'Pawn Stars' boss Rick Harrison offers just $400 for a map that the guest hoped to sell for $15,000
Sellers on “Pawn Stars” may walk in expecting big bucks for vintage items, but Rick Harrison likes to play hardball and squeeze out deals at the lowest prices possible. Sometimes, guests get close to what they ask for, but mostly, Rick Harrison doesn’t budge. When a guest walked in with a huge map, claiming that it charted the discoveries made by the famous British sailor and explorer, James Cook, Harrison caught him off guard with a $400 offer.
Harrison loved the map and knew a fair bit about Cook as well. He revealed how sailors back then used longitudes to sail around the world, and Cook had done it three times. The map looked great, and the guest had asked for $15,000 for it, but Harrison didn't even offer $500.
The worst thing about the item was that someone had stuck a label on the map with glue before giving it to the guest. There was also some spillage and discoloration, and a break where the map had been folded. Harrison decided to call in an expert before getting into any negotiation, as he wanted to make sure that this was a first-edition print.
The expert, Mark Hall-Patton, said, “Captain Cook was amazing,” before adding, “He was attempting to claim parts of the world for England.” The expert revealed that the map was one from the second printing of the voyages. Hall-Patton also saw the condition of the map and raised a number of flags about it. The glued-on label was the absolute worst.
“This is bad. The fact that somebody glued this label on here. You’d want to have a conservator take a look at it, and that’s going to have some expense involved in it,” he explained. That was perhaps what stopped Harrison from offering anything more than $400. The pawn shop owner did not believe he’d get more than $2,000 for the map even after getting the damage fixed.
The response from the guest was swift and decisive. “I mean, I’m definitely interested in getting a good number for it. You know, nothing around $400 I would take,” he said. Rick Harrison knew that there was no point in negotiating and let the deal go. The guest admitted to being surprised by the low valuation.
James Cook traveled to and discovered these locations and staked a claim for the British on these places. Cook also drew a lot of criticism in recent times for killing the indigenous people in these places.
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