extremely valuable in the pawn world. The beautiful guitar was brought in by a customer who claimed it belonged to his Aunty Mary. Harrison quickly realized that the aunt he was referring to was none other than Mary Ford who was the wife of Les Paul. The guitar sold for $90,000 which was nothing compared to the original asking price of $150,000.
4. John F. Kennedy's cigar box
Season 12's biggest payout was a wooden box of cigars that belonged to John F Kennedy and is now a part of the presidential history of the country. The seller knew just how much it was worth and asked for a steep price of $95,000 for the box. After a lot of negotiation, Rick got the price down to $60,000.
5. A Gold Bar From a 1554 Spanish Shipwreck
A man found a gold bar hidden in a box among other things that belonged to his grandfather and was lying in his attic. Unsure of how much value it held, the man took it to the famous pawn store to understand more about the artifact. The normal value of the meltdown gold was $24,000 and when it was confirmed that the gold was from Padre Island in Texas and was from the 1445 Spanish shipwreck the price of the gold went up tremendously. Rick bought the gold bar for $35,000 even though the value was more than $50,000 as per Looper.
6. Joe Greene's Olympic Medals
A bit different from the others on this list. These medals were sold by long jump star Joe Greene himself when he needed money back in the '90s. He turned to Harrison's and sold the two medals. Rick assured the man that he will never sell those medals in case he ever wanted to buy them back. The medals still sit in the shop and have a value of $30,000.
7. 1715 Spanish Fleet Gold Coin
A customer Jody inherited an exceptional coin and was looking to earn only $2000. However she showed the coin in the shop, and an expert confirmed that it was indeed from 1715 and was worth a whopping $18,000. She ultimately sold the coin for $11,000 after a bit of haggling.
8. Dutch East India Trading Company Bell
A woman had no idea how much it was worth when she brought a ship's bell into the shop. She originally had thought of putting it out as part of a yard sale, but thankfully, she didn't. The late Richard "Old Man" Harrison was convinced that the ship's bell was a recreation as it showed no signs of corrosion. But upon inspection, an expert confirmed that the bell was indeed from the 1602 ship and was worth close to $15,000.
9. 2014 Penske GT Mustang
The car comes from Hertz's "Rent A Racer" Program, which in association with Roger Penske, created around 150 of these limited edition cars. This one in question was one of the initial 10 cars created for this line. The car was a six-speed manual and had never been rented out in the program. The asking price for the vehicle was a cool $85,000. After inspection, the Pawn Stars eventually settled for $60,000.
10. Order of the White Eagle medallion
A great score for the Harrisons and not a bad deal for the consumer who had bought the medallion for mere 45 cents. Upon inspection, it was found that the medal dated back to the Tsarist occupation of Poland era and was worth a lot. The consumer sold the meal for a cool $6000 and Rick later sold the medal for a whopping $30,000. Even though the metal is Polish, it's technically Russian, as the 1795 partitions mostly gave the largest part to Russia where this medal comes from.
