'Pawn Stars' guest wanted $50,000 for Prince's tambourine, but Rick Harrison thought otherwise

While the seller was confident that the instrument was ever so valuable, Harrison begged to differ.

PUBLISHED OCT 1, 2025

Screenshots showing the seller and Rick Harrison on the show (Cover image source: YouTube/Pawn Stars)

Sellers often come to "Pawn Stars" with memorabilia linked to legendary musicians, and end up making outrageous demands while seeking a fortune for such vintage items. One such guest was Justin, who asked $50,000 Rick Harrison for a tambourine that he claimed was owned, used, and signed by singer-songwriter and musician, Prince. While the seller was confident about his estimate, Harrison had two experts take a look at the item and finally made $6,000 offer, which wasn't enough to make a deal.

Screenshot showing Rick Harrison talking to the seller (Image source: YouTube/Pawn Stars)

"It was used by Prince from the 1985 Purple Rain tour. My wife has had it since she was 12. We’ve had it hidden away in a cabinet. I’ve done some research but haven’t found anything exactly like it," the seller said in his interview. "Everything about Prince is just amazing. He had a ton of hits," Harrison noted, before adding, "Everybody was shocked when they found out Prince was dead. He’s one of those people who’ll still be remembered 50 years from now."

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

The seller then showed Harrison the paperwork, which came from Thomas Race, who was a sound engineer at one of Prince's concerts. However, the letter was a Xerox copy, which made Harrison a bit anxious. Things got even more shocking when Justin demanded $50,000 for the item. Hearing this, Harrison wasted no time getting on a call with his expert, Warwick, to make sure it was the real deal. Showing the item on a video call, Harrison asked the expert for his thoughts on the item and the price. After looking at all the elements, the expert confirmed that the instrument was from Prince's 'Purple Rain Tour'. However, he told Harrison that the item wasn't nearly worth $50,000, as a similar instrument had been auctioned before for $5,000 to $6,000. "But it wasn’t signed. So at auction, yours may get as much as $10,000," he told Harrison.

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

The pawn shop boss then needed to make sure if the signature was legitimate, and so he called in his autograph expert, Steve Grad. "The thing about Prince is that he was hard to get close to, so his autograph is tough to acquire. A lot of warning signs go up when I see one, because there aren’t many out there," Grad mentioned before taking a look. However, after examining the signature and comparing it with known examples, Grad confirmed that the signature was good too. Subsequently, Grad apprised the item at $10,000 as well.

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

After the expert left, Harrison kicked off the negotiations. "Okay, so $50,000 is not going to happen. What’s your best price?" he asked Justin. The seller told the pawn shop boss that he wasn't willing to go below $10,000. However, Harrison reasoned that he had to make a profit on it too, so the best he could do was $6,000. Justin refused to budge, and the deal fell apart.