A different kind of resource, Very different

This is a very strange resource for information and I can’t believe I am directing our readers to the “Story” Channel A.K.A. The History Channel but I am.

Over the past several months I have been watching a TV show called Pawn Stars. It airs on the History Channel several nights a week (like most of their shows do) and I think the new episodes are generally on on Monday nights around 9:00 p.m. central.

This is supposed to be a reality show but some of it appears to be staged because there just can’t be that many people bringing the kinds of things into this pawn shop that are coming in.

See, I told you it was a very strange resource for information but bear with me on this. Even though a lot of what is brought into the pawn shop for the show does appear to be staged (something the History Channel seems to be getting really good at) the things that they do put on the show can be a learning experience for us as treasure hunters.

Several of the episodes I have seen have shown historical pieces like swords and firearms from the Civil War and earlier being brought in. There has been actual treasure from a sunken ship, an 18th century cannon, a 17th century sun dial, an actual Spanish treasure chest and more.

Sure, each episode has some of the usual stuff like people wanting to pawn a motorcycle or pinball machine but the historical pieces continually pop up in several episodes.

When these pieces are brought in the owner always has a “buddy” that just happens to be an expert on what ever it is that is being brought in. This is where it gets interesting and worth your time to watch. The expert spends some time explaining why something is real or not and gives their opinion of its current value.

In the case of the Spanish treasure chest that was brought in the owner had stated he had hired a locksmith to try to open the chest but it couldn’t be done, even though there was a big keyhole on the front of the box. When the expert came in and examined the chest he was able to verify that it was an actual Spanish chest, approximately 300 years old and he was able to show how to open the chest using a hidden keyhole on the top of the chest. The big keyhole on the front was fake and put there to confuse people about how to get into the chest. Treasure hunting is never easy!

Now don’t get me wrong, the show is kind of hard to watch at times because of a couple of the goobers they have on the program, mainly the youngest of three family members who run the store known as “Big Hoss” and one of the employees known as “Chumley”. I don’t think I would let either one of these guys near anything antique or one of a kind but that’s just me.

Trust me on this one, there is enough interesting things that they have on the show that you will sit through the more mundane items and the antics of the two goobers. I still think a lot of the things are staged just to have interesting things come into the shop but when it comes to learning information, I don’t think that matters.

Do yourself a favor and check this show out. You’d be surprised how much things are worth and how easy it is to tell a fake from the real McCoy when it comes to relics and some other things you might run across while treasure hunting.