ECONOMY & WORK
MONEY 101
NEWS
PERSONAL FINANCE
NET WORTH
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Use DMCA Opt-out of personalized ads
© Copyright 2023 Market Realist. Market Realist is a registered trademark. All Rights Reserved. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.
MARKETREALIST.COM / ECONOMY & WORK

'Pawn Stars' guest walks in with Albert Einstein's rare handwritten note but failed to strike a deal

Despite confirming its authenticity, Harrison had a tough time closing the deal due to the estimate.
PUBLISHED MAY 16, 2025
Screenshot showing Rick Harrison looking at the document (Cover image source: YouTube | Pawn Stars)
Screenshot showing Rick Harrison looking at the document (Cover image source: YouTube | Pawn Stars)

A diverse range of items from collectible action figures to vintage swords and guns hidden in furniture have appeared on "Pawn Stars" over the years. Once in a while, America's most famous pawn shop also sees something that has immense historical significance. Among them, "handwritten math" from Albert Einstein himself stands out. The owner of the item, Justin, walked into the shop with no proof but a piece of laminated paper and asked for $18,000. Harrison's expert authenticated the item, but he cut the price drastically, which led to the owner walking out of the shop without a deal. 

Screenshot showing Harrison posing with the item (Image source: YouTube/Pawn Stars)
Screenshot showing Harrison posing with the item (Image source: YouTube/Pawn Stars)

In the episode, Justin showed the piece of math to Harrison, and the pawn shop boss immediately started 'geeking out. "I did some research, and I found out it was one of the rarest things that you can get," Justin told Harrison. Looking at the note, Harrison estimated that it was pre-1929, as it had the 'cosmological constant'. "He (Einstein) had to come up with this whole massive, crazy equation called the cosmological constant sort for the theory of relativity. Then Hubble came out in 1929 and found out that the universe is expanding and not stagnant, so he didn't need the entire equation for the cosmological constant, and therefore that went away, and the symbol has not been used since the 1920s," Harrison explained. 

Screenshot showing the document (Image source: YouTube/Pawn Stars)
Screenshot showing the document (Image source: YouTube/Pawn Stars)

After learning that Justin was looking for $18,000, Harrison noted that the document wasn't signed, so he needed an expert to authenticate it. Upon walking in, the expert noted that similar items of the Nobel Prize winner had sold for upwards of $50,000 as they are rare to come by. He then closely looked at the handwritten piece to check for its authenticity. "I basically want to do is just kind of go over the ink itself, looking for the fountain pen. As we know, fountain pen was pre-World War two, and after World War two, there was a lot of ballpoint pens," he explained. He then noted that the piece was written in a fountain pen, and the handwriting also matched that of Einstein. "I'm familiar with this type of piece, so I have no problem with its authenticity," he told Harrison. Coming to the appraisal, the expert estimated that the item could be worth about $5,000, which was significantly less than the owner's asking price. 

Screenshot showing the expert talking to Justin (Image source: YouTube/Pawn Stars)
Screenshot showing the expert talking to Justin (Image source: YouTube/Pawn Stars)

As soon as the expert walked out, Rick started the negotiations. He offered Justin, who was still recovering from the low appraisal, $3,000 for the piece. The owner noted that anything he saw on the market was in the range of $15,000 to $18,000, so he couldn't go that low. He countered with an ask of $14,000. "It's not going to take much space in the shop," he reasoned. Harrison told him that it was going to take up space, as he would need to frame it with a picture of Einstein and put it up on a wall. In the end, they couldn't agree on the value, and the deal fell apart.



 

"Obviously, a deal's not gonna be made because we're really far apart," the pawn shop owner said, and Justin walked away.

MORE ON MARKET REALIST
Greiner's investment in EverlyWell turned out be a milestone as the company is now worth billions.
15 hours ago
The guest's grandmother had a chance meeting with the artist while she was vacationing in Jamaica.
16 hours ago
While Robert Herjavec got to show off his surfing skills, it was Mark Cuban who bagged the deal.
18 hours ago
The seven-time NASCAR champion authenticated an autograph he had done on the car's dashboard.
19 hours ago
The entrepreneur was helping underpaid coffee farmers in her home country make some good money.
20 hours ago
The painting was the artist's take on a scene from the 1966 Batman movie starring Adam West.
21 hours ago
The wrestler was delighted to get his trunks back after years and promised to buy Harrison a meal.
1 day ago
The contestant was silent as the clock was ticking, and the answer accurately described the situation.
1 day ago
Since the entrepreneur shared that she made $260,000 in hours, the sharks were convinced she didn't need them.
1 day ago
The item was a painting from the set of the original "Blade Runner" film, that's popular even today.
1 day ago
They were asking for a massive $20 million valuation, which put a lot of the sharks off at first.
2 days ago
The guest had no idea what the bottle was worth or even what was paid for it when it was bought.
2 days ago
It was a talking Ewok telephone toy that a guest had wanted $175 for
2 days ago
The entrepreneur's wit was one of the things that impressed sharks and got him a deal.
2 days ago
Fans of the show took to X to express their surprise as the contestant did something no one expected.
2 days ago
The host usually speaks highly of the show but not everything about it is perfect.
3 days ago
It was surprising to see Harrison pay that much money for a poster, but it was a special one.
3 days ago
The guest was not expecting such a high valuation and couldn't help but laugh about it.
3 days ago
Clearly, Chumlee was a pro-wrestling fan in his younger days and still had a lot of that energy.
3 days ago
He could have taken his new car to his Costco adventures but that is not going to happen.
4 days ago