'Pawn Stars' boss Rick Harrison turns down historic letter signed by JFK — all over just $1,500
He got an expert to inspect the letter as it was too good to be true that it had landed in his shop.
July 27 2025, Published 1:45 p.m. ET
John F. Kennedy is one of the most iconic and controversial Presidents of the United States, and "Pawn Stars" boss Rick Harrison is known to shell out generous amounts for memorabilia related to political personalities. This is why it was surprising that he let a letter signed by Kennedy go and that too over just $1,500.
The reason why this particular letter was so incredible is that it was written on August 27, 1963. This was the day before one of the biggest civil rights marches in the history of the country, led by Dr. Martin Luther King. It took place in Washington, and at the end of it, Dr. King delivered the iconic “I have a dream” speech.
In the letter, Kennedy had authorized the deployment of troops ahead of the march, but only for security purposes. The President had clearly written in the letter that he didn’t believe anything would go wrong and that the troops were to be there as a precautionary measure. The letter signed by Kennedy has a connection to one of the biggest events in American history. That seemed too good to be true for Harrison, and so he called in an expert.
The guest claimed to have the signature authenticated, but the pawn shop owner wanted one of his own trusted people to take a look at it. The first thing the expert did was check whether it was done with a pen instead of a stamp. Turns out that the President did not fancy signing his name on things unless they were extremely serious. This was one such case. After all, that march changed the course of American society.
Once it was confirmed that the signature was indeed done with a pen, it was time to compare it with other examples. The guest’s item passed with flying colors, and the expert bestowed a big compliment on it. “It’s real and it’s awesome,” he said, before adding “It’s probably one of the best Kennedy pieces I have ever seen.” Harrison knew that he was going to have to spend a lot of money to get this.
Surprisingly, when asked for a value, the expert said that the signature was a ten on ten and that it was worth $10,000. This was worth a third less than what the guest had asked for. Knowing Harrison, he would probably pay less than half of that. That’s exactly what he did as he offered $6,000 and then went up to $6,500. The guest wanted $8,000, but that was too high for the pawn shop owner.
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