Pawn Stars Gamble Pays Off With Albrecht Durer Find

The History Channel's Pawn Stars bet on an etching by a Renaissance master and won big.

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The Durer engraving wound up being a smart gamble for the Pawn Stars cast.

When sellers come to Rick Harrison’s shop, you never know what family heirloom or garage sale find they will want to pawn, be it an antique firearm or a souped-up sedan. As fans of the History Channel’s Pawn Stars know, almost every imaginable item has walked through the doors of Harrison’s pawn shop in Vegas. Now you can add valuable Renaissance etchings to that list.

On a recent episode, Harrison gambled by purchasing an etching of the end of days by revered German Renaissance master Albrecht Durer for $5,500. As fans of the show know, Harrison is loath to part with that much cash for anything but the surest bet. Yet there was something about the Durer etching, entitled “The Knight, Death, and The Devil,” that inspired him to open his wallet. Harrison then took the print to an appraiser to find out whether he overpaid for the piece. The appraiser informed him that the etching dated back to approximately 1513, was a visual representation of Psalm 23, and was considered one of Durer’s signature works. Then, in the finest Vegas tradition, Harrison discovered that his gamble paid off in spades and the etching is worth three to ten times the amount he paid. Score one for the reality stars. (Check out video at the Huffington Post.)

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