The Most Valuable Items To Ever Be Featured On Pawn Stars

Over the years the Pawn Stars crew have seen it all. Rare and expensive collector items and some items that are actually too expensive for them to even try to flip. 2009 was the debut of the History Channel ‘Pawn Stars’ and was an instant hit with viewers around the world.

‘Pawn Stars’ paved the road for future hit reality shows like ‘American Pickers’ and ‘Storage Wars’. Read ahead to see the most expensive items that were brought through their Las Vegas Pawn Shop doors.

Unsurprisingly, pure gold is still the most valuable thing on this planet, and the Harrisons are well aware of that. After all, their store is called Gold & Silver. The most expensive purchase ever made at the Pawn Stars shop were four, one-kilo solid gold bars, which went for an astounding $128,000. Sink your teeth into that…

One of the pawn star’s most risky evaluations came in their most recent season when Rick and Chum Lee decided to go see O.J. Simpson’s infamous Ford Bronco. Though there is no certain estimated value, Rick knew that it’d be worth a lot due to its iconic symbolism. However, they decided not to make the purchase, though the assumed value is anywhere from $300,000-$1,000,000!

Not every day will you come across an enormously heavy piece of wreckage that isn’t damaged, but that was the case with this 17th century shipping bell from the Dutch East India Trading Company. A woman brought this into the Harrison’s shop when it was cluttering her home, but after verifying its authenticity, she was happy to sell the item for $15,000.

One of the largest purchases in Pawn Stars history was not really an item at all. Instead, it was a whopping 200+ pounds of solid silver which a particular customer had been investing in for over a decade. The selling value stood at a gigantic $111,000, making it one of the largest single purchases ever at Gold & Silver. Now, the Harrisons are taking the material and forging it into minted coins that will have the Old Man’s face on them — retailing for $70 a piece.

Cars are always some of the most sought after items when presented to the pawn stars, so when a 1932 Lincoln Roadster turned up in the lot, it was hard to say no. The V-12, 150-horsepower engine only made the ride sweeter, so Rick decided that $95,000 was an appropriate price to pay in order to take the classic vehicle off the seller’s hands.

Vehicles carry some of the highest values of any of the purchases made on Pawn Stars, but when it’s a classic, the Harrison family will make a deal. This 1932 Custom Ford Roadster was in great shape, and the 500-horsepower antique had only 450 miles on it at the time. Though each side fought hard for their cause, they eventually came to terms with a $68,250 sale, making it one of the most expensive cars in the show’s history. But wait until you see the others.

At pawn shops, sometimes you have buyers who desire items you may not have yet. So when a particular customer came in looking for an authentic 1915 Panama Pacific Octagonal $50 gold coin and said he’d be willing to pay $70,000 for it, Rick didn’t hesitate. Instead, he traveled off to a popular coin auction and acquired two, selling one to the buyer for $67,500. Who knows what the second one went for!

Vic Flick is the guitarist who recorded the original James Bond theme, and when he brought in the same 1961 Fender Stratocaster that he played it on, Rick knew he had hit a gold mine. Thanks to the guitar’s condition and its historic significance in pop culture, Gold & Silver made the purchase for a lump sum of $55,000.

Les Paul is already famous enough for his contributions to guitar building, but when a customer walked in with a 1961 Gibson SG Les Paul Custom that was owned by Paul himself and his wife Mary Ford, you knew this would be a big sale. Though the seller wanted a hefty $250,000, the pawn stars, who are very familiar with the six-stringed instruments, were able to purchase it for $90,000. No small ticket price, but this isn’t even close to their most costly purchase.

Super Bowl rings are some of those interesting items that find their way into circulation, although no one really knows where they came from because there are always extras produced. When the Harrisons managed to get a New England Patriots championship ring from 2001, they only paid $2,600. However, the seller would probably be upset to know that it is now valued at more than $80,000.

After scoring this unique item in a poker game with his buddies, a man researched this high relief dollar to find out it was worth quite a lot. He assumed the $20,000 asking price he read online would be sufficient, but upon allowing an expert to come in and see it, everyone was amazed. This coin was in fact one of only 10 or so left in existence, valuing it anywhere between $50,000-$100,000! This forced Rick to make the purchase for $80,000, but it was likely a good investment, as the value is only bound to go up.

Olympic athlete Joe Green won the long jump gold medal in Barcelona in 1992 and again in Atlanta in 1996. But when Green decided to trade in his hardware for some fast cash, Rick wasn’t going to turn him down. Though their estimated value is $30,000, the Pawn Stars figurehead has promised to never offer them for sale.

Coins are some of the most valuable items on this planet, believe it or not, and when you find one from a historical time period, you’re in luck. When a woman brought in an eye-catching coin that she acquired through inheritance, she could tell it was old enough to be worth something. When an expert came in to evaluate the item, everyone had learned that it was worth a whopping $18,000! That’s because it dated back to 1715 and was forged in Peru.

Like diamonds, Rick is particularly successful at appraising Gibson guitars. Customers always enjoy bringing in instruments formerly owned by famous musicians, so when one seller brought in an acoustic that was previously owned by Stephen Stills of Crosby, Stills, and Nash, Rick was sold. Along with the bill of sale signed by Stills himself, the Pawn Stars ended up purchasing the guitar for a hefty $85,000.

This peculiar item looks ancient at first glance, but time only gives items like coins increased worth. The Greek Didrachm coin dates back to 325 B.C., and the actual present day value is heavily debated. It’s actually the oldest item ever purchased at Gold & Silver, and though Rick got it for a steal, there’s no telling how much the worth could be to the right collector.

Old books always have the potential to be worth something, but authentic religious texts are in a whole different category. When a seller walked in with a 5th edition of the Book of Mormon, it’s 1842 print date alone raised eyebrows. Rick decided to pay $24,000 for the text, and after having an expert evaluate its condition, they found out it carried a $40,000 price tag.

Everyone knows that sleuthing through a garage sale can land you some pretty random purchases, but you never know what things are worth until you consult an expert. This medallion was obtained at a yard sale for just 75 cents, but Rick knew it might be very valuable. Turns out he was right, as he bought the item for $6,000, and then found out it dated back to the Tsarist occupation of Poland, later selling the item for $30,000 — a 500 percent profit.

Though not everyone knows they have a special item on their hands, one seller walked into Rick’s store knowing he’d be leaving with some serious cash. The man owned one of former president John F. Kennedy’s personal cigar humidors, which almost certainly had to be worth a fortune. Though he asked for $95,000, Rick got him to settle for $60,000. The catch? A previous humidor owned by JFK sold at Sotheby’s auctions for a staggering $575,000, so put one in the win column for Gold & Silver.

When you find something that looks and feels like gold, it’s probably gold. That was the case for a seller who wandered over to Gold & Silver looking for an estimate on a bar he found in his attic. When an expert told them that it came from the wreckage of a 1554 Spanish vessel off the coast of Texas, everyone was shocked — so the Pawn Stars folk made the purchase for $35,000, while the approximate value currently sits at $50,000.

Like the other coins on this list, time equals an increase in value. For one patron at Gold & Silver, selling an 1800s No. 3 gold piece in mint condition offered quite a pretty penny. This particular one, which was from 1859, was valued at $2,650 — the most expensive coin in the store from the past 200 years.

One of Rick’s specialties as a pawn shop manager is evaluating diamonds, so he’s always keeping an eye out for promising jewels. When a customer came in with some high quality merchandise and all the info required, the middle Harrison bought them for $40,000. Little did he know that these particular earrings had been stolen, and he consequently forfeited up the money for no return, but unfortunately, that’s part of the pawning business.

The 1750 Blunderbuss is the oldest gun to ever be sold at Gold & Silver, and the seemingly priceless antique was a common weapon utilized during the Civil War. It was evaluated by an expert, and after discussing the gun’s current condition, it was decided that around $3,000 was the appropriate asking price.

Entrepreneur and race team owner Roger Penske teamed up with Hertz rental cars back in 2013, and the product they delivered was a limited edition Ford Mustang GT that was only manufactured 150 times. When the Harrisons saw yet another unique car that was only likely to come through their shop once, they decided to purchase it for a healthy $60,000.

If you’re not familiar with photogravures, they’re etchings of images in a copper plate that are then produced into intaglio prints with gelatin. Famous American photographer Edward Curtis specialized in crafting these, and when a woman brought some in, all she asked for was $50. Rick happily agreed, and when he researched to see who made them, he found out they were valued over $20,000!