‘Pawn Stars’ boss Rick Harrison offers $5,500 for rare $1k bill — it still wasn't enough for the seller

The guest wanted $10,000 for the star note despite not knowing much about its valuation in the first place.

PUBLISHED 3 HOURS AGO

Screenshot showing the guest and Rick Harrison on "Pawn Stars." (Cover image source: YouTube | Pawn Stars)

A bill of a certain denomination isn’t always worth more than what’s printed, but that was the case in an earlier episode of "Pawn Stars." One guest had brought in a $1,000 bill and was offered more than $5,000 for it. However, he was still unwilling to part with it as it was way less than what he had expected to get. The weird part was that the guest had admitted to not knowing much about its valuation in the first place.

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A $1,000 bill isn’t something one sees today. This one was issued by the US government in the 1930s when owning gold was made illegal, and banks with large gold reserves had to sell them for cash. As a result, larger denominations were a necessity. The note that the guest brought was rather unique: it was a star note, which meant that there had been some issues with the printing press when this was being made.

The star on the note sat beside the serial number, meaning that it had some digits missing. Rick Harrison knew exactly what it was the moment he laid eyes on it, but was unsure of its value. The bill might have been laminated, but it had been folded and ironed out to make it look better. That would have affected its worth. The guest was also unsure about its worth but asked for $10,000.

Screenshot showing the bill on "Pawn Stars." (Image credit: YouTube | Pawn Stars)

That is a big sum of money, and the pawn shop owner was not going to even start a negotiation without having the bill checked out by an expert. He was quick about his business as he whipped out a small torch with which he examined the note. The fold in the middle was instantly evident, but apart from that, there were no major issues that might drastically affect its value.

“This is what we call about uncirculated. On a scale of one to 70, I put this right around a 50 to 53 range, which is probably the top 10%. The condition being so, I easily put this around $6,500 to $7,000,” he said. This was way less than what the guest had asked for. However, given the fact that he admitted to not having an idea about the bill’s value, one would think he’d be okay with a lesser amount.

Screenshot showing the expert examining the bill. (Image credit: YouTube | Pawn Stars)

Harrison offered him $5,500 to buy the bill, but the guest was dead set on what he had asked. He first said that he would take $10,000 for it, which is when Harrison had to explain that he also needed to make a profit, and there was no way he was going to offer more than what the expert believed it was worth. The guest might not be all that smart, as he then asked for $8,500. No deal was struck that day.