'Pawn Stars' boss Rick Harrison rejects a rare item from the Titanic as it's 'out of his price range'

Rick Harrison may be a shrewd negotiator, but he doesn't hesitate before shelling out big bucks for Holy Grail items when they turn up on "Pawn Stars." Although he has an eye for historic artifacts, sometimes a high appraisal for certain items, such as Pokémon cards, just doesn't make sense to him. One such item was a piece of metal from the Titanic, which was valued at almost $1.6 million. During a vacation in England, Harrison visited his friend Big Mark of Royal Pawns in the city of Chester to salvage some historic treasures, according to The Express. Mark showcased a rare collector's 'Holy Grail,' but that didn't impress Harrison. "We've got 2000 years of history. He's got nothing compared to us. Now I've got something here that will blow your socks off," the British collector gushed before unveiling the item. "This is what you've been looking for all your life. Remember that really famous ship that would never sink?" Mark hinted while displaying a rusty piece of metal carefully placed in a sophisticated ring box.

"It's absolutely beautiful. What is it?" Harrison joked. "Well, you think it's a piece of rusty metal, don't you?" Mark cut in. "Well, it is a piece of rusty metal," Harrison shot back, after which Mark revealed, "That's part of the Titanic's hull." A surprised Harrison asked, "Oh, the Titanic. That's it. So is this where it ran into the iceberg, or--," to which Mark responded, "No, the opposite side. The good side." "They sent down the little submarine, and it broke off a piece? It was a massive operation," he added.

"They sent down several submarines that broke off the big pieces, 20 tons, and brought them up. And then from the big piece, they took these samples off," Mark said, referring to the large-scale research-based expedition conducted by Michael Harris and Ralph White in 1987. It took 32 dives using the submersible Nautile to bring back 1,800 objects. The RMS Titanic wreckage is famously lying 12,500 feet (3,800 meters) deep on the ocean floor in the North Atlantic. Dubbed as the "unsinkable" ship, it struck an iceberg during its maiden voyage on the early hours of April 15, 1912, and sank, killing over 1,500 passengers. Since then, it has been part of various conspiracy theories and the subject of fascination for art and history dealers.

"So got all the paperwork for it. Not many people have touched that," Mark continued. "And it's amazing how much it's worth, because you just can't get it," he added, trying to entice Harrison with the pitch. "So is it for sale?" the "Pawn Stars" dealer inquired. His British counterpart then confessed to cracking a tempting deal for the rustic piece and offered to trade it for a fair price. "If you can beat it, you can buy it off me," Mark said. "I mean, I've never tried to research a piece of the Titanic," Harrison confessed.

However, his jaws dropped open when Mark revealed the whopping figure, "That is going to cost you 1.2 million pounds (~$1.6 million)," the British pawn dealer shared. "If you could make anything over 1.2 million, that's my offer over two days ago, 1.2 million pounds," he added. Harrison cleverly ignored the exclusive deal and politely requested to view other items. "Out of my price range. What do you got in like, rock and roll stuff? All I know is I'm not dropping 1.2 million pounds on a chunk of metal unless it's a really big chunk of gold," he concluded in jest.