'Pawn Stars' boss Rick Harrison decides to spend a whopping $40,000 on iconic singer's jacket
"Pawn Stars" fans know Rick Harrison as a shrewd negotiator who can bag precious items at low prices. However, sometimes he turns into a fanboy and agrees to pay top dollar if the collectible is linked to an iconic figure. One such item was a coat worn by "The King of Rock and Roll," Elvis Presley. When one of Harrison's regular customers, Erik, showed up with the Superfly Jacket worn by the star, the pawn shop boss offered him $40,000 to make a deal.
Erik got the famous coat from a museum that displayed Elvis Presley memorabilia, and he thought Harrison would be interested in having it. "This is Elvis's Superfly coat. It is one of the most iconic pieces of Elvis's wardrobe in the collector's market," he told Harrison as he placed the coat on his table. Erik came prepared with pictures and documents to show that it was the real deal. In his interview, Erik shared that Harrison was fair in his last deal with him, so he came back to the shop to make another.
"I bought this from Mike Moon, who owns the Elvis Presley Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. He had it on display in that museum for about 30 years, and Mike got it from JD Sumner, Elvis's base singer. I have a bill of sale from JD Sumner to Mike Moon listing several items, including this coat," he told Harrison.
While Erik had the proof, Harrison felt obligated to make sure everything was in order. Furthermore, when he heard that his customer was looking for $75,000, he promptly called in Jimmy Velvet, the founder of the Elvis Presley Museum. Upon walking in, Velvet shared that he worked closely with the artist, as he met him through his English teacher. "I used to own numerous Elvis museums around the country, five total, and I specialize in anything and everything," he shared in his interview. Harrison had two important questions for Velvet. First, if he had seen Presley wearing the coat, and second, how much did he think it was worth?
After taking a close look, Velvet confirmed that the coat was authentic, and he had personally seen the artist wear it. Since it was the real deal, the expert estimated that the item was worth anywhere between $55,000 to $60,000. Once Velvet left, Harrison asked his sidekick, Chumlee, to make an offer, and when he put up $40,000, Harrison went all in. However, Erik wasn't willing to go that low, and he countered with an asking price of $50,000. Harrison then played hardball with the customer, refusing to pay a dollar extra. After he almost blew the deal off, Erik succumbed to the pressure and accepted the deal.
"I thought Jimmy's appraisal of $50,000 to 60,00 was a little bit low. Prices now are a lot higher than they were back then," Erik said in the end. However, the seller was happy to walk out of the shop with some real cash.
