RICK: Hey, how's it going? All right. I've got four original Warhols. You have four original
paintings by Warhol? PAUL: That's correct, yes. RICK: This definitely looks
like something he would do. He was into shoes. So am I. You aren't into, like,
ladies shoes, are you? CHUMLEE: Know, but-- RICK: [laughs] [music playing] PAUL: I came to
the pawn shop today to try to sell four Andy
Warhol original paintings. They've been
sitting in a closet. And I heard that a Warhol
just sold for $36 million, so I dusted them off. [laughs] So, where did you get these? My father was
an art historian, and he bought these
about 25 years ago. They were given to
a guy, actually, that worked at The Factory. CHUMLEE: What's The Factory? RICK: The Factory is-- Andy Warhol actually
started an art factory where he could have a bunch of
people working for him, making art. And since it was Andy Warhol's
factory, he signed everything. And it was, therefore, a Warhol. He more or less
invented pop art. Warhol started it
off in advertising, but he wanted to do his own art. According to legend, he was
told paint what you like most. Now his paintings
of everyday objects, like money and soup
cans, are just classics. This was done in the '60s? PAUL: I think it was
done in the '60s. I think it was his
earlier work, yeah. RICK: OK. Two shoes look Andy Warhol-ish. PAUL: Mm-hmm. The other ones I've
never really seen him paint anything like that. PAUL: Well, that's why
I'm thinking maybe they're one of a kind. I've looked on the internet and
I've not found these anywhere, really. RICK: It's definitely different. When did these get damaged? PAUL: I'm not really sure,
to be honest with you. RICK: Because you see all
the water damage on this. That does hurt the value. What were you looking
to do with them? PAUL: I was looking
to sell them. RICK: OK. And I was asking
about $8,000 each. $8,000 each? Yeah. It's not that I
don't trust you. PAUL: Right. It's just, generally,
I don't trust anybody. [laughs]
PAUL: OK. I don't blame you. RICK: It's sort of the
nature of my business. Let me have someone
look at it because I don't know enough to know
that this is actually an Andy Warhol. PAUL: All right, thank you. RICK: Some of the highest prices
ever paid for fine art have been Andy Warhol's. So there's no doubt I'm
interested in these. I just have to find out
if they're legit or not. RICK: Brett, how's it going?
- Hey, Rick. How are you? Oh, my gosh. What have we got here? The gentleman usually
call me down here to take a look at paintings that
they have some questions on, issues about
authenticity or value. Andy Warhol really set the
fine art world on its ear. And he took everyday objects,
and he glorified them. What makes fine art is a
very interesting question, and that's something that
Andy Warhol tried to challenge with his pop art-- how certain every day items that
nobody in a million years would have thought of his fine art,
like Campbell's soup cans and Coca-Cola bottles-- he made them fine art. What I'm looking for
is to try to determine exactly what's original and
what might be part of a print. There's certain
things, for example-- these lines here,
these are actually part of a print, which
is not surprising. He was one of the first
artists to really do mass produced originals. And that appears to
be what these are, where the actual
image was printed and then he would go in and
embellish it with watercolor. Because you can see that
it bleeds, in some cases, outside the edge. So do you think he
actually did it or someone from his factory? BRETT: You know, based on
knowing the subject matter, when they were done, the
media they were done in, I think these are authentic. I think these are hand done
by Mr. Warhol, himself. Nice. And I'll tell you why. These are fairly early pieces. These were done probably
in the mid-1950s. And he did a ton of
fairies and cherubs, so these are really
indicative of his early works before The Factory. So I think he would be the
one that would have done the embellishment on them. The signature, too, as far as
I'm concerned, looks spot on. CHUMLEE: Does that
make them valuable? BRETT: [laughs] It does. Yes, it does. RICK: And how much has
the damage affected the value on them? BRETT: Well, most of the
water damage on this one is confined to the outer edge. It hasn't, you know, permeated
into the piece, itself. Same thing on these. You know, the compositions are
still in pretty good shape. You know, the art
market's soft-- RICK: OK. --for just about
everybody but Andy Warhol. RICK: OK. BRETT: Value-wise, I think, on
all of these you probably start at the auction level
at around $10,000-- - Really?
- --and go up. Yeah, I think so. I think these two
in the center-- the cherub and the fairy-- these are a bit more unique. I could see these selling at
auction even in the $15,000 range.
- Really? So-- Wow. Wow.
RICK: Thanks, man. BRETT: Hey, Rick, my pleasure--
- You're the best. I appreciate it.
BRETT: --as always. It was very cool to
see these pieces today. I don't think Rick will have
any problem selling these if he does make an offer on them. RICK: You have to realize, now--
PAUL: Yeah. RICK: --he told you these are
prices that they could bring at auction.
PAUL: Right. RICK: OK? The commissions at auctions
are as high as 50%. OK? What are you thinking? $20,000. That's cash money today. Well, this-- these are worth
$30,000, just for these two. So I'm thinking-- I'm really thinking
more like 32. How about $25,000? How about 27 and
you got a deal? [music playing] All right, $27,000.
PAUL: All right. Thank you.
- Write him up, Chum. PAUL: I am thrilled
with $27,000. I mean, that is more than
I expected, so thrilled. - I have an ancient Roman coin
I'd like to sell. It's from 42 B.C. - Is that what I think it is? - It's two daggers, and it says
"Ides of March." - Is Brutus on the other side? - Yes. - Damn. <i> [coin clinks]</i> <i> - I'm at the pawn shop because
I would like to see if I could</i> <i> sell my Ides of March coin.</i> <i> I think the coin is a Holy
Grail of Roman coins.</i> <i> If I can
sell it, I've got my eye on</i> <i> some rare coins that are</i> coming up for auction in about
a month. - That's pretty cool. That says
"Ides of March." And that whole
line became famous 'cause of the Shakespearean play where
Julius Caesar goes and sees the soothsayer and he goes, "Beware
the Ides of March." - Right. - So where did you get this? - I bought this from a dealer
in California, probably in the mid-'80s. - It's just such amazing
history. Brutus and some other guys in the Roman senate got
together and say, "Hey, when Julius Caesar shows
up today, we're all gonna walk up and
say, 'Hey, dude, what's up?' and then we're all gonna
stab him." [laughs] - And was it, like, 12 guys or
13 guys that stabbed Julius Caesar? - At least. - And he died there right on
the senate floor. I mean, it
would be the equivalent today of killing a president in the
Capitol building. Brutus made this coin just to
basically celebrate the fact that, you know, "I'm the great
guy that killed Julius Caesar." - But what I think's
interesting too, if you look at
the other side, he put his portrait on it, and this was
one of the things that Julius Caesar got criticized for, was putting his portrait on a
coin while he was living. - It's, to this day, in
politics, you know, you'll have
a guy running for office criticizing everything the
other guy's doing, and the
second he gets into office, he starts doing that. [laughter] Brutus didn't stay around
much longer after this to tell us exactly what happened. He thought the Roman people
were all gonna rally around him and everything was gonna be
great, and it didn't work out
too well. It really, really is an amazing
coin. I know there's not a lot
of these in the world, and this
one is in incredible shape. How
much do you want for it? - I'd like to get 150,000. - Okay. I know they're worth a
ridiculous amount of money. But let me call a friend of
mine and take a look at it. It's a lot of money, and I want
his opinion on whether it's real or not; It's not that I
don't trust you. It's just I
don't trust anybody. And we'll see if we can make
a deal. Sounds great. - When you told me you had a
coin with two daggers and a cap
on it, I ran down here. - It's like literally "Game of
Thrones" when this was going on. I mean, everybody was vying
for power. - Yes. With the collapse of the
Republic and paving of the way for the Empire, which literally
changed history, it all boils
down to this coin. This is
Brutus celebrating the fact that he murdered Julius Caesar
on the Ides of March. - Okay, so the big question,
what do you think it's worth? - This one has the advantage of
having a very large planchet, where you can see the whole
design and the abbreviation of Brutus above his head is
totally clear. Can I take a
closer look at it? - Absolutely.
- Thank you. <i> ♪ </i> Such a famous coin. And it looks like there
are no issues. <i> ♪ </i> This is--this is the real deal. - Okay. - Personally, I think a
collector would be very happy to pay about $125,000 for the
coin. But if a bunch of people
showed up to the auction, it
could bring 140, 150 grand. - Okay. Thanks, man. - Best of luck.
Congratulations. - Thank you.
- Thank you. Personally, I would advise Rick
to buy this coin if he can get
it for the right price. <i>It's a really good example with
all the details visible.</i> So I
think it's the kind of coin that most collectors would be
very happy to have. - I agree with Dave; it's an
incredible coin. It's, like,
uber, uber cool, and... [sighs] I would give you 100,000 for
it. <i> ♪ </i> - I could come down maybe to
140. - This is the way I look at it. I have to send it off.
I have to get it encapsulated. And this whole process takes,
like, a year. If I give you 110,000, I know I
will at least break even. - I've gotta have more than
that. - I...110's it. - Yeah, I don't think I can go
below 140. - [sighs] If you change your
mind or have really bad luck while you're in town, come back
and see me. - I appreciate it. Thank you. - Cool. - The offer of 110,000 is quite
a bit lower <i> than what I wanted
to accept,</i> because I absolutely
love the coin, <i> and it would be
quite a hole in my collection</i> that would need to be replaced. - Hey, how can I help you, man? - I'm here to sell this book. - Okay. "The Art of Animation"
by Bob Thomas. That looks like Walt Disney's
signature there. - It is. - That's pretty amazing. - Well--
- 20 bucks, no problem. [both laughing] <i> - The thing that makes
my book special is that</i> <i> I've never seen a Walt Disney
signature like that.</i> <i> It's huge.</i> <i> I'm asking 16,000 for the book</i> based off of the signatures
I have and the condition. I think it's in good condition. It's a rare book. And I think it's a great piece. - A lot of people just don't
realize the genius of Walt Disney. He did so many neat things
with animation. He designed the multiplane
camera, which is-- one of the problems
with cartoons is, you have your character
right here, and you have the background. So the background's got
to move a little bit, but not as much
as the other one. So he created a camera
where there's all these different planes in it where everything moved right. It was a really
arduous process. - It's also signed by
other animators too. - Do you know all the pages
where all the autographs are at? - Let me go and find 'em
for you real quick. There it is.
- Okay. - Check that out.
- And these are all animators? - Correct.
- And we got... the Nine Old Men. There's nine old guys
that were, like, uh, animators from, like,
the beginning that worked on the shorts
for, uh, the movies, and eventually, like,
"Snow White." They became the best of the best
in Hollywood. Looks like we have, uh, all
their autographs here. That makes it really cool. How much money you want? - I'm asking for 16,000. - Okay. Um... first off, it's not that
I don't trust you. It's just that I don't trust you
'cause I don't trust anybody. If I did, I'd be
out of business. - Sure.
- Let me have someone check out the autographs, make sure all look legit. And we'll--
let's start there, okay? Let's just find out if
everything's real. - Okay.
- All right. Um, let me give
someone a call. - Okay.
- All right. Best Disney movie ever: "Jungle Book." The old one. - I mean, Rick really seems interested in the book. I mean, I know he is, like, <i> a Disney fanatic as well,</i> and I know that Walt Disney did sign this book. - Okay, I know your whole life,
you've been told that size doesn't matter. [laughter] But I think it does matter
this time. - Wow, okay. - The Nine Old Man
back in the '50s-- I don't think anyone
would fake them. - Right. - This right here is a
completely different situation. - Yeah, this is a guy
that's heavily forged, so you have to be
really careful. The first thing I do want
to look at is the ink. - I mean, looks like
a modern marker, almost. - Well, okay, it's possible. This book is, what, late '50s.
- Yeah. - Okay, so a fiber-tip marker,
it's possible in that range. So let's take a look at it-- kind of get into
this ink and see what we're actually
dealing with here. You know, I don't think
it's fiber-tip marker. It's almost like
a paint on here. It's really difficult
to say, though. This one I'm a little
stumped on. I know the ink's live, though. There's no question about it. - Live ink, so it was signed... it's signed, but was it
signed by him? - Absolutely. Well, that's
what I'll get to next. The great thing about Disney and
taking a look at his signature: typically gorgeous autograph. He enjoyed doing it. One thing I always look at
first here is the W. When he starts off his W's, you see 'em on kind of
a different plane here. You take a look here,
you take a look here. And then the last name-- I love how he does
this last name here. This always kind of just
reminds me of, you know, Mickey Mouse a little bit. And this is the great part
of his signature. He always included
kind of a paraph at the end. And we see it right here again. This example perfectly
illustrates it. - Okay, so... it's real? - Absolutely no doubt about it. Live ink, beautiful signature-- it's actually one of the nicer
Disney autographs I've ever seen before. - So what do you
think it's worth? - His autograph's
not rare, okay? Because he did sign a lot
of things throughout his life. These guys together
are pretty neat. I'll tell you that much. Is--is everybody gonna know
who these guys are? - Probably not. - You got to find
a niche collector for them. You're--you know, you're looking
at something in the $6,000 range.
- Okay. - Cool piece.
- Thanks, man. - Yeah, thanks for
calling me down. - Appreciate it. - The great thing about
Walt Disney is he remains iconic
to this day, and his signature remains
wildly popular. There's a lot of his
signature out there. But it still carries pretty good
value in the marketplace. - It's a really cool book.
The problem is-- is you've got a bunch of-- a lot of different things
going on here. Let me just call
my book person. You sort of got to put it
all in a blender and come up with a price,
and it's not easy sometimes. - Okay.<i>
Rick's calling his book expert.</i> <i> I don't know, I'm kind
of skeptical about what</i> she's gonna say, because
of Steve's evaluation of it. <i> Yeah, I think it's
worth a ton more,</i> so that's kind of worrisome
for me. <i> - Hi.</i>
- Hey, what's up? <i> - [laughing] Not much.
How are you?</i> - Good. I just sent you
pictures of a book. And I know you never do this
over the phone. But you're, like, on the other
side of the planet. <i> - [laughing] Right, exactly.</i> <i> I'm not--I'm not taking
responsibility.</i> - So what do you think
of the book? <i> - Um, did you have Steve
look at the signatures?</i> - He says all the signatures
are legit. <i> - Okay.</i> <i> This is a book that on its own
isn't really that valuable</i> <i> or desirable.</i> <i> But this is something where</i> <i> I would say it's more than
the sum of its parts.</i> <i> And people are going to be
interested in this</i> <i> because they like the idea
of the context.</i> <i> This is everyone together</i> <i> sort of evoking
a particular era.</i> <i> Okay, so listen, the condition
here is not great.</i> <i> The dust jacket condition--
ugh.</i> <i> The word that came to mind
for me is "beastly."</i> - [chortling] <i> - But again, this is really
more about the signatures</i> <i> and the fact that they're all
in context here together.</i> <i> So if I were running into this
at a dealer's shop,</i> <i> I would expect to see it from
anywhere from 6,000 to 7,500.</i> - Okay. Thanks. <i> - Yeah, happy to help.</i> - All right, bye-bye.<i>
- Bye.</i> - [sighs repeatedly] I'd give you 4,500 for it. You know, it's just a-- and I have to resell this. It's not an easy sell. Books do not go in the showcase and sell the next day. - Yeah, I get that. I mean, but, you know, they've-- I mean, Walt Disney, though,
I mean-- you're not gonna see too many
of these come in your shop. - Okay, it's very interesting
very cool, but I have to retail it. - I just feel like
I could get more. You know, I--
I appreciate your offer. I just, you know-- I think the lowest I'd probably
be willing to go this, Rick, honestly, is about--
probably, like, 7,500, like Rebecca said. - I mean, I'll give you,
like, 4,700. <i> ♪ </i> - [sighs heavily] No, I mean, that's-- it's just been in the family
for so long. I mean, I just-- I'd feel bad if I sold it
for that low. I mean...
- If you change your mind, come back and see me, okay? All right?
- Yeah. - Or shop it around, all right? - Appreciate it, man.
Thank you. - All right, cool.
It's... [sighs] Thanks, man. - All right.<i>
4,700 was Rick's offer.</i> I just thought it was too low. Um... I'd just rather
take the book home and see it go up in value and maybe bring it back one day. NICK: Hi.
- Hey. How can I help you? I have something you
may be interested in. RICK: This is the
day the music died. NICK: Buddy Holly's last show. RICK: I know this is the
rarest concert poster there is. Yeah. Winter Dance Party, Buddy
Holly and the Crickets, the Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens. Hey, I am sort of
like, blown away, dude. I mean, because this
is the Holy Grail. NICK: Right. [music playing] I have a music poster from the
night that Buddy Holly died. Considering its age, it's
in very good condition. I'm hoping to get $30,000
and willing to go down to probably about 15. I love how, you know,
right here they got the name of the-- their big
hits at the time. You know, (SINGING)
Chantilly Lace. [laughs] What happened was that
this night they did the show, and this was like the worst
winter in, like, decades. I mean, they had been having
a miserable, miserable time. Buddy Holly's drummer had to
quit the tour because he had gotten frostbite on his feet. Oh, yeah. Oh, there's this
terrible, drafty bus that he barely worked in. So Buddy Holly went to
charter a small plane to fly to the next city. I mean, literally just a
minute or two after takeoff, the plane crashed. And, unfortunately,
no one survived. This all happened because of
an unfortunate, tragic chain of events. The Surf Ballroom was not
even on the original tour. It was later added
by the tour company. And that little change
affected rock and roll forever. This was put on at
the last minute. NICK: Yup. I think the high school
made the posters for 'em maybe or something like that. NICK: From what I
understand, the-- the high school put
the show together. And one of the kids' uncles
owned a printing shop. And they had days to whip
the posters together, so they made, from what I've
heard, about 150 of them. You know, I'm
absolutely amazed. This would be, like,
one of the coolest rock and roll things to
ever come to my store. OK. But then that's the
part that always-- that really bothers me. Is this thing real? When it comes to
this thing, I mean, there's so many fakes
and things like that. Oh, yeah. I mean, where did you get it? NICK: My family owns
an auction house. A gentleman brought it to
us, that he had bought it from the lady that
was at the show. RICK: OK Moved up from Clear Lake
up to Green Bay and he got it from her. He brought it to us. We bought it, and now I'm here. So did you have it
checked out by anybody or--- Yeah. We sent it down to a
major auction house, way bigger than us. And they authenticated
it, actually put it on the front
cover of their catalog. As far as we know,
there's only one of these. If this is the only
version of this poster, it makes it so
much more valuable. And then again, it's going
to make it so much harder to prove that it's real. So I'm assuming you
want to sell it. NICK: Yes, I do. And how much you want? $30,000. [music playing] $30,000. Yup. That's a lot of money. So let me have a
friend come down. All right. This guy knows more about
rock and roll memorabilia than anybody. He's the curator for the Hard
Rock Cafe and the Hard Rock Hotels. Oh, wow. OK. I mean, so there's-- there's basically no one who
deals with more rock and roll stuff than this guy. Let me get him down here,
have him look at this thing. And if it's the real
deal, we'll talk money. Sounds good. OK. But that's-- I just
have to find out. I mean, it's not that
I don't trust you, it's just I don't trust anybody. NICK: Right. [laughs] OK? So hang out. I'll be back in a few minutes. Sounds good. When it comes to
anything this rare, I have to double and triple
check to make sure it's real. And I really hope it is. This is it. WARWICK: This is it? Ah! [laughs] WARWICK: You know what
this poster is about. Right? RICK: Yeah. This is the day the music died. Buddy Holly and the
Crickets were the-- you know, a huge part of the first
generation of rock. When I first got into
rock collecting in the-- in the '80s,
first thing we did was look for Buddy
Holly memorabilia. And we found it. It was still in
his parents' house. All his guitars-- [laughs] WARWICK: --all his clothes-- it was agreed that they'd lend
a lot of it to the Hard Rock. So I've seen it. I've held it. Buddy's acoustic guitar
sold in 1990 for $240,000. Ooh. That's amazing. So you're talking-- there's
some people out there that definitely would like to
have authentic rock and roll memorabilia from some
of these '50s stars. [rock music] How the posters
look in those days-- they were all printed
by one poster company, and then over printed
for all the stops. It would be a blank at the
top, and that would over print with the name
of the ballroom that there was, and the
date that they were playing. The Buddy Holly tour
had such a poster. Those posters are
highly sought after. So is this a legitimate
poster for the Surf Ballroom for February 2, 1959
for Buddy Holly? [suspenseful music] This was never a poster. It's definitive that there
never was any poster made for that date, because
it's a quickie. It was added on, the ballroom. They've never seen one. They've seen these,
which I believe blowups from hand bills. So if this isn't real from
that night but was produced in the '60s, is
it worth anything? Trouble is, there's too many-- too many poster companies
have this exact image, and they're spitting
them out for $14. Right. If it's not from that
night, there's no money here. NICK: OK. Thanks, man. Thanks for coming in. Sorry to burst your bubble. That's all right. Thank you. He's been buying and selling
this stuff for over 30 years. To me, I just have
to take his opinion. RICK: Good luck to you
on your quest, man. NICK: I'll keep digging. Safe travels, man. Thanks. I was a little disappointed. I'm not going to give up at all. I'm going to keep going
with it, and hopefully when I can definitively prove that
it's real I'll be back here. What can I help you with? Got a Lincoln campaign
ribbon from 1860. It's made of silk. It's in very good condition. It's got Abraham Lincoln's
bust picture on it. Also has for vice
president Hannibal Hamlin. CHUMLEE: Is that
like a Lincoln log? No, it's a ribbon you would,
like, wear on your clothes. Oh. RICK HARRISON: You know like
they have campaign buttons nowadays?
CHUMLEE: Yeah. RICK HARRISON: Sort of
what they had back then. CHUMLEE: We need to
bust out a new button-- "Chumlee for president, 2012." [laughter] I decided to come to
the pawn shop today. I have an Abraham
Lincoln campaign ribbon. It's a very rare
piece of history. Decided to bring it and
see what it was worth. Everything has a number on it,
but I'm not gonna give it away. RICK HARRISON: This
is pretty amazing. So where in the world
did you get this? RICK: Well it's been
in my family 150 years. I have a little document here. It was originally in when I
found it in my mom's cedar chest. Tell a little story
about it there. OK. "Worn by my grandfather John
Hall, campaign of 1860." I'm definitely interested in
it, because quite frankly, it's pretty cool. Abraham Lincoln is considered
one of the greatest leaders this country has ever had. So whenever I run across
items from his presidency, you bet I'm interested. How come Lincoln
doesn't have a beard? RICK HARRISON: The story goes
is, a little girl wrote him a letter saying he would look
much more distinctive if he grew a beard. And that's why he grew it. I don't know if
it's true or not. Beard or no beard, you don't
get a much bigger American icon than Lincoln. So what were you
looking to do with it? RICK: Oh, sell it if
the price is right. OK, the great thing is,
it's in beautiful shape. And I can definitely tell
it's real from how old it is. But the problem I have
here is, I don't even know what this thing is worth. Well, I do. OK, and what is that? I had it appraised seven,
eight years ago for 25,000. OK. Sounds a little high to me. You mind if I have someone come
down here, take a look at it? Maybe we can figure
something out? No problem. Not that I don't believe you. It's just, I don't
believe anybody. Fair enough. All right. So I'll get someone down
here to check it out. Thank you. RICK HARRISON: This
ribbon is awesome, but I have no idea how rare
it is or what it's worth. It could be 25 grand
like the guy says, but I'm not taking
his word for it. Well, this is what
I called you about. DANA: This is a campaign
ribbon from obviously 1860, where it says that. This election was really
one of the most important in American history. Because, of course,
Abraham Lincoln's election led to the Civil War. And his views on slavery
caused the South to secede. And another really interesting
fact about this campaign was over 81% of the
population actually voted in this election. So this is a really
historic, wonderful ribbon. RICK HARRISON: An 81%
turnout is insane. And it was much harder to get
to a place to vote back then. So is it real? It's actually in
very, very nice shape, because it's very easy to read. And you can even see that
there's a sculptor's name down here, Childs. It's full and complete, other
than the tear at the top. It is one of the nicer
examples that I've seen. In my opinion, this
is the real deal. So what do you
think it's worth? Well, what do you
think it's worth? I'm thinking it's
worth 20,000 plus. DANA: I don't know about that. At the peak of the
market, this ribbon would have sold for maybe 4,000. These days at auction, it would
bring somewhere in the vicinity of about $3,000. It's a great ribbon,
but it's simply not worth that kind of money. I understand. All right. Well, thanks a lot, Dana. I appreciate it. So apparently we're pretty
far off on the price. Way off. [laughter] I mean, I would give
you like two grand for it. Two grand? Does that have any
extra zeros on the end? I'll throw a decimal
in there for you. [laughter] Where are you gonna
put that at, the end? Well, how low would you go? 5,000. No, I mean, I'll
go 2,500, but I'm not gonna go a dime more than that. No, I think I'll just
leave it in the family. It's been there for
150 years, and-- OK. Thanks for bringing
it in, though. I appreciate it.
- Thank you. I was disappointed with
the expert's numbers. There's no way I'm gonna
get rid of it for that. I'm not gonna just
listen to one person. I was feeling them out,
just like they were me. Hey, guys, I
got something here I think you might
be interested in. RICK: OK. They're fossils. Do you know what a fossil is? A watch? [laughs] [roar] JUSTIN: I decided to
come to the pawn shop today to try sell
some of my fossils. They're around 290
million years old, and I've got five plant
fossils and one spider fossil. So I'm hoping to get
around $1,200 in pieces. All right, so tell me
everything about these things. JUSTIN: Well, they're around
290 million years old. They're from the Mazon
Creek deposit from Illinois. That's one of the-- RICK: OK. --most famous fossil
deposits in the world. What kind of plants are they? JUSTIN: These are
all just ferns. This one's really cool, but
actually mutated and split into two tips. I've never seen
another one like it. This one here, it's
actually the spider. It's one of the first insects
that we were ever around. That's amazing. Fossils are basically
plants and animals that have been preserved in stone. They're an incredible
record of ancient Earth. And the Mazon Creek area is one
of the best places on the earth to find them. But these are the
first ones I've ever had like this in my
shop, unless, of course, you count the old man. [laughs] So when you found
these things, you had to split them open yourself? Yeah, crack them open by hand. How do you break
these things in half? With a hammer,
just very carefully. You've got to tap
around the edges. You ever crack one open
and just fallen to pieces? Lots of times, yeah. I think these
fossils look awesome, but I have no way
to authenticate it they came from Mazon Creek
or if they're even real because, let's be
honest, paleontology is a little bit
out of my league. What did you want
to do with these? I'd like to sell them. And how much did
you want for them? I'd like right
around $1,200 dollars for the entire collection. Here's my concerns, I
just don't know enough about these things. I mean, literally, I don't know
if this is painted on there. It's not that I don't trust you.
It's just I don't trust anybody. Let me call someone
in, get him down here. We'll get everything
figured out, OK? No problem. OK.
Thanks. JUSTIN: Thanks a lot. I'm looking forward
to the expert coming in and giving
some information about these fossils.
I know they're worth money. I know they're rare. It's nice to hear someone
else say the same thing. I'm Dr. Scott Foss. I'm the regional paleontologist
for the Bureau of Land Management, and I study fossils. SCOTT: Oh, what
do you have here? This is it. Apparently fossils. I just want to make
sure they were all real. SCOTT: What can you
tell me about them? Where did you collect them? From the Mazon Creek
Formation in Illinois. Did they all come
from the same area, or are they from
different areas? Same area. There's a few things here. This one appears to have
broken and then repaired. In looking at them,
these are some of the nicer ones
that I've seen, and they are absolutely real. RICK: So an artist
didn't paint these on. No, these absolutely real. They're carbon impressions of
organisms that lived on planet Earth 300 million years ago. Wonder what the Earth looked
like 300 million years ago. Well, 300 million years
ago, this area of Illinois was this massive kind
of coal swamp area. The central United
States was further south, and Illinois was right
near the equator. That was a tropical environment. It was like being in
the Yucatan of Mexico, only that was Central Illinois. This one is very interesting. It is a spider. A 300 million year old
spider has found its way to Las Vegas today. Just the cool factor
of that alone, I mean, collectors all over the
world love to find these. Thanks, Scott, I
really appreciate it. Oh, absolutely, Rick.
It's my pleasure. I'd love to look at a
fossil anytime we can. OK, thanks. If it wasn't for
the amateur community, we wouldn't have half
of the neat fossils that we find today. All right, so how much did
you want for these things. Well, I did want 1,200, for
the quality, for the size. There's a collector's
market for this, but a lot of collectors just
like to go get them themselves, like you.
- All right. It's a lot of work, but it's
sort of like half the fun. I'll give you 800 bucks. Just the spider
fossil alone is probably worth at least $600, at
least, just for that one. RICK: Like I said, I
have to resell them, OK? I'll go a grand. I can't go no more. I mean, that's what I'll do. I'm looking for just a
little bit more than that. RICK: OK. Like I said, I wish I could
make a deal with you, but-- RICK: All right.
- I can't let them go for 1,000. I'm sorry. I'll go 1,100. - Cash money?
- Cash money, 1,100 bucks. Sounds good. Deal. 1,100 is a fair offer. He'll money.
I'll make money. We're both happy. That's what matters. - [Rick] Are those
what I think they are? - [Man] They are. Two original M.C.
Escher lithographs. - That is deeply cool. I just love this stuff. I mean he's the only one
who's ever done art like this. I mean he's just this really
screwed up bizarro perspective. This was a guy who was
gonna be an architect then he became an artist and
sort of incorporated the two and made this madness. - Yeah (laughs) - [Man] I got these lithographs from the family of
Escher's last printer. He didn't print his
own lithographs. He had someone else do
it because the process is so tedious. Selling these Escher
lithographs only because they're duplicates. If I make a deal today,
I'll use the money to probably buy more Escher
artwork in the future. - [Rick] He has always been
one of my favorite artists. Take artists throughout
the centuries, there's maybe 25 of them,
you can look at their work and say "that's him." You know, you've got Van Gogh you can look at a Van Gogh
and say "that's Van Gogh." Escher is one of those people. You look at an Escher and
you know it's an Escher. Do you know the names of these? - [Sal] This one's
called Three Worlds because there's the world
reflective in the water, so you see the trees. There's the world on the
surface of the water, which are the
leaves of the tree. And then the third
world is the world underneath the water,
which is the koi. - That is really cool. - [Sal] This one's
called Belvedere. It's an impossible building and a number of Escher's
impossible buildings are actually halfway possible meaning if you look at just
the bottom half of the print it's perfectly logical or the top half of the print but it's the combination of the
two that create the illusion - Yeah, he makes this
three dimensional thing exist in two dimensions
that could never exist in three dimensions. I just love everything about
the way he did this stuff. I have never actually had a
legitimate Escher lithograph come in my shop. And they are in
incredible shape, which really scares me
'cause if there's one thing I've learned
in this business, if it's too good to be
true, it usually is. So the big question is how
much you want for them? - So for the Three Worlds,
I'm asking $17,500. And for the Belvedere, $18,000. - Alright So I guess you know a
lot about these things and the more expensive
something becomes, the more often it's faked. Let me have a friend come
down and take a look at them. There's some questions I have it's not that I don't trust you, it's just that I
don't trust you. (laughs) I'm a little bit excited
about this, so hold on. - [Man] Alright. I think it's reasonable
calling an expert because for a transaction
of this much money you want to know that it's real and if he agrees with
my price range then it makes my deal all that easier. - [Brett] Escher, alright! - [Rick] Prepare
to bend your mind. - [Brett] You know, he's the
first artist that I just was obsessed with, because he
took concepts I was learning in school, physics,
science, gravity and he took those laws
and he broke them. M.C. Escher's impossible
constructions are just that, they're impossible to
recreate in three dimensions, but he was able to do it
in two dimensions through tricks and perspective that
just were mind bending. Now these are great. Now what I'd like to do
is take a closer look. So what I'm looking for here
is that dot matrix pattern you find on offset lithography. I see a lot of the stippling
that would have been used but I don't see any sort of a
dot matrix or rosette pattern that you'd typically see on a
four color offset lithograph. Now this one, I'm a little
familiar with this one. Again, I'm seeing the stippling,
I'm seeing the type of patterns you would see
in a stone lithograph. - [Rick] So, are they real? - It's real. - [Rick] Ok, so they
weren't printed yesterday? - [Brett] They weren't
printed yesterday. They just look like it. - Ok (laughs) - I've never seen prints
of this vintage in quite such good condition. They're exceptional. - Ok, so what do you
think these are worth? - [Brett] This one,
Belvedere, I love the image and it could be argued
that this one might even be a more marketable image. The one thing that I
think really will detract from the value is the
lack of a signature. I'd probably put a value
on this one in the, maybe the $5,000-8,000 range. Whereas this one, I'd probably put in that
$15,000-20,000 range. - [Rick] Ok. - Well, I beg to differ because this is a print
that another one from the same family went to
auction for 5 figures. - [Brett] Again, the concerns
I have we don't really have any proof. - Alright. - [Rick] Thanks man. - [Brett] Rick, as
always, it was great. Great meeting you, you have
some exceptional works here. Thanks guys. M.C. Escher's work just
continues to resonate and I think every generation
kind of picks up on it and it's genius. I think it's timeless. - [Rick] So, sounding like
this one's sort of like out of the question. - Yeah, there's no...you
can buy the top half of it for $5,000. - Ok, so Belvedere is
out of the question. And the Three Worlds,
what's your best price? - I think $17,500 is a fair
price for the Three Worlds, it's right in the middle
of Brett's assessment. - You just have to
look at my situation, I have to resell it. This is a business where
I gotta make money. I would go 12 grand
on the Three Worlds. - I'm sorry, I can't. - I mean, it's an
incredible print. I think it will sell for
right around $16,000-17,000 but I'm not in the
business of breaking even. I'll go $13,000, that's
all I'm gonna go. - If it had flaws, I would
agree with you, but I can't go that low for something
in this condition. - I really love them but
business is business. If you change your mind,
come back and see me. - Alright, thank you. - [Rick] Thanks, bud. - [Sal] It would have been
great to make a deal today, but at the same time,
Escher is super famous. There's someone out there
who they're not gonna buy it to try to sell it. They're gonna buy it
because they love it and keep it for themselves and that extra few thousand
dollars won't make a difference.
