Pawn Stars: 5 SUPER RARE ILLEGAL ITEMS | History

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Check out 5 items with remarkable histories – but that are illegal to buy and sell! From an antique gun desk to a tortoiseshell guitar, these illegal items are just not worth the risk, in this Pawn Stars compilation. #PawnStars #RickHarrison
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"Pawn Stars" follows three generations of the Harrison family as they assess the value of items coming in and out of their Gold & Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas, from the commonplace to the truly historic.

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94 Comments on “Pawn Stars: 5 SUPER RARE ILLEGAL ITEMS | History”

    1. @ram charge I think its a movie prop, it makes no sense to use in the real world, but in a movie would be perfect.

    2. I want that desk novelty or not imagine having that as a conversion piece for your home

  1. Best part of watching pawn star episodes on youtube….No commercials and straight to the point on items and experts and sales.

  2. The thing I respect most about these guys is their ability to say, “No, I’m not going to mess with that” no matter how badly they want it. They’re very good at that.

    1. Well, they don’t really do this show for the pawn aspect. They are more like a themed antiques roadshow (if you’ve never seen it, it’s like a pure identification and appraisal) but the money is on that but with the “Drama and fake barter involved lol.

    2. @Smiles for Days The Wikipedia article on the show sort of agrees with you, in that the Old Man, Rick, Corey, and Chumlee only appear in the shop on days the show is shot, and on those days, the shop is closed to the public (they vet who they let in on those days in advance, and there are confidentiality laws in Nevada against identifying customers pawning items). And it seems like most customers are selling items, not pawning them. But the customers probably don’t know the outcome in advance.

    3. It’s a belief system and appreciation of an item. You believe that it’s not a good…omen/quality/whatever, but you can appreciate the item, the story, and cool/weird factor.

    4. Well Yea when the cameras are on..u have to play it safe..though they don’t seem like the type of people that would scam someone of buy illegal stuff..u never know

    1. Depends if they understand why they’re selling.
      If they just want to turn useless junk into useful cash (and they’ve done their research, they’re savvy about the real value) then they can walk away from anything less than their bottom line.
      If they’re desperate for cash – as sellers in a pawn shop tend to be – then they’ll always take whatever cash they’re offered.

  3. I used to wacth this show on TV. It is always interesting to watch. Somewhat informative and very funny to watch. Like the sitcom no one ever thought would be good, but turns into a hit.

    1. @JLHunt the old drooling guy that makes the same jokes over and over? Really?
      I don’t dislike him, and he’s got decent parts, but the show is still the same 😂
      You could watch a new episode and not even miss him, it’s essentislly the same show.

    2. @Liam Ryan Bless your heart the banter between the old man and the rest was what made them interesting. I have watched newer episodes and it isn’t the same show.

  4. For anyone that doesn’t know, the show vets all of the customers beforehand. They actually have a team that finds unique items and the show determines whether or not it’s “tv material.” If it is, the customer is told to come in, but they train them to act a certain way because most regular people are nervous being on tv, so they rehearse a bit and also, they negotiate the sale of their item beforehand as well. Rick knows a lot, but he’s not some encyclopedia where everyone that walks in has something he can bring up its history about instantly. Anything about the item is researched beforehand and everything. What you see on tv is the culmination of all of this. The people in the background are also extras, since the shop closes when an episode is being filmed. So the customer and their item are real, and even though prices are negotiated beforehand, it’s still cool to see everything that goes through the shop.

    1. I guess I should have known that would be the case but somehow it never occurred to me that that would be the way it is.

    2. Thanks thats interesting and now that you said that it makes sense on how he has a back story for everything

    3. You just described like 90% of TV shows. I worked for one BTW. Surprised that the sellers are real 🙂

  5. I couldn’t imagine selling that coin. To have an actual piece of ancient history and throw it away for 1600$? I’d have done it if I were a teenager, but now? I’d go full Gollum on that thing

  6. The last one was hilarious 😂 give the poor man a break hahaha he did everything right and they continued to make jokes lol well that’s family 🤣 even if it was scripted or not

    1. Right?🤣 He knows his stuff and did everything by the books. It’s just one of these unforeseeable circumstances.

  7. I like this show. No matter how bad the acting is it’s cool to see the kind of stuff that goes through there.

  8. If anyone is wondering why a person would get fined for an eagle feather. You have to be native american an registered to own them. Even to get ahold of some of them is hard for natives to get. Even being registered. We are able to own them for ceremonial reasons. I have 4 of them because I was very close to dying when I was goin thru treatments for leukemia.

    1. So if you are not native American, and find one on the ground are you allowed to pick it up and keep it.

      Second question are you then allowed to take it with you through customs.

      Asking for a friend

  9. These sellers are so respectful and professional. They were denied, yet still shook hands and appreciated the time they were given.

    1. people said that these weren’t the sellers and the whole thing is scripted but they actually bought the items.

    2. I mean even if those were real people, they just have been told that they could have arrested for this

  10. I used to watch this show a lot when it first came around and loved it. Once they got to the point that they had Rick’s son (who is an awful actor) do interviews about an item reading off the teleprompter about the history that he knew nothing about, stoned out of his mind, I couldn’t take the obvious fake feeling. They should just have let Rick do the talks about history, he’s actually smart and knew a lot about what he talked about.

  11. I know these scenes are staged, but Rick is right, how is he supposed to know the coin was stolen? The seller wasn’t shady or anything, no red flags. Sometimes you just get shafted.

    1. I can’t agree with that. In his position, you can’t just go along with a sale because a guy doesn’t seem shady. An ancient object should have provenance when it’s being bought and sold. It’s his responsibility to check on that provenance if he’s a professional buyer and seller.

    2. @Mega Hedgehog that’s unrealistic. You have literally thousands of items come through a shop like this per month, you can’t get everything checked out. In business you make professional educated guesses all the time.

      And again, how would “getting it checked out” prove that it was stolen? The seller didn’t steal it, the guy he bought it from did.

  12. “I don’t know the legality behind Tortoise shells, I know a guy down the street, I’ll give him a call”
    (40 year old stoner guitar shop owner walks in)

    1. I would not think there is any law about it. Laws about doing it today, not about owning something made before the laws existed.

  13. I gotta admit, that desk is one of the most creative James Bond-like inventions I’ve ever seen

    1. @BoozeBlaster no one on your generation knows how to compose a sentence that doesn’t start with “bro”

  14. Appraiser: “I would say this item is worth $150,000”

    Rick: “Well it’s gotta sit on my shelf and the right buyer has to come around. I’ll give you $100.”

    Seller: “The appraiser just said $150,000”

    Rick: “That’s in auction. I’ll give you $200, but I can’t go more than that.”

    Seller: “Okay.”

  15. For the coin, I’d be shocked if the insurance company isn’t entitled to have it. If they paid a claim on it, I’d think they’d have the right to get it back if found. It’s along the lines of salvage. Maybe they wouldn’t want to deal with it, and maybe the key is they don’t have a report in a police database? I’d think they’d have automated that though…

    1. They probably worked out a deal with the insurance company. The insurance company doesn’t actually want an ancient coin, they want their money. Likely the pawn shop was offered to “buy” it out or something like that. Its just more dramatic the way the story was told.

    2. @SmallLab129 Ahh, that’s very true. If that’s the case, I wish they would have shown that they basically had to pay probably close to double for it though.

    3. They got their money when the original owner payed the premium on the policy. I doubt Geico claims ownership on a junkyard car.

    4. @Carl Kpsplucky if your car is stolen and insurance pays out, they absolutely will claim ownership if it’s found. They’ll usually send it to auction to get some money back.

  16. Boy, these specifically curated videos are way better than the actual show! If the show is as good as the videos made from the show more consistently, I would watch the show

    1. I’ve started getting into the habit of watching these sorts of television shows with clip-worthy content, like Forged in Fire, and they seem to share the same basic economic principle of “divide and conquer”.

      The show airs on television with commercials and is able to entertain their audience that still watches television, but they’re also continuing to grow as a franchise by sharing videos of the show on Social Media, thereby capitaizing on the fast-paced and attention-vying atmosphere of the internet for the most impressions (who’s going to click on what and when?), which in turn continues to expand their overall brand by increasing awareness as well as adding more avenues for income. I’m sure it also makes the workload for the producers of the show easier, because they can simply show “re-runs” in a best-of format without being required to film more footage.

      Sorry for spewing my conjecture onto your original comment 😂 If anybody has a better idea of how it works then by all means, feel free to correct me – I just feel like I can understand the reasoning behind why this clip format does so well for certain television shows.

  17. I respect the fact they aren’t just calling the cops or making a report on everyone. When it started I was worried they were going to confiscate the items at least

    1. A lot of places have laws or policies that make it illegal for a store to confiscate things.

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