'Pawn Stars' boss Rick Harrison goes beyond the $1 million mark to buy a historical document
After years on "Pawn Stars," Rick Harrison understands the value of historical items and possesses the right skills to cut a good deal. But there are some rare finds that convince America's most famous pawn shop owner to go beyond the million-dollar threshold. One such item was an original copy of the Declaration of American Independence. Harrison went all the way to New York to take a look at the historic document, and eventually, he bought it for $1.45 million.
On his way to meet the owner, Harrison explained that there were only 20 original copies left in private hands, so he was excited to take a look at one of them. After meeting with Jeremy, who had the document framed and preserved, Harrison got his "wow moment" on the show. "This is an extremely rare July 1776 printing of the Declaration of Independence. This is absolutely amazing, I mean it's probably one of the coolest things I've ever seen in my career," he said.
The pawn shop boss further acknowledged the great condition of the document, already making up his mind to buy it. Jeremy then explained that the document was sourced from a private collection and had never been sold at a public auction, which made it highly sought after. Speaking on the provenance of the item, Harrison claimed that it was John Dunlop, a printer in Philadelphia, who first printed the copies of the document. "He goes out and basically takes a copy from Congress and writes it all out, then goes back to the shop, lays out his print, and starts printing these," he explained.
Harrison added that Dunlop estimatedly printed 200 copies, which were circulated across the country to spread the information. "When other printers around the country got a hold of them, they also made copies, and this is the New Hampshire one," he added.
"You can actually see the pinholes here in the corners, which indicates that it was displayed publicly. It'd probably hang for a week, and everyone would come by and look at it," he claimed. Harrison further explained that these copies were never made to be saved, but they somehow survived. "So as far as documents go, coolest thing I've ever seen in my career," he noted. He then asked Jeremy about the asking price of the item, and he told Harrison that he was looking for $2 million. "This was displayed at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. It's in exceptional condition, and extremely scarce," the owner reasoned. Harrison then called in his document expert, Seth Kaller, to come take a look at the item.
Kaller expressed that he was thrilled to see the historic document. "Normally I would have to take this out of the frame to authenticate it but I've actually seen this exact copy before," he shared. He then noted that the document had the same hallmarks as the other copies of the same broadside, which indicated that it was the real deal. "It's 100 legit absolutely. This particular one is a really beautiful copy, and it's just a wonderful broadside and important relic of history," the expert noted.
Coming to the appraisal, Kaller estimated that the document could fetch up to $2 million at an auction. "This is a fantastic rare earth-changing document. If Rick can purchase this I think it would be great for him," the expert later said in his interview. After hearing the appraisal, Harrison made an offer of $1.4 million for the document, reasoning that he would have to pay a hefty fee to get it to an auction and there would be promotional costs as well. Considering the fees, Jeremy agreed to come down to $1.5 million. However, Harrison countered with $1.45 million. Jeremy accepted the offer, and the two struck a historic deal for the show.
"Oh my goodness! I own the Declaration of Independence! Cue in the fireworks!" Harrison exclaimed in the end.
