Pawn Stars

male announcer: ON THIS EPISODE OF PAWN STARS...

- I'VE GOT THESE BILLS FROM THE 19TH CENTURY.

- THIS IS WORTH ANYWHERE FROM, LIKE, $200 TO $25,000.

I GOT A OLD GEIGER COUNTER.

- THESE WERE USED TO DETECT DIFFERENT TYPES OF RADIATION.

EVERYONE THOUGHT THEY WERE GONNA STRIKE IT RICH WITH URANIUM.

IT WAS THE NEW GOLD.

- I HOPE THERE AIN'T NO RADIATION

LEAKING OUT OF THIS THING.

- I'VE GOT THIS OLD GAMING SET.

I KNOW IT BELONGED TO AN OLD GAMBLER.

THIS IS SWEET.

I CAN IMAGINE DOC HOLLIDAY HAVING ONE OF THESE.

IF YOU LOOK UNDER HERE...

OH, MY GOD.

- I'M RICK HARRISON, AND THIS IS MY PAWN SHOP.

I WORK HERE WITH MY OLD MAN AND MY SON, BIG HOSS.

EVERYTHING IN HERE HAS A STORY AND A PRICE.

ONE THING I'VE LEARNED AFTER 21 YEARS,

YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT IS GONNA COME THROUGH THAT DOOR.

WHAT DO YOU GOT HERE?

- I'VE GOT SOME OF THESE BILLS FROM THE 19TH CENTURY.

DO YOU ANYTHING ABOUT THEM?

I REALLY DON'T.

- WHAT YOU HAVE HERE IS EDUCATION MONEY.

TO, LIKE, FUND EDUCATION OR...

- NO, IT WAS JUST TO EDUCATE PEOPLE

ABOUT BEAUTIFUL WORKS OF ART.

FOR THE TIME, THAT WAS REALLY RISQUE

TO PUT BARE BREASTS ON BILLS.

YEAH, I CAN SEE.

LET ME CHECK THAT OUT THERE.

- I DECIDED TO COME TO THE PAWN SHOP TODAY

TO SELL SOME OLD CURRENCY.

I'M KIND OF SCARED, BECAUSE I'M SUPPOSED

TO BE GETTING MARRIED IN A MONTH,

AND I SPENT $7,500 ON THIS.

IF I DON'T GET MY MONEY BACK,

I'M GONNA HAVE ONE PISSED-OFF FIANCEE.

- WE HAVE FULTON, INVENTOR OF THE STEAMBOAT.

AND THAT'S MORSE RIGHT THERE, MORSE CODE.

AND IT'S, LIKE, ONE OF THE FEW BILLS

WHERE MARTHA WASHINGTON'S ON IT.

IN 1896, THE U.S. GOVERNMENT ISSUED SILVER CERTIFICATES

THAT WERE EDUCATIONAL NOTES.

THE REASON THEY DID THIS

IS BECAUSE IF YOU LIVED IN A RURAL COMMUNITY,

YOU WOULD NEVER GET TO SEE ART.

THERE WERE NO NEARBY MUSEUMS.

SO THEY FIGURED, "HEY, LET'S PUT THEM ON MONEY."

SO WHERE IN THE WORLD DID YOU GET THESE?

I WAS AT AN ESTATE SALE.

I GOT CAUGHT UP IN THIS AUCTION,

AND, MAN, I JUST REALLY HOPE I CAN MAKE SOMETHING OUT OF IT.

- DO YOU MIND TELLING ME WHAT YOU PAID FOR THEM?

7,500 BUCKS.

I'M ALWAYS GETTING INTO SOME TYPE OF TROUBLE.

- - YEAH, HAPPENS ALL THE TIME.

- THIS MONEY IS JUST-- IT'S BEAUTIFUL.

I MEAN, IT'S THE PRETTIEST PAPER MONEY

THE UNITED STATES EVER MADE

AND ARGUABLY SOME OF THE PRETTIEST PAPER MONEY

EVER MADE IN ANY COUNTRY.

DOES THE ARTWORK, YOU KNOW,

HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE VALUE OF IT?

- WELL, THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS

WHY THESE ARE SO COLLECTIBLE.

BUT PAPER MONEY IS WEIRD THE WAY IT'S GRADED.

THERE'S 70 DIFFERENT GRADES OF A PIE OF PAPER MONEY.

AND THE GRADE ON THESE THINGS IS SO IMPORTANT.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A 50 AND A 55

IS THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS ON A BILL LIKE THIS.

WOW.

- THIS IS WORTH ANYWHERE FROM, LIKE, $200 TO $25,000.

- REALLY? DEPENDING ON THE GRADE?

- DEPENDING ON THE CONDITION OF IT.

WOW.

- AND WHEN WE START TALKING MONEY LIKE THAT,

I HAVE TO HAVE SOMEONE LOOK AT IT.

LET ME CALL UP A BUDDY OF MINE.

HE KNOWS EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS STUFF,

SO WE CAN GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING

OF THE GRADE OF THEM.

- NO PROBLEM. SOUNDS GOOD.

- THIS GUY IS OUT OF POCKET 7,500 BUCKS,

WHICH MAKES HIM EITHER A GENIUS OR AN IDIOT.

SO I'M GONNA GET MY BUDDY LEONARD IN HERE

TO HAVE A CLOSER LOOK,

AND HOPEFULLY HE'LL HAVE SOME GOOD NEWS.

HEY, WHAT DO WE GOT?

- I GOT SOME SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR

TRAINING CAMP PHOTOS FROM 1898.

THAT IS THE COMMANDER OF THE 7TH ARMY CORPS,

GENERAL LEE'S NEPHEW.

- THIS GUY DEFINITELY ATE SOUTHERN FOOD, HUH?

- OH, YEAH, QUITE A BIT, IT LOOKS LIKE.

A LOT OF FRIED CHICKEN.

I DECIDED TO COME TO THE PAWN SHOP TODAY

TO SELL MY COLLECTION OF SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR PHOTOS.

THESE PHOTOS WERE TAKEN AT A TRAINING CAMP IN JULY OF 1898.

I WANT TO SELL THESE PHOTOS JUST 'CAUSE THEY'VE BEEN

SITTING AROUND THE HOUSE FOR 20 YEARS,

AND I DON'T LOOK AT THEM VERY OFTEN.

- SO WHERE IN THE WORLD DID YOU GET THESE?

- PICKED THEM UP AT AN ESTATE SALE ABOUT 20 YEARS AGO.

- DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHERE THESE WERE TAKEN?

- CAMP CUBA LIBRE OUTSIDE JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA.

- YOU'VE HEARD THE STORY OF THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR,

DON'T YOU, RICK?

I BET I KNOW MORE ABOUT

THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR THAN YOU DO.

I DOUBT IT.

- DO YOU KNOW HOW IT MORE OR LESS STARTED?

- CUBANS BLOWING UP THE BATTLESH MAINE?

- IT WAS PROBABLY THE MAINE BLEW UP.

- THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR STARTED IN 1898

AFTER THE U.S. BATTLESHIP MAINE BLEW UP IN HAVANA HARBOR.

THE THING IS, IT MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN SPAIN'S FAULT.

IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN AN ACCIDENT.

OOPS.

THEN IN THE PHILIPPINES

WHEN THE U.S. NAVY AND THE SPANISH NAVY

WERE COMING RIGHT TO EACH OTHER,

THERE WAS A TELEGRAPH IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.

THE ONLY PERSON AVAILABLE

WAS THE UNDERSECRETARY OF THE U.S. NAVY,

WHICH WAS TEDDY ROOSEVELT.

OH.

HE DIDN'T GO TO ANYBODY ELSE.

HE JUST SAID, "ATTACK."

THAT'S TEDDY.

- AND WHAT MOST PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY DON'T KNOW IS,

THEN WE ENDED UP GETTING THE PHILIPPINES AS A COLONY.

RIGHT.

- THESE PHOTOS GIVE AN INCREDIBLE WINDOW

INTO MILITARY LIFE 100 YEARS AGO.

COLLECTORS LOVE THEM.

SO WHAT DID YOU WANT TO DO WITH ALL THESE?

- I'M INTERESTED IN SELLING THEM.

- HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT FOR THEM?

- WELL, YOU COULD PROBABLY SELL THESE FOR 10 BUCKS APIECE,

AND THERE'S, WHAT, 20, 25 OF THEM THERE?

SO, WHAT, $225?

- I'LL GIVE YOU 100 BUCKS FOR THEM.

IT'S A UNIQUE ITEM. IT'S A DIFFICULT SELLER.

100 BUCKS IS WHAT I COULD DO.

100 BUCKS, OKAY.

- ALL RIGHT. LET'S GO DO SOME PAPERWORK.

ALL RIGHTY.

THEY'RE PRETTY HARD NEGOTIATORS,

BUT I ACTUALLY GOT $100 OUT OF THEM TODAY,

AND WE'RE JUST GONNA GO HAVE A GOOD DINNER ON IT.

HEY, WHAT CAN I HELP YOU WITH?

- HEY, I'VE GOT THIS OLD GAMING SET

THAT I BOUGHT ABOUT 20 YEARS AGO.

NOT SURE WHAT IT'S WORTH, BUT I KNOW IT BELONGED

TO AN OLD GAMBLER BY THE NAME OF J.D. BORTHWICK.

THIS IS SWEET.

THIS IS-- THIS IS INCREDIBLE.

IT'S A LITTLE ROULETTE WHEEL.

- YOU'RE GOOD AT MAKING IT SPIN.

I DECIDED TO COME HERE TODAY

TO SELL MY OLD GAMBLING SET FROM THE TURN OF THE CENTURY

MADE FOR J.D. BORTHWICK.

HE'S A FAMOUS GAMBLER BACK IN THE DAY.

I BOUGHT THIS CASE FOR ABOUT 500 BUCKS 20 YEARS AGO,

AND NOW I'M EXPECTING TO MAKE A BUTT LOAD OF MONEY FROM IT.

THIS IS VERY INTERESTING.

WHAT CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT IT, SON?

- WELL, I KNOW THAT IT WAS PROBABLY MADE IN THE LATE 1800s,

AND THEY USED THESE WHEN THEY TRAVELED IN STAGECOACHES

AND BOATS AND TRAINS.

CARDS, POKER CHIPS.

THEY'VE GOT POKER DICE, MARKERS.

IT'S GOT THE KEY STILL.

THE ONLY REASON I KNEW IT WAS J.D. BORTHWICK'S SET

IS BECAUSE HIS NAME IS ON THIS.

AND OF COURSE, "J.D." IS ON EVERYTHING.

- J.D. BORTHWICK, I KNOW A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HIM.

I KNOW HE WAS, LIKE, IN CALIFORNIA

AND WROTE A BOOK ON GAMBLING.

- YEAH, IN THE LATE 1800s, HE WAS A NOTORIOUS GAMBLER.

- I'VE BEEN IN BUSINESS A LONG TIME,

BUT I'VE NEVER SEEN A SET LIKE THIS ONE.

THIS IS SOMETHING SPECIAL.

BACK IN THE DAY, PEOPLE WOULD SET THIS UP IN A SALOON.

THEY WOULD HAVE GAMES AND STUFF.

AND THEY'D SPLIT IT WITH THE PROPRIETOR

OF THE ESTABLISHMENT THAT THEY SET UP IN.

- GAMBLING WAS OUTLAWED IN A LOT OF PLACES,

SO GUYS LIKE THIS WOULD COME AROUND,

THEY'D HAVE SOME GAMES, AND MOVE ON.

THIS SET IS AWESOME.

THIS GUY WAS A PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER,

AND THESE WERE HIS TOOLS.

IT WAS A DANGEROUS, DANGEROUS PROFESSION,

BECAUSE IF IT WAS ILLEGAL TO GAMBLE IN THAT TOWN,

THEY WEREN'T EXACTLY OBLIGATED TO PAY YOU IF THEY LOST.

- THAT PROBABLY EXPLAINS ALL OF THIS, THEN.

OH, MY GOD.