'Pawn Stars' guest brings a WWII code breaker machine but Rick Harrison just couldn't afford it
Almost anything from Pokémon cards to music memorabilia and vintage weapons ends up on "Pawn Stars," but it's hard to imagine a World War II German Enigma coding machine in a pawn shop. When a guest brought the infamous German machine to Rick Harrison's table, the pawn shop owner tried his best to make a lucrative deal. However, when the owner refused to budge from his asking price of $149,300, despite a low appraisal, Harrison regretfully had to let the item go.
In the episode, Harrison was amazed from the get-go after coming across the historical device. "An Enigma. These are amazing. I've seen pictures of them. I've read about them. I've never actually seen one in person. I mean, this thing was responsible for the rise and the fall of the entire German war machine," he said. The owner explained that he and his father run an Enigma museum, and he came across the rare item while on a treasure hunt. Harrison then explained the significance of the item, saying, "During World War II, if a German commander wanted to send a secret message to his troops out in the field, this is what he used. And the Germans thought this machine was completely unbreakable. I'm surprised any of them survived."
The owner claimed that there were only three such machines on public display at the time, as the German soldiers during the war were instructed to destroy the machines in the field to prevent them from falling into enemy hands. "So more often than not, they are in horrendous condition," he said. He further shared that his machine was also restored with new parts and a reproduction box.
"Cracking the Enigma code was one of the top projects of World War II. It took years to do it. But in the end, it did save millions of lives. I really want this thing, but I've never had one in my shop," Harrison said excitedly before asking the owner for the price. His excitement dimmed down a bit after the guest asked $149,300 for the item. "I need someone to look at it. I'm out. My big problem is, I've seen them sell for $200,000. I've seen them sell for $30,000, and you look at them, they all look the same," Harrison noted before calling in his military items expert, Wil Willis. The expert also acknowledged the rarity of the item as soon as he walked in. "It is a really cool thing, and it's really significant," he noted. "And it was critical to us, the Allied Forces, to be able to decipher these messages. And when we decrypted the machines, they shortened the war by two years," he explained.
Willis then went on to examine the item to arrive at a fair value. He noted that the rotors were added to the machine, and while they had similar serial numbers, they didn't match with the machine itself. Furthermore, the box wasn't original either, which was a crucial factor that determined the price. In the end, Willis estimated that all in, the item would be worth about $70,000. "Well, the most expensive one that ever sold was for $200,000, and that one was in a movie. I think the fair price is $70,000 for everything," he said.
However, the owner was visibly upset at the appraisal as he thought his asking price was more than fair. But Willis disagreed with him, and once the expert left, Harrison sided with him. "I'm going to go with Wil on this one. I'd give you 50 grand for it," Harrison said. However, the guest was only willing to go down to $115,000, thus, Harrison had to let the deal go.
"This sucks because the likelihood of another one coming in my shop is not good. But we were over 60 grand apart, and that's way too much ground to even try and cover," Harrison noted in the end.
