Pawn Stars shop owner Rick Harrison rolled the dice when a seller walked into Gold & Silver Pawn Shop with a 1500s flintlock rifle. Harrison told the seller that the firearm had the “oddest firing system I have ever seen on a gun” and admitted that he may not have the right expertise to place an accurate value on the piece. But unfortunately, all of his gun experts were out of town at the time of the exchange.
With a rusted barrel and beaten-down stock, the gun certainly wasn’t in prime condition. However, Harrison did recognize that the piece held history within its workings. So, the Pawn Stars shop owner did something completely out of his character – he made an offer without any consultation or knowledge.
Originally, the seller had asked for $1,000 for the rifle, and perhaps if it was in better condition, he may have received this amount. With the amount of damage, though, Harrison thought it was only worth $500. After only a moment of consideration, the seller shook hands with the pawnshop owner and walked out with $450 more than he had initially paid when he got the rifle.
Take a look at the historic firearm below.
Once the Pawn Stars cast member had the flintlock rifle in his possession, he decided to do some research of his own. Prior to the sale, Harrison recognized the seller from a past deal in which he sold an expensive, gigantic pair of binoculars. Trusting that this new piece would be worth the effort, too, he didn’t feel the need to dig through the books until after he handed the seller the cash.
But, as Harrison soon found out, this was a pretty big mistake.
‘Pawn Stars’ Historic Firearms Expert Reveals Actual Value of Flintlock Rifle
After some heckling from both his father and son, Harrison finally decided to call firearm expert Jemison into the Pawn Stars shop. Once Jemison held the rifle in his hands, he knew the exact history of the piece. According to the expert, the rifle was, indeed, from the 1500s as the seller had estimated. It was previously a rifle from Europe, but once the technology of the 1600s made the firing mechanism obsolete, the Europeans traded the old-style firearms to African tribes for spices and other goods.
As interesting as the history may be, the value was not so enticing. Not surprisingly, the condition of the rifle knocked the price down quite a bit. The Pawn Stars guest expert stated that not many collectors would be interested in the historic firearm in such a state, so the value only ended up being $400 to $500 at the most.
After finding out that he wouldn’t be making a profit off of the piece, Harrison decided to hang the rifle on his wall as decoration instead.
