It’s one of the oldest forms of banking, and until the 1950s, it was the leading form of consumer credit in the U.S. See the fascinating past and present of the pawning business in Pawn Stars, an inside look at the only family-run pawn shop in Las Vegas, where three generations of men – grandfather, father and son – use their sharp-eyed skills to carefully assess the value of items ranging from the obscure to the historic. From a 15th-century samurai sword to a Picasso painting, there isn’t much the Harrison family hasn’t seen or heard, inevitably making Richard, Rick and Corey experts in rare collectables – and negotiating. Each episode of Pawn Stars features an array of quirky characters attempting to sell, purchase or pawn items that the Harrisons must carefully appraise, determine if they’re real or fake and then reveal the often surprising answer to “What’s it worth?” Everything and everyone has a story and it’s the Harrisons’ job to decipher fact from fiction, because in this business the customer isn’t always right.