'Pawn Stars' guest stunned as Corey Harrison pays a fortune for 250-year-old book that cost her $1
The thrift store find turned out to be quite profitable for the seller named Kimberly.
Oct. 13 2025, Published 9:45 a.m. ET
While most sellers have a hard time getting their way on "Pawn Stars," one seller got exactly what she asked for after her 250-year-old book got a great review from Corey Harrison's expert. The owner of the antique book came in with an ask of $2,500, but the expert, Rebecca Romney, told her that it was worth more than that. Thus, Harrison spared the seller from the negotiation and paid up, but he was left in shock after finding that the seller paid only $1 for the book at a thrift shop.
In the episode, Kimberly brought the book to Harrison's table, claiming she had one of the most important books of the 1700s. "I have an antique 1765 medical book. It’s one of the first important psychiatry books of that era, and it was written by the physician, Robert White, to King George," she told Harrison. "Okay. It’s about psychiatry, so I’m sure that everything in this book is completely wrong from 250 years ago," Harrison joked in response.
However, Harrison noted that it was really cool. When asked where she got it from, Kimberly shared that she picked it up at a thrift store. "No matter what it’s worth, since you got it from a thrift store, I’m pretty sure it’s gonna be worth more than what you paid for," the pawn boss noted. The guest further explained that the item had an armorial bookplate of Sir Archibald Grant of Monymusk Bar, who was a great book collector in his time." So, coming from his collection with his bookplate in there is kind of neat. And then the second one is Dr. John Farquhar Fulton. Fulton is a renowned neuroscientist," she added.
Harrison then asked the seller for the price, and she told him that she was looking to get $2,500 for the book. The pawn boss then went on to call in the show's go-to book expert, Romney. Upon looking at the book, Romney noted that it was a significant piece. Robert White was one of the great medicine practitioners in 18th-century Edinburgh. Psychiatry as a discipline doesn’t really become a thing until about a century later, so he is really doing trailblazing work here," she explained. Coming to the condition of the book, she noted that there was some wear around the joints, but even with one of the earliest bindings, the book was still intact and in good shape.
Romney then looked at the bookplates and went, "Uh-oh". "So John Fulton was a historian who studied the history of science and published on it. He donated his book collection to the Yale Medical Historical Library. So when I see the bookplate of John Fulton, my first thought is, shouldn’t that be at Yale? But I see that there’s an inscription here, and it’s mentioning he’s gifting it to someone who donated Jonathan Knight’s copy of this edition to the Yale Medical Historical Library. So, because this person donated their copy, Fulton didn’t need to donate his copy to Yale," she explained to the guest's relief. She then went on to appraise the item at $3,200, which was more than the asking price.
Once the expert left, Harrison seemed eager to make a deal. "Well, I gotta say this rarely ever happens, but you came in and you asked for $2,500 bucks, and I’m more than comfortable giving you that," he said to Kimberly. The seller gladly accepted the deal and shook hands.
"I was actually a bit disappointed because I came to negotiate today. But since I got the price I was asking, I’m thrilled," Kimberly said in the end.
More on Market Realist: