'Pawn Stars' guest brings an incredibly rare book and Rick Harrison was ready to pay a fortune
Rick Harrison's negotiation style and eye for value in items brought by sellers have made "Pawn Stars" fascinating for fans. He always calls in an expert to be sure about the price of an item before negotiating. However, there are times when the experts have shared appraisals that caught Harrison off guard. When a guest brought "The Book of Mormon" to the pawn shop's table, the owner, Adam, was looking to get $25,000 for it. He was delighted when Rebecca Romney, manager of Bauman Rare Books of Vegas, told him that the item was worth $40,000 instead. In the end, Adam had his way by forcing Harrison to pay $24,000 for the item.
In the episode, Adam brought the book in a green cover as a surprise for Harrison. "The Book of Mormon is not just a book of theology. It's really a book that talks about the American Experience," he said in his interview. He told Harrison that his book was the fifth edition and the last one that was actually printed in Joseph Smith, the founder and Prophet of Mormonism's lifetime. "I mean, the Mormons were really important to American history. You know they started more or less the Westward expansion of the United States," he told Harrison.
He further shared that the book was printed in 1842, and there weren't many copies of the edition. He estimated that only 500 such books existed at the time, so he wanted to get at least $25,000 for it. "This book isn't just significant to Mormons. It's a unique historical document, and if there's one thing I know, you have to be extremely careful when you're buying books," Harrison noted. He then called in Romney to check out the item. "The Book of Mormon, Wow! This is actually really hard to find," Romney acknowledged as soon as she held the book in her hands. She explained that the Mormon movement was the largest and in some cases the most successful American experiment in utopian communities, and the book held great importance in that. "This is America's most successful homegrown religion, and this is the key text for that religion," she added.
Romney told Harrison that the book was by far the most valuable one she had ever come across at the pawn shop. She went on to add that the book was the fifth edition, and the following editions don't hold a ton of value because they're not the first. Coming to the appraisal, Romney said, "I would price this book at about $40,000."
After Romney left, Harrison hesitantly tried to negotiate, assuming that the asking price would have gone up. However, Adam stuck to his asking price of $25,000, and Harrison knew that he didn't have much wiggle room. "Can you give me a little and just let me do 24,000?" he begged the guest. Recalling his previous appearance on the show, Adam agreed. "You gave me an extra thousand last time, this time I'll give it to you," he said.
In the end, Adam expressed that he was happy with the deal, and he knew he would get a good price as soon as Romney appraised the item at $40,000.
