What was the Largest Loan Ever in a Pawn Shop?
Have you ever been curious to know the largest loan that would be given out by a pawn shop? Well let’s start at the beginning, with the average loan. The average loan amount is £150, according to the National Pawnbrokers Association. Majority of pawnbroking firms say roughly 82% of their borrowers make their repayment and redeem their belongings, with most doing so in around three to four months.
Hatton Garden Pawnbrokers in London says that around 90% of its customers redeem their items. Its longest loan has so far lasted 14 years (a jewellery collection). But, its shortest lasted only 20 minutes. They say someone borrowed £1000 and came back with double - once they won their bet in a betting shop!
To determine the largest ever loan would be difficult as it may not have been recorded. But at Cuttings we have done some digging into the history of pawnbroking, so here are the ones that we’ve found - that have been recorded!
THE LARGEST RECORDED PAWNBROKING LOANS
Lombard banking (known as the Lombard family) was a well known pawnshop in the Middle Ages. The sign of the House of Lombard was the ‘three golden balls’, and this was associated for years with the pawning industry. The reason we are talking about the Lombard Family, is because they loaned Edward III enough money on the Crown Jewels, in order to help finance his war with France in 1338. Additionally, Henry V borrowed from the Lombard’s again in 1415. It is said that at one point in history they had more available cash than the whole country of England. So you could say this is one of the largest loans in history!
Within the American TV show Pawn Stars one of the most valuable items at the Pawn Stars shop in Las Vegas is a 2001 Super Bowl ring, valued at $60,000 (approximately £46,000). The most expensive items ever sold at the Pawn Shop were four one-kilo gold bars which are valued at $128,000 (approximately £96,000).
Channel 4’s show Posh Pawn shows shop visitors pawning various items. The most notorious item pawned was a million-pound helicopter!
An item that was previously pawned was a cigar box that used to belong to President John F Kennedy. The cigar box still had some untouched cigars in the box! Once it was proven that it was in fact real it was priced at $575,00 (approximately £473,000).
SUMMARY
In summary, there are lots of large pawning loans out there, some which have been recorded and some that haven’t!
Here at Cuttings we are a family-run independent jewellers owned by the Kirkland family for over 50 years. We always use our expert knowledge and advice to give you the best quote for the items you pawn. So you can always put your trust in us and if you are interested about pawning your items, get in touch with one of our friendly staff here.