'Pawn Stars' guest feels robbed as Paul McCartney's guitar that she paid $12,000 turned out fake
Memorabilia related to rock stars has always been in demand among collectors and passionate fans. "Pawn Stars" boss Rick Harrison is not just interested in buying them to make a profit on such merch later, but he often comes across as a fanboy, too. Unfortunately for the seller named Erika, her collection of the band's autographed memorabilia turned out to be fake after an evaluation. While she initially asked $25,000 for the collection, she ended up leaving empty-handed, feeling robbed!
In the episode, the seller brought the encased collection to Harrison's table, looking to make a sale. "Here is a sunburst guitar signed by Paul McCartney, along with a Ringo signature, George Harrison signature, John Lennon's signature, and an unused concert ticket from August 18, 1966," she explained. She further shared that she got the collection at a charity auction for $12,000, but she didn't have the space to keep it anymore.
Harrison noted that the style of the guitar was popular back in the 60s, and the fact that it was potentially Paul McCartney's guitar made it worth a fortune. The pawn shop boss then asked for the price, and Erika told him that she was looking to get $25,000, as she got that estimate a few years ago for the collection. However, Harrison needed to authenticate all the items and the signatures before he could make a deal. Thus, he called in his guitar expert, Jesse Amoroso, and signature expert, Steve Grad, one by one to come take a look at the collection.
Amoroso was the first to come in to authenticate the guitar. He noted that it was the kind of guitar that McCartney plays to this date, and he did use German-made guitars as they were cheaper for the same quality. Coming to the item's authenticity, he said, "Paul has never played this as he's left-handed, this base is strong right-handed. It is set up right-handed, I mean, they didn't even take the little packing felt that they put underneath the bridge off of it. So it was probably for a charity or something, and he just grabbed it and signed it," Amoroso said. However, he added that if the signature was authentic, the guitar could still be worth a lot of money.
Thus, Harrison brought in Grad to see if Erika had something worth buying. Upon looking at the collection, Grad noted that it was a great display. He then pulled out known examples of the artists' signatures to compare them with the collection. "I know a Paul McCartney sonic guitar is a pretty rare thing. Usually, Paul McCartney keeps it simple, doesn't sign guitars in person, won't sign pieces of paper, usually keeps it to albums, CDs, or DVDs," he noted. He then went through John Lennon's signature and noted that it was too faded and lacked contrast. Going to Ringo Starr, he compared the autograph from a 2003 signature and expressed some concerns.
"I've got here the known stuff that's real. Looking at the piece here, in my judgment, sorry guys. It's not real," he told the seller and Harrison. He explained that the star in Ringo's signature didn't match, Lennon's autograph was totally different, and McCartney's signature didn't match either. "Easy, in my judgment, this piece doesn't pass," he said, calling it a manufactured memorabilia collection. Hearing the experts, Harrison called off the deal. "You know what? Hang it on the wall and tell people it's real," he joked with Erika.
In the end, the seller expressed her anguish, saying, "I'm so pissed right now. It literally felt like I was just robbed of $12,000."
More on Market Realist:
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