Pawn Stars s03e03 Episode Script
Gold Diggers
On this episode of Pawn Stars The Marilyn Monroe Playboy.
This is amazing.
This is the most collectible issue of Playboy ever.
This is the one everybody wants.
Really? I got something I think is very valuable.
It's a whale's tooth.
Having an authentic piece of 19th -century scrimshaw is unbelievable.
The thing is, there's a lot of fakes of these.
Got a couple Civil War guns.
The problem is, when you get into this era of guns, it's the stupidest little things that make it worth money or not worth money.
I'm Rick Harrison, and this is my pawn shop.
I work here with my old man and my son, Big Hoss.
Everything in here has a story and a price.
One thing I've learned after 21 years, you never know what is gonna come through that door.
Hey, how's it going? Good.
Good.
I have something I think you might be interested in.
It's the very first issue of Playboy, volume one, issue one.
Okay.
Marilyn Monroe Playboy.
Awesome.
[Wolf whistle.]
I came to the pawn shop today to try and sell my first issue of Playboy magazine, the Marilyn Monroe issue.
It's not a copy.
This is a genuine first edition.
I'd like to get $2,000 for the magazine, but don't tell him I will take probably $1,600 if I can get it.
So where did you get this? Well, my father bought it back in 1953.
And then before he passed away, he gave it to me.
This was the very first Playboy, and I truly believe that if Marilyn wasn't in the first issue, I don't know if it would have lasted much longer.
This is what lit the whole thing on fire.
This is amazing.
This is the most collectible issue of Playboy ever.
Most Playboys are worth a few bucks.
This is worth a few thousand.
Do you know how Marilyn Monroe ended up in this magazine? No, I don't.
In 19 I think it was '47, Marilyn Monroe, then Norma Jean, needed some money, and she wasn't a star yet, hadn't been in any movies.
She got paid some money to do some nude photographs.
Well, 1952 comes along, and she gets a movie deal.
Later in the year, the photographer who took the pictures looked at a movie poster, going, "oh, my gosh, I think I have pictures of her.
" And he ended up selling the pictures to Playboy magazine.
Okay, the studios thought it was just gonna ruin her.
It was gonna ruin the movie.
But the great thing was, Marilyn, she just played it off, and she just went, "yeah, that was me.
You got to buy the magazine.
" That's wild.
The thing you have to remember: This was the '50s.
Just a few months earlier, she was getting criticized for the pictures she took during the 1952 miss America pageant for her low neckline.
Just imagine what people thought when they saw that picture in that magazine of her on the red velvet.
These are really collectible.
I mean, if you collect Playboys, this is the one everybody wants.
What were you looking to do, pawn it or sell it? I'd like to sell it.
And what do you want for it? Uh, $2,000.
Dollars? Dollars.
Yes, sir.
Um, I'm thinking closer to $1,000.
I think $1,000 is a little low.
Might go $1,600.
What do you think we should pay for it, chum? I can buy a new one right now for 6 bucks.
[Laughter.]
Full color.
I mean, I'll cut to the chase.
I'll give you $1,400 and not a dime more.
Okay, I'll go for it.
Thanks.
God, you have great negotiating skills.
[Laughter.]
I know.
I generally don't like buying magazines because they're hard to sell, but this is awesome.
I could probably double or triple my money on this, but I think I'm gonna keep it in the case for a while, because it's gonna bring people in the door.
How you doing today? Hey, what's up? I got something I think is very valuable.
I want you to take a look at it.
It's a whale's tooth.
It's part of a whale's tooth.
Well, it looks like it's worth a lot of money to me now.
[Ship bell tolling.]
I decided to come into the pawn shop today to sell this whale's tooth that I bought.
I paid $100 for this tooth.
My wife is sure that I paid too much money for it.
For all the guys out there, I'm trying to prove my wife wrong for once in my life.
She said, "don't buy it.
" I bought it.
And I think it's worth some money.
This is called scrimshaw, and what it is, is it's an art form they used on the ship.
What sailors did was, is when they had a little downtime, they would take the whales' teeth, and they would carve things on it.
Okay.
This right here says the "ship midas," which is probably the whaling ship they were on.
Whaling voyages could last for years at a time.
Just imagine being out in the middle of nowhere for that long.
So engraving whales' teeth is something they would do to pass the time.
It's a real whale's tooth.
I can tell you that.
Okay.
The thing is, there's a lot of fakes of these.
It's sort of an odd fake, okay? They actually take a real whale's tooth, and they engrave these scenes on them.
And then they date them from, like, the 1800s like this a take $100 worth of whales' teeth and turn it into a $1,500 antique.
Okay.
Like I said, the only thing I can tell you for sure is, it's whale's tooth.
I just don't know how to authenticate the art.
Okay.
All right? I really just want someone to look at it.
I have a friend who knows about this kind of stuff.
So let me call him up, and I'll give you a call when he gets here.
Okay.
Appreciate that.
Okay, you give him a call.
Want you guys to say hello to my little friends.
Haven't I seen you here before? Yes.
Okay.
What do we got this time? Got a couple Civil War guns.
Okay, so when you were in the military, did you use one of these? No.
[Laughter.]
I'm back in the pawn shop today to try to sell my two Civil War guns.
I did some research online, and I found out one of the guns is a burnside gun that was used in the Civil War.
These are fantastic weapons.
I'm not gonna sell them for anything less than $20,000.
I came here to make some money.
And I'm in Vegas.
I'm gonna make money.
[Gun clicking.]
How did you acquire these, son? I bought them from a friend of the family who was an estate collector.
Okay, burnsides, they were used in the Civil War.
Okay, this comes down like this, and the projectile, everything goes in there.
How long would it take to load and fire it? Oh, they get pretty fast with these things.
Yeah, you could probably get, like, 12, 15 rounds a minute.
Really? They were fast.
And it was just pull and point, right? No, these things, you could aim these.
They were pretty accurate? Yeah.
It wasn't like the revolutionary war where there was no rifling, really.
'Cause in the revolutionary war, you know when they say, "ready, aim, fire"? Mm-hmm.
They never said that.
Really? They said, "ready, level, fire.
" [Laughter.]
The burnside was a common gun during the Civil War.
But they were taken out of service right after the war, making it a very collectible piece.
This one, I'm sort of clueless.
It's a trapdoor gun, but right around the civil war, right after the Civil War, there was a lot of experimentation with the trapdoor gun.
And a trapdoor eventually ended up becoming standard U.
S.
military issue.
So that's all I can tell you about it.
I see strange guns come in the store all the time.
Ever since the first guns were made, people have been experimenting, trying to improve the design and functionality.
Some, like Samuel colt, hit it out of the park.
Others, there's a reason you never heard of them.
Okay, what are you wanting to do now, guy? I'd like to sell them.
Okay, well, they're in great shape.
The problem is, when you get into this era of guns, it's the stupidest little things that make it worth money or not worth money.
Some are worth a lot more than others.
That's what that one is.
Okay.
We don't know what we got here.
Why don't you just call Sean in? Okay, let me call somebody up.
I'll see if I can get him down here, okay? Sounds good.
Thanks.
This is what I called you about.
If it's 1824, it's the earliest whaling item that I've ever seen.
Oh, now we're talking.
It's Buddy Zoloth's address book.
It's an address book of all the rock and roll stars in the '60s.
Elton John, Pete Townshend, Neil young.
You name it.
They're in here.
Okay, well, let's call up Neil young.
[Line ringing.]
Earlier today, a guy came in with a pair of guns: A Civil War burnside and a strange trapdoor that looked like someone's experiment.
I need to know more before I can make an offer, so I called in my buddy Sean to take a closer look.
I own tortuga trading incorporated, and I specialize in antique arms and armor, and I cater to collectors and museums.
These are what I called you about.
Okay, well, where do you want to begin? I don't know.
Where do you want to begin? The one I want to focus on is this one.
Excellent.
This one I could just tell is a nice Civil War carbine.
These were .
54 caliber.
.
54 caliber? .
54 caliber.
Wow.
These two guns are carbines.
The difference between a carbine and a musket is just that it's shorter, and they were generally designed for cavalry.
This is for the saddle ring.
You know, 'cause these were mounted cavalry units that had these guns.
So there'd be a leather lanyard Oh, really? Attached to this.
The horse is galloping.
You're bouncing around.
You need every little edge you can.
And mind you, these are single-shot guns.
So you had to reload and then fire on horseback, and that could be really difficult.
The mechanics look great.
Markings are all there.
It's a really nice gun.
Thank you.
But this one has got me a little puzzled.
I can just tell you by the technology that it's not Civil War period.
See this piece right here? Mm-hmm.
This is actually the firing pin.
So this would actually take a cartridge.
And even though they did have cartridge guns towards the end of the Civil War, it wasn't a mass availability of that type of weaponry.
You know, and after looking at this, if you see right here in the stock, if you look real close, there's a spliced-in piece of wood.
This is telling me that this originally was a much longer gun and then arsenal modified to become a carbine.
Wow.
And I'm gonna say this was probably experimental during the period, because everybody was experimenting with this technology.
So the big question: What are they worth? Let's start with the burnside, 'cause this is kind of an easy one.
The high side, I'm gonna say anywhere from $3,500 to $5,000.
$5,000? Yeah.
Yeah.
This one, I'm just guessing.
I'm gonna say probably $1,500 to $2,000 just as is.
But I think that this one needs to be further researched.
Good.
Thank you.
All right.
Thanks for coming in, Sean.
Absolutely.
Thank you, Sean.
Let's just start off with a few things.
This one, I don't even want.
It's gonna be a nightmare to sell a gun when they say, "what is it?" And you go, "I don't know.
" Do some research.
Figure out what it is.
And then maybe we can talk.
Okay.
So what do you want for this thing? Realistically, I'd take, you know, $3,500 for the gun.
There's no way.
I'd give you 1,500 bucks for it.
$1,500? We don't work for charity.
Well, then let's start at $2,500.
I mean, literally, 1,500 bucks is what I can do on it.
$1,750.
$1,250 would be better.
Well, I better take the $1,500 before the old man knocks me down even more.
All right, $1,500.
$1,500.
Thanks, guy.
Thank you.
They really took it to me today.
What are you gonna do, you know? I thought the guns were worth 20 grand.
I'm leaving with $1,500.
It's not a good day.
Now I got to go take it and roll it, turn that $1,500 into 20 grand.
Hi, guys.
Hey, how can I help you? I'm here to sell my Where in the world did you get this? I got it off of a guy in Montana.
I guess he got it from when he was stationed.
Was he really old? Yeah.
As old as him? If you're older than 90.
No, I'm not 90.
Just looks it.
Oh, watch it.
I come here to the pawn shop today to sell my 1940s foxhole lighter.
The reason why I want to sell it is because it was sitting in a drawer.
Nobody gets to see it.
I think this lighter is worth $100.
So that's what I'm gonna try to get today.
Let me see.
"Foxhole and blackout lighter, "the solution to flameless, windproof lighters, "specially designed for outdoor use.
"This will produce glow sufficient to light cigarette or cigar.
" You'd pull this up.
You'd spark it.
And it would start smoldering.
And then when you wanted to put it out, just pull it like that.
You can see why they used it in the military, 'cause it didn't have a flame, and, you know, you didn't want snipers seeing you or anything else like that.
Imagine you were on an island in the second world war.
The one thing you didn't want to do was let a sniper know where you were at.
With a foxhole lighter, you could have your smoke without getting your ass shot off.
And do you want to pawn it or sell it? I want to sell it.
Okay, first off, this would I would probably offer you around 100 bucks if, okay, this was world war ii issue.
Okay.
It's not.
It's not? Okay, the U.
S.
army would never pay for a gold-plated tip on the end of it.
And right here: "Reserve kits of one wick and two reserve flints in all better department stores and smokers' article shops.
" Got you.
You know, I never even read the instructions.
It's not worth as much as the one that would have been military issue, okay? But I would be willing to buy it off you.
Okay, well, it's too bad it's not military.
Okay, I would give you, like, 40 bucks for it.
How about $50? I'll give you the 50 bucks.
Okay.
All right, 50 bucks.
It's a deal.
I wanted $100 for it, but since it wasn't military issue, I'm glad that I came out with $50.
Earlier, a guy brought in an engraved whale's tooth that looks like it could be from an 1800s whaling ship.
But I have some doubts, so I called in my buddy rod to check it out.
This is what I called you about.
I'm the owner of west sea company.
We deal in nautical antiques.
I am really passionate about nautical antiques because they've been all over the world.
The history is just fascinating.
What are your concerns about it, Rick? I don't know if someone had a scrap piece of whale's tooth and they engraved all this on there or if it's actually 1824.
What this looks like to me is a what's called a "logbook stamp.
" It was used on whaling ships.
And every day, the mate or the captain would keep a record of what the ship did, and they would stamp the fact that they caught a whale, and then they would write the number of barrels of oil that the whale rendered.
Then on the other end, you see that? That's the tail of a whale, or what's called the flukes.
And if they lost a whale, that would indicate that the whale was lost.
Today a whale book stamp is very collectible if it's the real thing, because very few of them have survived, and those that are around are precious.
The color is right.
There's no doubt in my mind that it is whale's tooth.
This is wood, carved.
It's been used.
You can see it's stained with ink on both ends, and it's even identified: Ship midas.
And what's even greater is, it's dated 1824.
If it's 1824, it's the earliest American whaling item with a date and ship's name that I've ever seen.
Well, that makes it valuable, right? If this is the real McCoy, I think you're looking at at least $5,000.
Oh, well, now we're talking.
But not so fast.
Uh-oh.
There are some concerns here.
I'm not so sure that this engraving is period.
There's no doubt in my mind that it is whale's tooth.
It's been used.
You can see it's stained with ink on both ends.
And it's dated 1824, would make it the earliest identified and dated piece of American scrimshaw.
But I'm not so sure that this engraving is period.
Somebody could have taken this, a real object, and after the fact added these embellishments thinking that they were gonna increase the value.
But in fact, they might have decreased the value.
Oh.
One of the concerns I have is that you can see it's crosshatched here.
When they did etching and engraving, they would do small, fine parallel lines.
And it looks to me like these fine lines here are fractured, and that would indicate to me that it wasn't done when the tooth was taken, but it was done after the fact.
Based on what I see here, I do not think that this engraving is period to the tooth.
It's certainly not 1824.
It's not worth anything then, huh? No, no, no, no.
You're in good shape here.
This is a real logbook stamp.
And minus the engraving, you're still looking at $1,000, $1,500.
Yeah, now we're talking.
That's what I like.
I like this guy.
I like that's what I'm talking about.
Okay, well, thanks, rod.
I really appreciate it My pleasure.
As always, man.
So what do you want for the thing? Well, I think I'd settle for $1,000, if you don't mind.
Well, that's not gonna happen.
[Groans.]
I'd like to pay you, like, 500 bucks.
Well, $500 I mean, 700 bucks.
I mean, I think that's the reasonable price for everything that was said, so if I can get 700 bucks, I'd be happy.
[Exhales.]
All right, 700 bucks.
All right, all right.
Good deal.
Good deal.
Let's go do some paperwork.
Okay.
for something I paid 100 bucks for, that's a good profit to me.
I'm really, really happy.
I'm feeling good.
What can I help you with? I got something for you that's worth about a million bucks.
Okay.
It's Buddy Zoloth's address book from the '60s.
Buddy was an icon.
I don't know who the name is.
I've decided to come to the pawn shop today to sell my piece of rock and roll memorabilia.
This book is incredible because it's an address book of all the rock and roll stars that were in Hollywood in the '60s.
And everybody who's anybody's name is in there.
In my opinion, I think the book is worth millions.
Buddy Zoloth was the manager of Stephen Stills of Manassas; Crosby, stills, Nash, and young.
Did stuff with the who.
Did stuff with the stones.
Buddy was a he was a star unto himself.
I mean, it is really, really interesting.
Wouldn't it be funny if Keith Richards had the same phone number for all these years? [Laughter.]
Is Keith Richards in here? Yeah, everybody's name is in here, telephone numbers, addresses.
You name it.
They're in here.
Elton John, grace slick, Pete Townshend, right there.
Neil young, he's in there.
Neil young, right there.
A book of rock star addresses and phone numbers.
Neat.
I mean, I've always wanted to call up Neil young, you know, talk about stuff.
So where in the world did you get this? I got this in Hollywood.
A friend of mine was leasing me a garage, and I was in there cleaning, found the book, and I knew it was worth something.
Ever tried to call any of these? None.
Okay, well, let's call up Neil young.
If Neil young picks up his phone, I'll offer you some money for this book.
All right.
All right, it's a deal.
[Phone beeping.]
Da, da, da, da.
[Line ringing.]
[Operator tone chimes.]
We're sorry, you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service.
Wah, wah, wah.
Oh, lord.
You know, back in 1969, I bet this thing was worth a lot of money just for its business value.
But if you put this in an auction, I don't see it bringing a lot of money in.
And that's gonna be one of the problems you got.
Would you rather have a guitar played by buddy holly or his address book? I see your point.
I see I see your point.
Thanks for bringing it in.
I appreciate it.
It was really cool, man.
Appreciate it.
Thank you, gentlemen.
Address books are a tough sell, even if you're famous.
I mean, who would want Bruce Springsteen's address book? On second thought, maybe I would.
[Chuckles.]
Chumlee, what are you doing? Trying to light this.
Someone bought it.
It's defective.
Chumlee, it would work better with a flint in it, you dumbass.
Oh.
You got one? It's broken.
This is amazing.
This is the most collectible issue of Playboy ever.
This is the one everybody wants.
Really? I got something I think is very valuable.
It's a whale's tooth.
Having an authentic piece of 19th -century scrimshaw is unbelievable.
The thing is, there's a lot of fakes of these.
Got a couple Civil War guns.
The problem is, when you get into this era of guns, it's the stupidest little things that make it worth money or not worth money.
I'm Rick Harrison, and this is my pawn shop.
I work here with my old man and my son, Big Hoss.
Everything in here has a story and a price.
One thing I've learned after 21 years, you never know what is gonna come through that door.
Hey, how's it going? Good.
Good.
I have something I think you might be interested in.
It's the very first issue of Playboy, volume one, issue one.
Okay.
Marilyn Monroe Playboy.
Awesome.
[Wolf whistle.]
I came to the pawn shop today to try and sell my first issue of Playboy magazine, the Marilyn Monroe issue.
It's not a copy.
This is a genuine first edition.
I'd like to get $2,000 for the magazine, but don't tell him I will take probably $1,600 if I can get it.
So where did you get this? Well, my father bought it back in 1953.
And then before he passed away, he gave it to me.
This was the very first Playboy, and I truly believe that if Marilyn wasn't in the first issue, I don't know if it would have lasted much longer.
This is what lit the whole thing on fire.
This is amazing.
This is the most collectible issue of Playboy ever.
Most Playboys are worth a few bucks.
This is worth a few thousand.
Do you know how Marilyn Monroe ended up in this magazine? No, I don't.
In 19 I think it was '47, Marilyn Monroe, then Norma Jean, needed some money, and she wasn't a star yet, hadn't been in any movies.
She got paid some money to do some nude photographs.
Well, 1952 comes along, and she gets a movie deal.
Later in the year, the photographer who took the pictures looked at a movie poster, going, "oh, my gosh, I think I have pictures of her.
" And he ended up selling the pictures to Playboy magazine.
Okay, the studios thought it was just gonna ruin her.
It was gonna ruin the movie.
But the great thing was, Marilyn, she just played it off, and she just went, "yeah, that was me.
You got to buy the magazine.
" That's wild.
The thing you have to remember: This was the '50s.
Just a few months earlier, she was getting criticized for the pictures she took during the 1952 miss America pageant for her low neckline.
Just imagine what people thought when they saw that picture in that magazine of her on the red velvet.
These are really collectible.
I mean, if you collect Playboys, this is the one everybody wants.
What were you looking to do, pawn it or sell it? I'd like to sell it.
And what do you want for it? Uh, $2,000.
Dollars? Dollars.
Yes, sir.
Um, I'm thinking closer to $1,000.
I think $1,000 is a little low.
Might go $1,600.
What do you think we should pay for it, chum? I can buy a new one right now for 6 bucks.
[Laughter.]
Full color.
I mean, I'll cut to the chase.
I'll give you $1,400 and not a dime more.
Okay, I'll go for it.
Thanks.
God, you have great negotiating skills.
[Laughter.]
I know.
I generally don't like buying magazines because they're hard to sell, but this is awesome.
I could probably double or triple my money on this, but I think I'm gonna keep it in the case for a while, because it's gonna bring people in the door.
How you doing today? Hey, what's up? I got something I think is very valuable.
I want you to take a look at it.
It's a whale's tooth.
It's part of a whale's tooth.
Well, it looks like it's worth a lot of money to me now.
[Ship bell tolling.]
I decided to come into the pawn shop today to sell this whale's tooth that I bought.
I paid $100 for this tooth.
My wife is sure that I paid too much money for it.
For all the guys out there, I'm trying to prove my wife wrong for once in my life.
She said, "don't buy it.
" I bought it.
And I think it's worth some money.
This is called scrimshaw, and what it is, is it's an art form they used on the ship.
What sailors did was, is when they had a little downtime, they would take the whales' teeth, and they would carve things on it.
Okay.
This right here says the "ship midas," which is probably the whaling ship they were on.
Whaling voyages could last for years at a time.
Just imagine being out in the middle of nowhere for that long.
So engraving whales' teeth is something they would do to pass the time.
It's a real whale's tooth.
I can tell you that.
Okay.
The thing is, there's a lot of fakes of these.
It's sort of an odd fake, okay? They actually take a real whale's tooth, and they engrave these scenes on them.
And then they date them from, like, the 1800s like this a take $100 worth of whales' teeth and turn it into a $1,500 antique.
Okay.
Like I said, the only thing I can tell you for sure is, it's whale's tooth.
I just don't know how to authenticate the art.
Okay.
All right? I really just want someone to look at it.
I have a friend who knows about this kind of stuff.
So let me call him up, and I'll give you a call when he gets here.
Okay.
Appreciate that.
Okay, you give him a call.
Want you guys to say hello to my little friends.
Haven't I seen you here before? Yes.
Okay.
What do we got this time? Got a couple Civil War guns.
Okay, so when you were in the military, did you use one of these? No.
[Laughter.]
I'm back in the pawn shop today to try to sell my two Civil War guns.
I did some research online, and I found out one of the guns is a burnside gun that was used in the Civil War.
These are fantastic weapons.
I'm not gonna sell them for anything less than $20,000.
I came here to make some money.
And I'm in Vegas.
I'm gonna make money.
[Gun clicking.]
How did you acquire these, son? I bought them from a friend of the family who was an estate collector.
Okay, burnsides, they were used in the Civil War.
Okay, this comes down like this, and the projectile, everything goes in there.
How long would it take to load and fire it? Oh, they get pretty fast with these things.
Yeah, you could probably get, like, 12, 15 rounds a minute.
Really? They were fast.
And it was just pull and point, right? No, these things, you could aim these.
They were pretty accurate? Yeah.
It wasn't like the revolutionary war where there was no rifling, really.
'Cause in the revolutionary war, you know when they say, "ready, aim, fire"? Mm-hmm.
They never said that.
Really? They said, "ready, level, fire.
" [Laughter.]
The burnside was a common gun during the Civil War.
But they were taken out of service right after the war, making it a very collectible piece.
This one, I'm sort of clueless.
It's a trapdoor gun, but right around the civil war, right after the Civil War, there was a lot of experimentation with the trapdoor gun.
And a trapdoor eventually ended up becoming standard U.
S.
military issue.
So that's all I can tell you about it.
I see strange guns come in the store all the time.
Ever since the first guns were made, people have been experimenting, trying to improve the design and functionality.
Some, like Samuel colt, hit it out of the park.
Others, there's a reason you never heard of them.
Okay, what are you wanting to do now, guy? I'd like to sell them.
Okay, well, they're in great shape.
The problem is, when you get into this era of guns, it's the stupidest little things that make it worth money or not worth money.
Some are worth a lot more than others.
That's what that one is.
Okay.
We don't know what we got here.
Why don't you just call Sean in? Okay, let me call somebody up.
I'll see if I can get him down here, okay? Sounds good.
Thanks.
This is what I called you about.
If it's 1824, it's the earliest whaling item that I've ever seen.
Oh, now we're talking.
It's Buddy Zoloth's address book.
It's an address book of all the rock and roll stars in the '60s.
Elton John, Pete Townshend, Neil young.
You name it.
They're in here.
Okay, well, let's call up Neil young.
[Line ringing.]
Earlier today, a guy came in with a pair of guns: A Civil War burnside and a strange trapdoor that looked like someone's experiment.
I need to know more before I can make an offer, so I called in my buddy Sean to take a closer look.
I own tortuga trading incorporated, and I specialize in antique arms and armor, and I cater to collectors and museums.
These are what I called you about.
Okay, well, where do you want to begin? I don't know.
Where do you want to begin? The one I want to focus on is this one.
Excellent.
This one I could just tell is a nice Civil War carbine.
These were .
54 caliber.
.
54 caliber? .
54 caliber.
Wow.
These two guns are carbines.
The difference between a carbine and a musket is just that it's shorter, and they were generally designed for cavalry.
This is for the saddle ring.
You know, 'cause these were mounted cavalry units that had these guns.
So there'd be a leather lanyard Oh, really? Attached to this.
The horse is galloping.
You're bouncing around.
You need every little edge you can.
And mind you, these are single-shot guns.
So you had to reload and then fire on horseback, and that could be really difficult.
The mechanics look great.
Markings are all there.
It's a really nice gun.
Thank you.
But this one has got me a little puzzled.
I can just tell you by the technology that it's not Civil War period.
See this piece right here? Mm-hmm.
This is actually the firing pin.
So this would actually take a cartridge.
And even though they did have cartridge guns towards the end of the Civil War, it wasn't a mass availability of that type of weaponry.
You know, and after looking at this, if you see right here in the stock, if you look real close, there's a spliced-in piece of wood.
This is telling me that this originally was a much longer gun and then arsenal modified to become a carbine.
Wow.
And I'm gonna say this was probably experimental during the period, because everybody was experimenting with this technology.
So the big question: What are they worth? Let's start with the burnside, 'cause this is kind of an easy one.
The high side, I'm gonna say anywhere from $3,500 to $5,000.
$5,000? Yeah.
Yeah.
This one, I'm just guessing.
I'm gonna say probably $1,500 to $2,000 just as is.
But I think that this one needs to be further researched.
Good.
Thank you.
All right.
Thanks for coming in, Sean.
Absolutely.
Thank you, Sean.
Let's just start off with a few things.
This one, I don't even want.
It's gonna be a nightmare to sell a gun when they say, "what is it?" And you go, "I don't know.
" Do some research.
Figure out what it is.
And then maybe we can talk.
Okay.
So what do you want for this thing? Realistically, I'd take, you know, $3,500 for the gun.
There's no way.
I'd give you 1,500 bucks for it.
$1,500? We don't work for charity.
Well, then let's start at $2,500.
I mean, literally, 1,500 bucks is what I can do on it.
$1,750.
$1,250 would be better.
Well, I better take the $1,500 before the old man knocks me down even more.
All right, $1,500.
$1,500.
Thanks, guy.
Thank you.
They really took it to me today.
What are you gonna do, you know? I thought the guns were worth 20 grand.
I'm leaving with $1,500.
It's not a good day.
Now I got to go take it and roll it, turn that $1,500 into 20 grand.
Hi, guys.
Hey, how can I help you? I'm here to sell my Where in the world did you get this? I got it off of a guy in Montana.
I guess he got it from when he was stationed.
Was he really old? Yeah.
As old as him? If you're older than 90.
No, I'm not 90.
Just looks it.
Oh, watch it.
I come here to the pawn shop today to sell my 1940s foxhole lighter.
The reason why I want to sell it is because it was sitting in a drawer.
Nobody gets to see it.
I think this lighter is worth $100.
So that's what I'm gonna try to get today.
Let me see.
"Foxhole and blackout lighter, "the solution to flameless, windproof lighters, "specially designed for outdoor use.
"This will produce glow sufficient to light cigarette or cigar.
" You'd pull this up.
You'd spark it.
And it would start smoldering.
And then when you wanted to put it out, just pull it like that.
You can see why they used it in the military, 'cause it didn't have a flame, and, you know, you didn't want snipers seeing you or anything else like that.
Imagine you were on an island in the second world war.
The one thing you didn't want to do was let a sniper know where you were at.
With a foxhole lighter, you could have your smoke without getting your ass shot off.
And do you want to pawn it or sell it? I want to sell it.
Okay, first off, this would I would probably offer you around 100 bucks if, okay, this was world war ii issue.
Okay.
It's not.
It's not? Okay, the U.
S.
army would never pay for a gold-plated tip on the end of it.
And right here: "Reserve kits of one wick and two reserve flints in all better department stores and smokers' article shops.
" Got you.
You know, I never even read the instructions.
It's not worth as much as the one that would have been military issue, okay? But I would be willing to buy it off you.
Okay, well, it's too bad it's not military.
Okay, I would give you, like, 40 bucks for it.
How about $50? I'll give you the 50 bucks.
Okay.
All right, 50 bucks.
It's a deal.
I wanted $100 for it, but since it wasn't military issue, I'm glad that I came out with $50.
Earlier, a guy brought in an engraved whale's tooth that looks like it could be from an 1800s whaling ship.
But I have some doubts, so I called in my buddy rod to check it out.
This is what I called you about.
I'm the owner of west sea company.
We deal in nautical antiques.
I am really passionate about nautical antiques because they've been all over the world.
The history is just fascinating.
What are your concerns about it, Rick? I don't know if someone had a scrap piece of whale's tooth and they engraved all this on there or if it's actually 1824.
What this looks like to me is a what's called a "logbook stamp.
" It was used on whaling ships.
And every day, the mate or the captain would keep a record of what the ship did, and they would stamp the fact that they caught a whale, and then they would write the number of barrels of oil that the whale rendered.
Then on the other end, you see that? That's the tail of a whale, or what's called the flukes.
And if they lost a whale, that would indicate that the whale was lost.
Today a whale book stamp is very collectible if it's the real thing, because very few of them have survived, and those that are around are precious.
The color is right.
There's no doubt in my mind that it is whale's tooth.
This is wood, carved.
It's been used.
You can see it's stained with ink on both ends, and it's even identified: Ship midas.
And what's even greater is, it's dated 1824.
If it's 1824, it's the earliest American whaling item with a date and ship's name that I've ever seen.
Well, that makes it valuable, right? If this is the real McCoy, I think you're looking at at least $5,000.
Oh, well, now we're talking.
But not so fast.
Uh-oh.
There are some concerns here.
I'm not so sure that this engraving is period.
There's no doubt in my mind that it is whale's tooth.
It's been used.
You can see it's stained with ink on both ends.
And it's dated 1824, would make it the earliest identified and dated piece of American scrimshaw.
But I'm not so sure that this engraving is period.
Somebody could have taken this, a real object, and after the fact added these embellishments thinking that they were gonna increase the value.
But in fact, they might have decreased the value.
Oh.
One of the concerns I have is that you can see it's crosshatched here.
When they did etching and engraving, they would do small, fine parallel lines.
And it looks to me like these fine lines here are fractured, and that would indicate to me that it wasn't done when the tooth was taken, but it was done after the fact.
Based on what I see here, I do not think that this engraving is period to the tooth.
It's certainly not 1824.
It's not worth anything then, huh? No, no, no, no.
You're in good shape here.
This is a real logbook stamp.
And minus the engraving, you're still looking at $1,000, $1,500.
Yeah, now we're talking.
That's what I like.
I like this guy.
I like that's what I'm talking about.
Okay, well, thanks, rod.
I really appreciate it My pleasure.
As always, man.
So what do you want for the thing? Well, I think I'd settle for $1,000, if you don't mind.
Well, that's not gonna happen.
[Groans.]
I'd like to pay you, like, 500 bucks.
Well, $500 I mean, 700 bucks.
I mean, I think that's the reasonable price for everything that was said, so if I can get 700 bucks, I'd be happy.
[Exhales.]
All right, 700 bucks.
All right, all right.
Good deal.
Good deal.
Let's go do some paperwork.
Okay.
for something I paid 100 bucks for, that's a good profit to me.
I'm really, really happy.
I'm feeling good.
What can I help you with? I got something for you that's worth about a million bucks.
Okay.
It's Buddy Zoloth's address book from the '60s.
Buddy was an icon.
I don't know who the name is.
I've decided to come to the pawn shop today to sell my piece of rock and roll memorabilia.
This book is incredible because it's an address book of all the rock and roll stars that were in Hollywood in the '60s.
And everybody who's anybody's name is in there.
In my opinion, I think the book is worth millions.
Buddy Zoloth was the manager of Stephen Stills of Manassas; Crosby, stills, Nash, and young.
Did stuff with the who.
Did stuff with the stones.
Buddy was a he was a star unto himself.
I mean, it is really, really interesting.
Wouldn't it be funny if Keith Richards had the same phone number for all these years? [Laughter.]
Is Keith Richards in here? Yeah, everybody's name is in here, telephone numbers, addresses.
You name it.
They're in here.
Elton John, grace slick, Pete Townshend, right there.
Neil young, he's in there.
Neil young, right there.
A book of rock star addresses and phone numbers.
Neat.
I mean, I've always wanted to call up Neil young, you know, talk about stuff.
So where in the world did you get this? I got this in Hollywood.
A friend of mine was leasing me a garage, and I was in there cleaning, found the book, and I knew it was worth something.
Ever tried to call any of these? None.
Okay, well, let's call up Neil young.
If Neil young picks up his phone, I'll offer you some money for this book.
All right.
All right, it's a deal.
[Phone beeping.]
Da, da, da, da.
[Line ringing.]
[Operator tone chimes.]
We're sorry, you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service.
Wah, wah, wah.
Oh, lord.
You know, back in 1969, I bet this thing was worth a lot of money just for its business value.
But if you put this in an auction, I don't see it bringing a lot of money in.
And that's gonna be one of the problems you got.
Would you rather have a guitar played by buddy holly or his address book? I see your point.
I see I see your point.
Thanks for bringing it in.
I appreciate it.
It was really cool, man.
Appreciate it.
Thank you, gentlemen.
Address books are a tough sell, even if you're famous.
I mean, who would want Bruce Springsteen's address book? On second thought, maybe I would.
[Chuckles.]
Chumlee, what are you doing? Trying to light this.
Someone bought it.
It's defective.
Chumlee, it would work better with a flint in it, you dumbass.
Oh.
You got one? It's broken.