Why Pawn Stars Passed On A Bronze Cannon Supposedly From 1517
The best kind of customers at "Pawn Stars" are repeat customers. These people are usually collectors who are constantly looking for the next best thing to sell to Rick Harrison. While most of the time, the owners know details about most of the items, sometimes they will sell something with absolutely no prior knowledge. This can sometimes backfire, as it did in Season 6, when a man brought in a bronze cannon that he knew nothing about.
Fortunately for Rick, he has many experts at the press of a button who will come down and tell him everything there is to know about an item, making the purchase decision a bit easier. In this situation, something just didn't feel right when the owner first presented the item to Rick. It looked a little too new, especially if it was from 1517. So, Rick did what he does best and brought in an expert — and when he heard what he had to say, he decided to pass on the bronze cannon. Here's why.
Buyer beware — replicas are out there
Here's the full story: when the customer (whose name is Rob) came in, Rick immediately recognized him from a previous sale — in fact, Rob had sold Rick one of the rarest Civil War pistols known to exist for $10,000. So when Rick saw the man again in his shop, he was more than excited to see what he had this time. This time, Rob brought in an old bronze cannon from 1517, and hoped to make at least $2,500. Unfortunately for Rick, Rob didn't know much of anything about this weapon, so he allowed Rick to determine its age and condition — which was abnormally pristine, especially if this cannon was on a ship, like it was intended.
All of these factors raised red flags for Rick, so he called in his expert, Mark Hall-Patton, the Clark County Museum Administrator. After assessing the cannon, Mark started with the good news, which is the weapon's historical features: the cannon is bronze, so it would've been on a naval ship, if it were legitimate. Mark also determined that it was likely from Spain, based on a few of the markings.
However, the bad news was that the base of the cannon was too thin, suggesting it was never used. On top of that, the images on the cannon were not 16th century images, as they should've been. Unfortunately, it ended up being revealed that the cannon is just a reproduction, and so, the two couldn't make a deal.
In the end, Rob fell flat with this item, but he decided to keep moving forward with his collection, and he did not allow it to discourage him too much.