'Pawn Stars' guest once offered to buy dinner for Rich Harrison if he agreed on a certain price
The pawn shop owners on "Pawn Stars" are difficult men to negotiate with, as they squeeze out any profit that they can from a deal, but while people have tried to tempt them with iconic items, sweetening the deal with dinner is unheard of. Sir Isaac Newton is considered one of the greatest scientists of all time, and anything he owned or was part of his work is a valuable treasure. Richard Benjamin Harrison and Chum Lee knew this when they laid eyes on a book that supposedly belonged to Newton, in an earlier episode of “Pawn Stars.”
The guest claimed that the book was printed in the year 1546 and belonged to the late great scientist. It was about geology. Not many people might know that Newton had an affinity towards the subject despite it being different from his field of choice. The guest found the book with his father’s things, wrapped in bubble wrap, inside a box. As a result, it was in fantastic shape, especially given how old it was. Harrison wanted to be absolutely sure that the book was once owned by Newton. He did call in an expert, but before that, he asked the guest what made him so sure that it belonged to the scientist. “If we open up the front cover, this is the bookplate for Isaac Newton. It shows the case location in Barnsley Park, which was in England. And these turned corners are a thing Isaac Newton did to a lot of his books when he wanted to save a page,” he said.
This was somewhat convincing, but the senior Harrison still called in an expert, as he had no clue about the value of the item. His name was Gary, and after inspecting the book for a while, he said that there was some bad news. The book was not in its original condition and had been restored. He suggested that the restoration work might have taken place in the 1700s, around 150-200 years after the book was published. However, he also confirmed what the guest had known all this while. “The bookplate is from Newton’s library,” he said, before adding, “This number here, J9-S7, was Newton’s shelf number where he would have stored the book.” Gary confirmed its authenticity, and that came as a big relief to the guest who was looking a little concerned. He also said that the book would retail for $20,000.
Once Harrison was convinced that he had the real thing in front of him, it was time to negotiate. He said he could pay the guest $5,000. This was too little, and the book owner asked for $7,000. “If I give you seven for it, I won’t have money for dinner tonight,” Harrison said. “You give me seven for it, I’ll buy you dinner,” the guest responded.
The “Pawn Stars” host knew that he could go no lower than that and wanted the Newton-owned book in his store, so he agreed. “Sounds like a plan,” he said, and the deal was sealed.
