'Pawn Stars' boss Rick Harrison makes a sweet profit in an item that was once considered illegal
Rick Harrison is very shrewd when it comes to getting a good deal for rare and vintage items on "Pawn Stars," but sometimes he needs more than just an expert's opinion on the price of an object. When a "beer barrel" and "an alcohol meter" from the prohibition era showed up at Harrison's table, the pawn shop boss was worried about getting in trouble for buying something illegal. Nevertheless, he found the items too cool to let go and bought them for $1,400. Not only was he safe from the law, but Harrison turned in a $600 profit on the items as well.
The guest named George brought the two vintage brewing items to the famous pawn shop in Vegas. "I got the beer barrel and the alcohol meter from my grandfather after he passed. I know it was old and worth something, so I just held on to it for a while. I'm looking to get about $2,000. The lowest I'll take, close to about $1,400," he said in his interview.
As soon as Harrison saw the barrel, he noted it was from the Harvard Brewing Company. "This is pretty neat. Harvard Brewing Company was right outside of Boston, I think it was," he said. He explained that when the American government banned alcohol, the Harvard Brewing Company faced financial hardships. So they came up with the idea of illegally making beer and labeling it as near beer. "And they got away with it for a while, until the feds showed up at their brewery. The government took the brewery. But this is the crazy thing: the government continued to make beer. And it eventually went broke," Harrison said.
Coming to the alcohol meter, Harrison accepted that he had no idea of how it worked, or how valuable it was. Thus, he asked George how much he was looking for the pair. The guest quoted an asking price of $2,000, which seemed too high to Harrison. He countered with an offer of $1,200, but George wasn't willing to go that low. Harrison then went up to $1,400, and the guest accepted the deal.
In a rare occurrence, Harrison took the items to an expert after the deal was made. "I have a friend down in San Diego who is a brewmaster, so he's going to know what these things are worth. And maybe I can sell 'em to him and make a little money," he said. Harrison then took the items to Pete Zien of The AleSmith Brewing Company for him to take a look. The beer expert quickly assembled the alcohol meter and noted that it was in pristine condition. "I imagine that it would dictate the dollar amount at the higher end of the spectrum," he estimated.
He expressed that the barrel was one of the thickest he had ever seen, which meant it was quite old. "You know, back in the old days, these things found their way onto ships. They were-- being on railroads, so they were hardy. They would reuse these over and over again as well," he explained. Coming to the appraisal, Zien estimated that the meter alone would be worth over $700. Since the barrel was from the pre-prohibition era and had survived for a long time, he estimated that the two items were worth $2,000.
After making a $600 profit, Harrison said, "You know what? And they're going to look great in my bar," in the end.
