Rick Harrison has come across a dinosaur egg, an ancient Egyptian mummy mask, Saddam Hussein’s fingerprints and a surgeon’s kit from World War I – but there’s one thing he can never say no to.
The co-host of History Channel’s “Pawn Stars” and owner of the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas said the strangest thing he loves to collect is something you likely already have in your kitchen pantry.
“Believe it, [the] weird thing I actually collect are Mason jars,” the 57-year-old told Fox News Digital. “Don’t ask me why. It’s just something I started collecting years ago, and I found an amazing one in North Carolina. And I’m also a big car guy. There was an amazing 1941 Plymouth truck … I found it in Denver.”
And Harrison insisted he’s never had buyer’s remorse.
“I love what I’m doing, and every once in a while, sometimes I will lose money,” he said. “But you have to keep it in your head that you can’t get gun-shy when you buy these things because you don’t know exactly what you’re going to resell it for. It’s just part of the business, and it’s one of the funnest businesses in the world because every day is different.”
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“Pawn Stars,” which follows the Harrison family and their successful pawn business in Sin City, first premiered in 2009. After more than 600 episodes, the crew is now hitting the road for a spinoff titled, “Pawn Stars Do America,” where they’ll purchase historic collectibles from across the country. They’ll investigate the stories behind the items, determine whether it’s the real deal, and decide whether a treasured family heirloom is worth dishing out the cash. Trusted local experts will also be on-site to share their opinions, historic analysis and hands-on testing.
“I figured I would get vacations from eight different cities and get the network to pay for it,” he joked. “But I thought it would be fun, and it’s about keeping it fresh.”
Harrison said the gold mines are “everywhere.” Some of the prized possessions they’ve come across include a handwritten letter from George Washington, an American Revolution bronze cannon field gun, a shield of Henry II of France, and a Yousuf Karsh signed photo of Ernest Hemingway, just to name a few.
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“The crazy thing about this country is … people don’t live in the same place forever,” he said. “So much stuff has been moved all around the country. I found great stuff in San Francisco. I found great stuff in Philadelphia. I mean, we were in Valley Forge, D.C., we were down in Savannah, Georgia – everywhere [people would] bring us neat, really cool stuff.”
Harrison proudly showed off a “1,200-year-old Viking bracelet” that he’s obtained. He noted that his store has plenty of coins that are more than 2,000 years old. As for the Egyptian mummy mask, it’s at the shop, too.
“I have come across so much bizarre stuff over the years,” he said. “It’s hard to imagine everything. … Whenever people say, ‘Look at all this weird stuff you have,’ [I tell them], ‘It’s what I do every day. It’s not weird to me.'”
And these days, one item from as recent as the ’90s is in demand.
“The entire collectibles market has sort of gone crazy the past few years,” said Harrison. “So much money was put out into the system that caused a lot of prices to go up. What’s really shocking is … Pok?mon cards that were worth $10,000 [about] 10 years ago are worth over a million now.”
In March of this year, a 1999 Charizard Pok?mon card sold for a whopping $420,000, the most a Charizard has ever sold and third-highest for any Pok?mon card of all time. According to Forbes, the price was so high because most cards are owned by serious collectors who are not likely to make them available in the market. The most valuable Pok?mon card in history is the Pikachu Illustrator, an “exceedingly rare” limited-edition Japanese card that sold for $900,000.
But not everything is a good deal. Harrison noted that part of his job is breaking people’s hearts.
“People come up to me all the time and say stuff’s been in their family for generations and generations,” he said. “I literally had a person on the East Coast that thought they had a stool from the Mayflower. I kind of had to break their heart. It’s what happens with families. It’s like the telephone game you played in kindergarten over generations. The stories change.”
Harrison shared that spotting a fake is surprisingly simple.
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“Say you’re looking at a Rolex,” he said. “Are the hands right? Are the numbers right? Is the dial right? Is the crystal right? What about the band? If one thing is wrong, that’s a problem. Walk away. That’s how you tell. You’ve got to know what you’re looking for. … And buy it from someone really, really reputable. They’ll guarantee it’s the real deal.”
