'Pawn Stars' boss Rick Harrison calls antique silver toy fake — guest refuses to take his word on it
"Pawn Stars" guests usually give in to Rick Harrison's tough negotiation tactics, and many even walk away dejected when the pawn shop boss's experts reveal that an item is fake. But once in a while, guests refuse to believe that the item in their possession isn't the real deal.
One such seller came into the shop claiming that he had an ancient baby rattle with bells, a whistle, and a big chunk of pearl that was made of Sterling silver. The area with the pearl was what the babies would chew upon, according to the guest. Corey Harrison believed that was why people of that time had such bad teeth. The item certainly looked precious at first glance.
The guest believed that it was worth a few hundred bucks, but Rick Harrison was not going to make a deal until he was absolutely sure. He noticed that the item had the logo of a company called Gorham, which was one that made high-quality silver products in the 1800s in America. Harrison also believed that having a silver baby rattle certainly proved that the owner came from wealth. However, he needed to take a closer look.
Harrison pulled out a magnifying glass and immediately got to work. He observed the item minutely and pointed out a few things that he thought were irregular. One of those things was a pewter solder, which was made of copper and tin instead of silver. The reason he understood this was the green coloration on it. Sterling silver would never turn that color as far as he knew.
After a few moments, Harrison put the item down and delivered the bad news. “It’s fake,” he said, much to the surprise of the guest. “Pit marks everywhere. That is not the kind of thing you will find on Gorham ever. The hallmark on it is barely legible,” he explained. He also found discrepancies concerning the engravings on the rattle. Harrison’s philosophy was that if it did not look right, it probably was a fake.
Harrison maintained that there was perhaps $10 worth of silver, but mentioned that the big pearl, though inexpensive, was real. Either way, he was never going to make a deal for it. The guest had no choice but to leave disappointed. That did not mean he agreed with what he had heard. “I think he’s wrong because I think they wouldn’t put that big a piece of pearl on something that was fake,” he said.
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