'Pawn Stars' boss Rick Harrison pays $18,000 for rare book but won't buy George Washington's letter

Harrison chose to pass on the most important item of the collection for a strange reason.

PUBLISHED 3 HOURS AGO

Screenshots showing Rick Harrison negotiating a deal with the seller (Cover image source: YouTube/Pawn Stars)

A piece of paper may not seem worth thousands of dollars, but "Pawn Stars" boss Rick Harrison is known for his ability to identify value in seemingly common items. The ruthless negotiator once bought a book, which happened to be a piece of treasured literature, for $18,000 after haggling with his regular customer, Adam. While the book seller had a letter from George Washington on sale as well, Harrison chose to pass on that, as he felt it was "too rough" for his customers.

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

"I brought you three holy grails, three real treasures. The first one is a painting from a medieval book of hours, from about 1430. In the 19th century, the miniature paintings inside were recognized as true works of art," Adam shared as Harrison sat down to take a look at the collection. He then showed the pawn boss the "Book of Games" by Edmund Hoyle. "It's printed in Philadelphia in 1796, and that makes it the first book on card games printed in America," the seller added. He then came to the most interesting part of the collection, which was George Washington's letter.

Screenshot showing Adam talking about the collection to Harrison (Image source: YouTube/Pawn Stars)

"So this is a very important letter signed on September 15, 1792, in George Washington's hand, having to do with the Whiskey Rebellion," Adam said as he showed a beat-up and damaged letter, framed in glass. "Most people in this country don't know about the Whiskey Rebellion, which is like a really important part of American history," Harrison noted.

After talking about the rebellion and raising concerns over the condition of the letter, Harrison asked Adam for the price of the collection. When the seller told him that he was looking to get $45,000 for the three treasured items, Harrison wasted no time bringing in Stuart Lutz to authenticate and appraise the collection.

Screenshot showing Rick Harrison making a bid for the treasured documents (Cover image source: YouTube/Pawn Stars) — Screenshot showing Harrison looking at the seller (Cover image source: YouTube/Pawn Stars)

After looking at the letter first, Lutz asked Adam about who William Gray, the recipient of the letter, was. "William Gray was actually George Washington's Weaver. He obviously entrusted him with, you know, some important duties, so he was writing a proclamation for the Whiskey Rebellion in hand, and he needed Jefferson's signature, and he told Mr Gray with some urgency Get this to Jefferson to sign," Adam explained.

Lutz then went on to examine the letter by comparing the handwriting with the known authenticated documents written by hand by Washington. After raising concerns over the signature, condition, and size of the letter, Lutz did confirm that it was authentic. However, due to those factors, he estimated that the fair price for the document would be $25,000.

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

After the expert left, Harrison surprisingly made a pivot and chose to pass on the letter. "It's just for my customers, it's too rough," he reasoned. He then asked Adam for the price of the painting and the book, and the seller asked for $20,000. Harrison then haggled him down to $16,000, and they finally made a deal at $18,000 for the pair.