Top 10 Shocking Pawn Stars Discoveries

The “Pawn Stars” love them some guitars, and in this episode, they hit upon a big one. A man came in claiming that he had Jimi Hendrix’s 1963 Fender Stratocaster, a guitar that Hendrix played in the studio. They quickly discovered its legitimacy through the serial number, and the appraiser valued the guitar at a whopping $1,000,000. Now that is one expensive guitar! Rick offered the owner $450,000 before working up to an offer of $600,000. However, the owner wasn’t willing to part with anything less than a cool mil, and Rick lost out on a piece of rock history.

You never know what you’ll win in a poker game! A man came into the shop asking $20,000 for a fancy coin he had won in a poker game. A coin expert identified the coin as a legitimate 1922 High Relief Peace Dollar, which according to him is “one of the rarest coins in American history.” He then valued the coin between $50,000 and $100,000, which, if you’re good at math, you’ll realize is a little more than $20,000. The man eventually sold the Peace Dollar to Rick for $80,000, which is a little on the low side – apparently – but hey, we wouldn’t complain about earning $80,000.

Here, a fella walks into the shop with a piece of American history – The Book of Mormon. The book was first published by a Joseph Smith in 1830, and Adam’s fifth edition copy was printed in 1842. According to the customer, it was also the last edition published in Joseph Smith’s lifetime, as he died in June of 1844. As Rick said, it’s not just an important religious manuscript, but one of the most valuable pieces of American literature. The appraiser, Rebecca Romney of Bauman Rare Books, valued the book at $40,000, making it the most valuable book that had been appraised by Rebecca. Adam walked away with $24,000, only one grand less than what he was originally asking.

Yeah, the cast of “Pawn Stars” also loves them some guitars, but they REALLY love them some cars! A man known as “Uncle Phil” offered the men of the pawn shop a 1932 Lincoln Convertible V-12, a fancy car that included the Lincoln L-head V-12 engine. It could produce up to a for the era quite impressive 150 horsepower, and it competed with the Cadillac V-12 in its day. And to think, this baby was manufactured during the Great Depression! It’s a luxury car, which, according to Rick, can fetch up to $170,000, provided it’s in mint condition. However, the car had a few minor imperfections, so Rick managed to snag it for $95,000.

You may not know the name Vic Flick, but the man has been around. Flick was a studio musician from the late '50s to the early '80s who played with the likes of Nancy Sinatra and Tom Jones. Perhaps his main claim to fame is that he played the famous guitar riff on the original James Bond theme! So, yes, you know his work! In this episode he was selling his 1961 Fender Stratocaster, which was valued at $70,000. According to the appraiser, that specific guitar can be heard on a lot of popular songs from the '60s and '70s, perhaps more than we even think. Vic was happy to walk away with $55,000, saying he and his wife would “pop out for a beer or two” to celebrate.

Season fifteen saw one of the greatest items in “Pawn Stars” history – a suit worn by none other than George Washington. The silk suit is from the mid 18th century and was originally pink in color before time did its thing and washed out all the dye. At the time, pink was a fashionable color that signified success and luxury. As you can imagine, a suit worn by George Washington will fetch a bit of money, and the seller was asking $3 million. That was, however, a little too much for Rick, who offered $2 million before bowing out. Maybe now the seller can sell or donate the suit to a museum, where it should have been all along!

The image of a white Ford Bronco became a piece of American history on the afternoon of June 17, 1994, when Simpson and Al Cowlings entered into a low-speed chase with the police after a warrant was issued for Simpson’s arrest. Nearly 25 years later, that very same Bronco wound up on “Pawn Stars.” The seller, who was O.J.’s agent at the time, states that he had previously turned down an offer of $500,000 and asked Rick for $1.3 million. However, Rick thought buying the Bronco was too much of a gamble and passed, telling the seller that he should take the SUV to an auction.

JFK – among other things – was a bit of a cigar aficionado, and Rick was lucky enough to come face to face with his personal cigar box. Included in the package was the humidor itself as well as eight individually wrapped cigars. According to the official document written by JFK’s secretary, the humidor was given to the President as a birthday present on May 29, 1962, just eighteen months before he was assassinated. The seller was asking for a relatively meager $95,000, but walked away with just $60,000. We’re not experts or anything, but that seems like a really small amount for such a personal piece of history.

When it comes to the most important pieces of musical history, The Beatles’ original contract is pretty freakin’ high on the list. The seller put it nicely when he called it “the Holy Grail of rock and roll.” The contract was between The Beatles and their manager, Brian Epstein, and it stated that Epstein would receive 25% of all Beatles royalties. Epstein served as a major influence on The Beatles’ image and popularity and was even referred to as “the fifth Beatle” before he died of an accidental sleeping-pill overdose in 1967. Despite the seller asking for $1,000,000, it was professionally valued at $500,000. Rick pounced and offered just $350,000, and the seller was forced to walk away.

Before we look at the most shocking discovery, here are a few honorable mentions.

2014 Hertz Penske GT Mustang

Shipwreck Treasure

2001 Super Bowl Ring

1915 Panama Pacific Octagonal Gold Coin

White Eagle Medallion

It’s not often that 3,000 ounces of silver comes through your door, but make hay while the sun shines, right? Jeff, the owner of the silver, wheeled 3,372 ounces of silver into the shop, causing the Old Man to practically leap from his desk so he could inspect the glorious find. Included in the collection were bags of dimes and quarters, numerous silver bars, and a 75-pound brick of pure silver. After doing some headache-inducing math, Rick discovered that the pile was worth $111,000, which Jeff was happy to accept. Turns out silver is a pretty good investment! Now if only we had 3,000 ounces of silver laying around…