# Pawn Stars destroy stolen coin collection. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 13, 2014, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawn-stars-destroy-stolen-coin-collection/683633 "2014-03-13T18:32:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawn-stars-destroy-stolen-coin-collection/683633/41 "2014-03-14T12:59:44Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > Coin dealers almost always require provenance or some proof of ownership before the purchase coins. And the majority probably wouldn’t risk buying coins from obvious junkies using fake IDs as they could be sued and lose their business over this. > > . . . Suffice it to say that pawn brokers routinely buy from criminals and then resell stolen property. Whether most do this knowingly is a matter for debate; that they routinely do so really is not. To this I would say Bullshit. My parents’ home was broken into and coins were stolen from them by some (we later learned) junkies (for lack of a better term) and the police told us our best bet was to start going to pawn stores. Long story short, we found some in two pawn stores and could identify them because they were still in the paper and plastic holders that I wrote on when I helped my parents but them in their when I was a kid! Pawn stores are just one step above the people they deal with. ---
**Author:** ![Melchior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Melchior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melchior)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawn-stars-destroy-stolen-coin-collection/683633/42 "2014-03-14T13:29:43Z")
> [@spifflog](#): > > To this I would say Bullshit. > > My parents’ home was broken into and coins were stolen from them by some (we later learned) junkies (for lack of a better term) and the police told us our best bet was to start going to pawn stores. Long story short, we found some in two pawn stores and could identify them because they were still in the paper and plastic holders that I wrote on when I helped my parents but them in their when I was a kid! > > Pawn stores are just one step above the people they deal with. Most likely. They buy items of value, and who is going to be selling such items, for the most part? THIEVES! ---
**Author:** ![DragonAsh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DragonAsh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DragonAsh)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawn-stars-destroy-stolen-coin-collection/683633/43 "2014-03-14T14:16:31Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’ve pawned items in my younger and broke years. They always way under valued my items. I had to bust my butt paying off the loan and 25% interest to save my stuff. Unless I wanted to lose a $400 guitar for $75. You mean you ignored all those people clamoring to buy your used guitar for $400 and pawned it for $75? Sheesh. Pawn shops can act as a temporary source of financing for a section of society that simply have no access to other standard loan facilities, either because such sources won’t lend to them (banks) or other sources are maxed out (credit cards). They’re infinitely preferable to payday loan shops, and cheaper / safer than loan sharks. Added bonus, no major repercussions if you not able to buy the item back, vs if you took out money on a credit card (credit score is shot) or failed to pay back a loan shark (broken kneecaps). > [@Melchior](#): > > Most likely. They buy items of value, and who is going to be selling such items, for the most part? THIEVES! So the guy trying to sell that used guitar was a thief? ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawn-stars-destroy-stolen-coin-collection/683633/44 "2014-03-14T15:17:33Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Better check how they reimburse you for coins. You might get a shock. What, that 1861 $20 gold liberty head? It says right on it “twenty dollars.” Here you go. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawn-stars-destroy-stolen-coin-collection/683633/45 "2014-03-14T15:38:30Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > It was first seen on an episode of Dave Atell’s Insomniac. He went to the store in the middle of the night when they only had a walk up window. Rick wanted to try and do a reality show like Taxicab Confessions. Real stories of the characters that found themselves pawning their wedding ring at 3am. Once producers got ahold of it they decided to go in a lighter direction. No one who has ever had the need to use a pawn shop thinks they are like how it’s shown on TV. IIRC one of the reasons why those in charge of getting the show up and running liked that particular store is because their items were a cut above what you would find in just about any other pawn shop. I posted that clip in another thread fairly recently. Rick is pretty skinny and a lot more laid back than on the show. Also, you can see that they still had their showroom with all the nice collectible type stuff, even back before they had their series. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawn-stars-destroy-stolen-coin-collection/683633/46 "2014-03-14T15:45:54Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > What, that 1861 $20 gold liberty head? It says right on it “twenty dollars.” Here you go. Hey, I gotta make a profit and I have to pay for the upkeep of the store. Also this is probably going to sit here awhile. ---
**Author:** ![Melchior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Melchior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melchior)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawn-stars-destroy-stolen-coin-collection/683633/47 "2014-03-14T16:03:42Z")
> [@DragonAsh](#): > > You mean you ignored all those people clamoring to buy your used guitar for $400 and pawned it for $75? Sheesh. > > Pawn shops can act as a temporary source of financing for a section of society that simply have no access to other standard loan facilities, either because such sources won’t lend to them (banks) or other sources are maxed out (credit cards). They’re infinitely preferable to payday loan shops, and cheaper / safer than loan sharks. Added bonus, no major repercussions if you not able to buy the item back, vs if you took out money on a credit card (credit score is shot) or failed to pay back a loan shark (broken kneecaps). > > So the guy trying to sell that used guitar was a thief? I said ‘for the most part’. That’s what is known as a ‘qualification’. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawn-stars-destroy-stolen-coin-collection/683633/48 "2014-03-14T16:58:40Z")
> [@Melchior](#): > > I don’t understand why they were melted. Almost all gold coins have some value greater than the bullion value, and even the bullion coins have the same value without melting. Why melt them? Yes, SamClem, maybe you can tell us? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawn-stars-destroy-stolen-coin-collection/683633/49 "2014-03-14T17:06:49Z")
> [@Incubus](#): > > This makes me so glad I have renter’s insurance. Anything of mine gets stolen, I just call Allstate. Good luck with that. I have Allstate, too. ---
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawn-stars-destroy-stolen-coin-collection/683633/50 "2014-03-14T17:20:15Z")
I’ve spent a lot of time in pawn shops. I used to collect antique guns and I would make the rounds of all the local shops looking for deals. I got to know the owners of all the indie shops and would hang out and talk to them. They were pretty damn far away from being fences. If someone came in with something obviously stolen they would hold them (sometimes at gunpoint) for the cops. Nothing made these guys more pissed off then someone trying to sell them stolen stuff, because usually that means they are going to lose money on it. Pawn shops don’t make much money from selling stuff. That’s not their business. They make money by making short term loans, then getting their money back when the person redeems the pawn so they can loan it out again. One owner told me that everything out for sale on the shelf is losing him money every day because it’s money he would rather be loaning out. So it doesn’t make sense for someone to buy stolen stereo they’ll make maybe a 100 bucks off of and then have to wait to get their money and then possibly lose it – and the thieves don’t like to show id when they sell their stuff. Someone breaks into your house and steals something your best bet is to watch craigslist for it, or hit a flea market where nobody checks anything. Many shops their inventory computer is linked to the police. A serial number goes into the machine when the items pawned and if it’s hot it gets put on hold. The shop has to hold it for 90 days to verify, and in most states if you are willing to go to a court hearing you get your stuff back for free. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawn-stars-destroy-stolen-coin-collection/683633/51 "2014-03-14T17:24:14Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > How much time and money does it take to get them all properly graded? It may be standard procedure to go for the quick and easy profit instead of waiting and hoping to make more trying to sell them to collectors. Even so, the price of gold per ounce is the same whether it’s in coin form or in bullion form, and in coin form there’s a chance that the value could be even higher, whether the salesperson has had them graded or not. Melting down coins adds nothing to the value, and could mean a potential loss. So what’s the point? Why would gold bullion be easier to sell than gold coins? ---
**Author:** ![Melchior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Melchior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melchior)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawn-stars-destroy-stolen-coin-collection/683633/52 "2014-03-14T17:37:26Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > Even so, the price of gold per ounce is the same whether it’s in coin form or in bullion form, and in coin form there’s a chance that the value could be even higher, whether the salesperson has had them graded or not. Melting down coins adds nothing to the value, and could mean a potential loss. So what’s the point? Why would gold bullion be easier to sell than gold coins? That was my question. You gain nothing by melting them. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawn-stars-destroy-stolen-coin-collection/683633/53 "2014-03-14T17:41:23Z")
> [@Melchior](#): > > That was my question. You gain nothing by melting them. There is a cost to storing merchandise, plus an opportunity cost to keeping that money tied up in coins that you can’t lend. Selling a collectible coin involves costs for grading which are probably worth it for the high end stuff but for the middle and low end just eats into any profit you might gain. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawn-stars-destroy-stolen-coin-collection/683633/54 "2014-03-14T17:48:30Z")
> [@Melchior](#): > > I don’t understand why they were melted. Almost all gold coins have some value greater than the bullion value, and even the bullion coins have the same value without melting. Why melt them? Chumlee wanted to get to the chocolate inside. ---
**Author:** ![sohvan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sohvan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sohvan)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawn-stars-destroy-stolen-coin-collection/683633/55 "2014-03-14T18:10:57Z")
If a pawn broker melts stolen coins, do they need to return the bullions to the original owner of the coins if it’s proven that the coins used were stolen? If they don’t lose the bullions, melting the coins is likely a way to get rid of the risk of buying stolen coins. The pawn broker may even know or suspect that the coins are stolen, but there’s no risk to them if they get to keep the bullions anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawn-stars-destroy-stolen-coin-collection/683633/56 "2014-03-14T19:09:55Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > Even so, the price of gold per ounce is the same whether it’s in coin form or in bullion form, and in coin form there’s a chance that the value could be even higher, whether the salesperson has had them graded or not. Melting down coins adds nothing to the value, and could mean a potential loss. So what’s the point? Why would gold bullion be easier to sell than gold coins? Because they are the standard weight and measurement for trading. ---
**Author:** ![Melchior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Melchior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melchior)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawn-stars-destroy-stolen-coin-collection/683633/57 "2014-03-14T19:44:51Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Because they are the standard weight and measurement for trading. The coins are worth more though, almost certainly, as coins. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawn-stars-destroy-stolen-coin-collection/683633/58 "2014-03-14T19:46:44Z")
> [@Melchior](#): > > The coins are worth more though, almost certainly, as coins. I believe it makes them untraceable. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawn-stars-destroy-stolen-coin-collection/683633/59 "2014-03-14T19:51:12Z")
> [@Melchior](#): > > The coins are worth more though, almost certainly, as coins. They’re not as liquid, there’s a cost to storing/grading/selling them, and the additional collectors value is minor compared to the melt value. ---
**Author:** ![Melchior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Melchior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melchior)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawn-stars-destroy-stolen-coin-collection/683633/60 "2014-03-14T19:54:18Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > There is a cost to storing merchandise, plus an opportunity cost to keeping that money tied up in coins that you can’t lend. Selling a collectible coin involves costs for grading which are probably worth it for the high end stuff but for the middle and low end just eats into any profit you might gain. Who says they have to be graded? Almost all gold coins are worth more than melt value, unless badly worn. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawn-stars-destroy-stolen-coin-collection/683633.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pawn-stars-destroy-stolen-coin-collection/683633.md?page=4)