'Pawn Stars' guest brings a cigar box owned by JFK and Rick Harrison was ready to pay a fortune
Rick Harrison has sharp instincts when it comes to recognizing items that can be valuable, and when he isn't sure, the "Pawn Stars" host also calls in an expert. He has cut great deals that allow him to bag a good profit, but shelling out $60,000 for a box of cigars seems uncharacteristic of the cunning businessman. However, if the box came straight out of the Oval Office and that too from the collection of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, the deal seems like a steal. That's what happened when Harrison bought the box of eight hand-rolled cigars of the dynamic leader and later sold them off for a cool $75,000.
In the episode, the owner of the cigar box, Erik, walked into the pawn shop, looking to sell the item, and told Harrison that the item was personally used by Kennedy before his tragic assassination. It was one of the few items that were left behind by the beloved president. Harrison acknowledged how significant the box was as the former president was famously fond of his cigars. "I'm in the private museum, and I'm trying to raise money to get into a bigger facility. I'm asking $95,000, but I'm not sure how low I'll go," Erik said in his interview.
The owner explained that he got the box from a gentleman named Robert White, who had befriended Kennedy's personal secretary. "So I made a private deal with the White Estate to buy some of the items," he shared. Erik brought a copy of Cigar Aficionado magazine, which had pictures of the box. He told Harrison that the owner of the magazine paid half a million dollars for a similar box of the former president. "These are the ones that were left over. You know if he had lived, these would have been smoked," Erik said.
In his interview, Harrison mentioned that JFK absolutely loved his cigars, and to actually have a cigar box that sat on his desk is a thing that he could only "dream of." However, Harrison put his foot down during the negotiation, offering $50,000 for it. Erik wasn't willing to go any lower, and he countered with an offer of $70,000. Eventually, the two agreed to make a deal for $60,000. "I took sixty. It's fine because if I had put it in an auction, I would have had to wait about six months. We need money now to get this new facility, so I'm good," Erik said in the end.
In a later episode, a keen buyer came into Harrison's shop looking to buy the famous JFK Cigar Box. "I came to Vegas with my wife for a convention, and you know we always stop in the pawn shop just to look at the different historic things. When I first saw the cigar box, I really kind of wanted it," the buyer, Steve, said in his interview. After telling him the story and sharing the paperwork, Harrison demanded $80,000 for the item.
In the end, after a bit of heckling, Harrison settled for $75,000, making a $15,000 profit on the item. "It was pretty cool having JFK's cigar box in the shop, and I'm a little sad letting it go," the pawn shop boss said in the end.
