Pawn Stars s03e22 Episode Script
Gone with the Schwinn
On this episode of Pawn Stars It's a 1981 delorean.
This thing's pretty sweet, man.
Let me have my guy take it for a test-drive.
No problem.
[Tires squealing.]
Crash! Holy [Bleep.]
.
This is a letter that was sent to my grandfather by president Roosevelt.
Who was your grandfather, sir? H.
L.
Lax.
L-a-x, just like ex-lax.
[Laughs.]
We're probably talking $40,000, here.
Thanks a lot.
We're gonna be on who wants to be a millionaire? Yeah! I'm gonna win a million bucks.
I'm Rick Harrison, and this is my pawn shop.
I work here with my old man and my son, big hoss.
Everything in here has a story and a price.
One thing I've learned after 21 years, you never know what is gonna come through that door.
Hey, how can I help you? Well, I have a guitar here for you to take a look at.
Whoa.
Where in the world did you get this? I got this from my father.
It's a 1956 Gibson electric.
A lot of people say that they actually start sounding better with age.
But I listened to way too much rock and roll in my youth, and my hearing's half gone anyway, so I wouldn't know.
I came to the pawn shop today to sell my 1956 Gibson guitar.
It's in great condition.
I think the guitar is worth about $20,000.
It needs to move on to someone else who can appreciate it as much as I do.
Yeah, this is really nice.
Did you ever play it? I did not.
My father actually purchased it from a band member.
It was secondhand to him.
Other than that, I don't know anything about the instrument itself.
Gibsons are, like, one of the best guitars made.
They were made with quality.
Everything from the wood, craftsmanship, everything about them was quality.
And that's why you can still get money out of Gibsons as opposed to a lot of other brands that are just no one wants.
Orville Gibson was a guy who started off making mandolins in the 1890s, and his company went on to make some of the best guitars ever made.
Everyone from b.
B.
King to Keith Richards to Jimmy page has used a Gibson guitar.
I mean, everything looks in amazing shape.
I can't find a damn problem with it.
That was my father's baby.
Okay.
Music was his first love.
How'd you get the date? From my father.
There's a model number inside the guitar.
Okay, 'cause Gibsons always have really, really bizarre serial number systems.
You can't track it down by just the serial number.
You got to know about the knobs, electrical wiring, all sorts of strange stuff like that.
Pricing a classic Gibson can be really tough.
And just the littlest difference can mean tens of thousands of dollars.
You want to sell it or pawn it? I am looking to sell it.
And what were you looking to get out of it? I've been advised to not take less than $20,000 for it.
Okay.
First thing I want to do is, I want to have someone come in here and take a look at this thing.
Let's make sure it's a 1956.
Let's make sure all the components are original, 'cause that's a really big deal.
I have a buddy.
His name's Jesse.
He knows everything there is to know about guitars.
It's, like, freakishly weird.
Let me get him down here.
He will look at this.
We will get it figured out and see what we can do.
Okay.
Thank you very much.
I have had diverse appraisals from $1,500 to $20,000.
Maybe it's time to have a real expert take a look.
Earlier today, I got a call from a guy looking to sell a 1980s delorean.
These cars are awesome.
But seeing as how this car is close to 30 years old, I'm bringing our shop's mechanic, Johnny, with me to come check it out.
This thing's pretty sweet, man.
Looks pretty good from the outside.
So where's the flux capacitor go in this? This one doesn't have one on it, unfortunately.
I guess we're stuck, then, aren't we? This is supposed to be the future.
Right.
[Laughing.]
So I decided to call the guys from the pawn shop to see if they'd be interested in buying my '81 delorean.
This car was made famous by the back to the futumovies.
John delorean wanted it to be the new sports car, the car of the future.
The reason why I want to sell this car is, it's not a real practical car.
I have three kids, and I can't put the whole family in the car and go drive and get something to eat.
So what can you tell me about it, man? It was my father's car.
He passed it on down to me.
It's a 1981 delorean, you know, stainless steel body.
They're two-seater cars.
This one's an automatic.
John delorean designed a whole lot of cars for gm and then went out on his own, and this was the first and only car he ever manufactured.
John delorean was known for creating cars such as the Pontiac gto and the firebird.
But his car put him on a whole new level.
But after it was featured back to the future, it became legendary.
Isn't this the car that he got caught selling cocaine to the FBI to fund or something? Uh, he got wrapped up in that stuff, and he was looking to get funding to help manufacture his cars.
The cocaine market's not a real good place to start funding your business.
You mind if we open it up and take a better look at it? Not a problem.
Let's go.
All right.
Man, I never get tired of seeing these doors open.
That is kind of neat, isn't it? It's very cool.
I like it.
Can we check out the engine real quick? Sure, no problem.
Deloreans use what's called a mid -engine, which is pretty much designed for weight distribution and also makes them handle really well.
That's why you also see them in ferraris and lamborghinis.
I mean, delorean really knew what he was doing.
It's a Volvo-Renault-peugeot.
It's an all-aluminum v-6.
I mean, I wasn't even alive back in 1981, and I mean, this car still looks, you know, cool to today's standard.
It's still a head -Turner, 30 years later.
You can look at this car still and go "wow" when it drives by you.
Are you looking to pawn this thing or sell it? Probably I'd like to sell it.
Well, before I can make you an offer, let me have my guy take it for a test-drive real quick.
No problem.
All right.
Here you go.
All right.
[Engine revving.]
[Tires squealing.]
If everything checks out, I'd love nothing more than to drive the car back to the shop.
I might even go 88 miles an hour and see what happens.
But as much as I want it, I have to get it for a price that makes sense.
So hopefully this guy doesn't want something out of this world for it.
Quick, Corey, get in.
There's a problem with your grandfather back in 1955.
No, you go back and save him.
I got [Bleep.]
To do.
So how's it run? Eh, it runs.
A little shifting problem with the tranny, maybe.
You could smell it runs hot.
You can tell it's 30 years old.
How much are you trying to get out of it, man? Well, they've been documented to go through the Barrett-Jackson auction at right around $40,000, so Shoot me a number of what you'd like to get for it.
I'd go $30,000 for it.
You got to remember my situation.
If I do buy it, I got to buy it to make a profit on it.
I could go probably around $12,000.
Oh, at that price, there'd be no way.
I mean, I could maybe go down to $28,000 would be about all I'd consider.
There's no way, in today's market, it's gonna go for that much.
Houses are worth 1/3 of what they used to be.
I figure cars are worth about the same.
All right.
I'll go up $15,000, and that's gonna be the most I can do on it.
That's gonna be the final offer there.
I'll probably stay stuck at the most the lowest would probably be $28,000, and I'll probably keep it for that, then.
All right, man.
Well, good luck to you.
There's no way I could let this go for $15,000.
I know the car's worth more money.
[Phone ringing.]
Gold and silver.
Sure, buddy.
You know, quit prank-calling me.
I don't need this.
Who wants to be a millionaire? This ain't who wants to be a millionaire? What do you mean? Chum, chum, chum, chum.
Now, you know, please stop calling me.
Chum, wait.
Hello? Yeah.
Um, yeah, sure.
Thanks a lot.
We're gonna be on who wants to be a millionaire? It wasn't [Bleep.]
? No.
Yeah! All three of youse going on there? Yeah, we're all gonna be on who wants to be a millionaire? We ain't got a fighting chance in hell with him on there.
You've got to promise me that you're not gonna try to answer the questions.
Of course I am.
You're not allowed to answer anything.
Of course I am.
Rick, if you let him answer questions, you won't make it past the first round.
You know what? I'm gonna study and answer every single question and show you guys.
You know what? Don't study, because I don't want you thinking that you might know the answer.
[Laughing.]
I answered the phone.
Shut up.
Franklin Roosevelt's signature is very intricate.
The name seems to be clear.
It is the white house letterhead.
Price-wise, could be $40,000, $50,000.
Chumlee, go back to work.
I'm studying for who wants to be a millionaire? [Cheers and applause.]
For $1 million, chum.
How's it going? Hey, Jesse.
How's it going? Pretty good.
Earlier, a lady came in with a classic 1950s Gibson electric guitar.
She's asking some major money for this thing.
So I brought in my buddy Jesse so he could tell us what it's worth.
And this is it.
Oh, very cool.
I work at cowtown guitars here in Las Vegas, a vintage guitar shop.
And I do appraisals and stuff for Rick every time they get something in that they need some help with.
Looks like an es 225t, you can see stamped down inside this f-hole.
"T" stands for thin body.
It's a very cool guitar.
It's got some neat factory options on it that you don't see every day.
The bigsby tremolo.
These didn't come on all these guitars standard.
You had to order it with this specifically.
Gibson guitars are just cool.
Gibson's one of the oldest manufacturers of guitars.
A lot of famous people played them: Les Paul, Chuck Berry, b.
B.
King.
I even named my youngest son Gibson.
So I mean, Gibson guitars are the business, man.
George thorogood, you know, tbad to the bone guy, oh, yes.
Absolutely.
He uses a guitar very similar to this, same pickups, same body style.
These were good-sounding guitars.
So what are your questions? Basically, is it a 1956? Is it all original? And what's it worth? Okay, you can see, stamped down inside this f -hole, a letter and four digits and then a space and two digits.
Well, that's the batch order number.
It looks like it's a "v," which would put this at '56.
'56 was the first year they started doing two pickups.
It's all original, as far as I can tell.
I mean, it's still got the flatwound strings on it.
Looks like these strings are probably almost as old as the guitar.
Price-wise, in this condition, in today's market, you're probably looking at, like, 35.
Um, $3,500.
Really? That surprises me.
Yeah, and that would be top of the market for this guitar.
What makes the value, in my opinion, so low at $3,500? You know, if it was an es 335, you'd be looking at, you know, a $20,000 guitar.
It isn't.
It's a 225.
The 335 has two cutaways and has a solid block of wood down the middle of it so you can play the guitar really loud.
You know, a lot of people use those.
Eric Clapton uses 335s.
This guitar's completely hollow, so it squeals if it gets too loud.
Thanks, Jesse.
All right, man.
Appreciate it.
Take care.
You're the best, man.
It's kind of a bummer she thought the guitar was worth 20 grand.
Those guitars never got that high.
A cool guitar, not a real popular guitar.
Well, do you have any other experts? [Laughs.]
I mean, literally, I'd offer you $2,000 for it.
Well, I guess I need to make a decision as to what I want to do.
Okay.
I know, 'cause you walked in here with one number, and it's so much different.
I can realize the shock.
It is.
And I you know, I would go, like, $2,200.
That'd be, like, the best I could go.
I'll tell you what.
Right now, I know my dad is up there looking down with the biggest grin on his face, saying, "you've had it sitting there for 26 years.
" We all enjoyed it through the years he played it.
So let's make a deal.
Okay.
$2,200.
Great.
Sounds like a deal.
Letting my guitar go for $2,200 is kind of a letdown, but at the same time, I know wherever it goes, it's going to give pleasure.
Got something I want to show you.
See what you think about it.
Okay.
This is a letter that was sent to my grandfather years ago by president Roosevelt.
Who was your grandfather, sir? H.
L.
Lax.
He was a minister there in Western Kentucky.
Lax, l-a-x.
Just like ex-lax.
Okay.
[Laughs.]
I came to the pawn shop today to try to sell a letter from president Roosevelt to my grandfather.
Well, I got the letter from an old shed out in my granddad's house.
And I opened it up, and there's the envelope from the white house.
And I thought, "gosh, what is that?" Finally decided I'd bring it out here to see if it had any value to it.
So what's the letter about? I think this is right after the president put the social security into action.
And he wanted to make sure that it worked.
And so he was writing my grandfather to ask his counsel.
"Because of the grave responsibilities of my office, "I am turning to representative clergymen "for counsel and advice, "feeling confident that no group "can give more accurate, unbiased views.
Sincerely, Franklin Roosevelt.
" Basically, what we got here is, "how does your congregation feel about the social security act?" And "hey, dude, can you help support it a little bit, say it's a good thing?" Yeah.
I mean, that's basically what it says.
It's an interesting letter.
I like it.
The social security act was enacted in 1935 as part of fdr's new deal.
It was really controversial at the time, and it was a political bloodbath getting this thing passed.
Today it's one of the largest government programs in the world.
The only thing that concerns me is, this looks like it's a form letter.
They'd make thousands of copies of it.
At the bottom, they'd put different ministers and addresses.
They didn't have copy machines.
They had mimeograph machines.
That's not mimeograph, I can tell you that.
I know.
I used to run one.
Yeah.
[Laughs.]
This could be secretarial-signed or something like that.
It looks like an actual signature.
I just want to make sure it's his signature, him doing it.
Let me get my buddy drew down here.
He does this for a living.
He'll tell us what it is.
Okay? Good deal.
Thank you.
Thanks.
Hey, thanks, sir.
I went online, and some of his signatures sold for $2,600.
So I'm hoping it is real.
I've seen a lot of fdr stuff but never anything related to social security.
If it's real, I definitely want it.
Chumlee.
Yeah? Put the damn book down and go back to work, please? This is work.
I'm studying for who wants to be a millionaire? I'm gonna win a million bucks.
It's for charity, dude.
Well, my charity's gonna win a mil.
I didn't even know you could read.
[Chuckles.]
Let's quiz chum.
Try.
Let's do this.
What was the famous battleship that was sunk 1941 in pearl harbor? The USS Arizona.
Damn.
Next.
Come on, big hoss.
I know you got something up there.
What album spent the most time on tbillboard 500? Come on, man, everybody loves pink Floyd.
Dark side of the moon.
I'm impressed.
Ricky, have you medicated chumlee or something? I don't know.
I think he can read minds, 'cause I know he's not that [Bleep.]
Smart.
All right, chum, who said, "for every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction?" Newton.
What else is he famous for? Fig Newtons? [Laughing.]
Chum, since you're so damn smart, go back to work and make some money for the shop.
[Laughing.]
Earlier, a guy came in with a letter signed by fdr.
If it's real, I want it.
So I've asked a buddy of mine to come down and take a closer look.
Morning.
Hey, drew.
Hey, good to see you.
What's going on, drew? Is this today's project? Yes, it is.
I'm drew with authentic autographs unlimited, and I'm a forensic document examiner.
Okay, fdr, interesting.
Rick, what are your concerns on this? I just want to know if it's secretarial -signed or did he sign it? I mean, it looks like a form letter.
I could be wrong.
It does appear to be kind of like a form letter.
But that doesn't necessarily mean he didn't sign it.
Sure.
At this particular time, he needed as much support as possible.
It kind of took a while for people to kind of accept the social security act.
Now, it is possible this was signed by a secretarial, so we're gonna have to check out the details on it to see if that's true.
So basically, we need to break down the signature to see what we have.
Franklin Roosevelt's signature is very intricate.
You're looking at partially cursive, partially printing.
It's quite a different combination.
The first name seems to be clear.
It is broken up in different strokes.
The slant line is correct.
The capital letters are all about the right height.
Okay, it is white house letterhead.
Paper stock looks proper for the time period.
When you put it all together, there's only one conclusion.
This thing's definitely authentic.
Great.
I appreciate that, man.
You sure? He actually signed it? Well, it is kind of a form letter, there's no doubt about it, but it was so important that he get the support, I wouldn't doubt that he sat down and signed every single one.
All right, yeah, it's just a little shocking, 'cause I was, like, 90% sure it was right, right.
You're wrong again, Rick.
[Laughter.]
I love you too, dad.
Okay.
So what does, like, a letter like this go for? You know, I've seen Roosevelt letters go $3,000 up to $40,000, $50,000.
It depends: If it's on white house letterhead, that brings the price up.
If it was concerning world war ii, that kicks the price up some more.
But two of his biggest legislative things was the new deal that put people back to work and the social security act.
So he is talking about something that's very important to him.
Price-wise, I would say probably, retail, at auction, $5,000, $6,000, $7,000.
Okay.
Thanks, drew.
Rick, it's been a pleasure.
You're the greatest.
Thanks, drew.
You bet.
All right, so have you figured out what you want to do? Well, it's a great piece of history.
It means a lot to me because it's family Mm -hmm.
Which has no value to anybody else.
Yeah.
And I heard $40,000 there.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
I heard that.
I'm sure I heard that.
No, he said, like, world war ii, something like that, $40,000.
He said something like this, $5,000, $7,000 at auction.
I would give you, like, $2,500, and that's cash.
Can you do it at $3,000? I'll go $2,000.
I'll go $2,750.
I'll meet you in the middle.
Well Yeah, I think I'll sell it.
Okay.
It's a deal.
Made a deal for $2,750.
I was tickled at that price.
That way, everybody makes a little bit, and the world's happy.
So, chum, you just won $500,000.
How are you feeling? I'm excited.
Let's see the $1 million question.
For $1 million, chum, in a popular video game, Ms.
pac-man gobbles up pellets while pursued by four ghosts named inky, blinky, pinky, and what? I love pac -man.
It's my favorite game ever.
Final answer is "c," sue.
You're sure? Is that your final answer? That's my final answer.
You just got yourself $1 million, baby.
Yeah! [Cheers and applause.]
Way to go, man.
[Applause.]
Wake up.
Chum, you're snoring.
This thing's pretty sweet, man.
Let me have my guy take it for a test-drive.
No problem.
[Tires squealing.]
Crash! Holy [Bleep.]
.
This is a letter that was sent to my grandfather by president Roosevelt.
Who was your grandfather, sir? H.
L.
Lax.
L-a-x, just like ex-lax.
[Laughs.]
We're probably talking $40,000, here.
Thanks a lot.
We're gonna be on who wants to be a millionaire? Yeah! I'm gonna win a million bucks.
I'm Rick Harrison, and this is my pawn shop.
I work here with my old man and my son, big hoss.
Everything in here has a story and a price.
One thing I've learned after 21 years, you never know what is gonna come through that door.
Hey, how can I help you? Well, I have a guitar here for you to take a look at.
Whoa.
Where in the world did you get this? I got this from my father.
It's a 1956 Gibson electric.
A lot of people say that they actually start sounding better with age.
But I listened to way too much rock and roll in my youth, and my hearing's half gone anyway, so I wouldn't know.
I came to the pawn shop today to sell my 1956 Gibson guitar.
It's in great condition.
I think the guitar is worth about $20,000.
It needs to move on to someone else who can appreciate it as much as I do.
Yeah, this is really nice.
Did you ever play it? I did not.
My father actually purchased it from a band member.
It was secondhand to him.
Other than that, I don't know anything about the instrument itself.
Gibsons are, like, one of the best guitars made.
They were made with quality.
Everything from the wood, craftsmanship, everything about them was quality.
And that's why you can still get money out of Gibsons as opposed to a lot of other brands that are just no one wants.
Orville Gibson was a guy who started off making mandolins in the 1890s, and his company went on to make some of the best guitars ever made.
Everyone from b.
B.
King to Keith Richards to Jimmy page has used a Gibson guitar.
I mean, everything looks in amazing shape.
I can't find a damn problem with it.
That was my father's baby.
Okay.
Music was his first love.
How'd you get the date? From my father.
There's a model number inside the guitar.
Okay, 'cause Gibsons always have really, really bizarre serial number systems.
You can't track it down by just the serial number.
You got to know about the knobs, electrical wiring, all sorts of strange stuff like that.
Pricing a classic Gibson can be really tough.
And just the littlest difference can mean tens of thousands of dollars.
You want to sell it or pawn it? I am looking to sell it.
And what were you looking to get out of it? I've been advised to not take less than $20,000 for it.
Okay.
First thing I want to do is, I want to have someone come in here and take a look at this thing.
Let's make sure it's a 1956.
Let's make sure all the components are original, 'cause that's a really big deal.
I have a buddy.
His name's Jesse.
He knows everything there is to know about guitars.
It's, like, freakishly weird.
Let me get him down here.
He will look at this.
We will get it figured out and see what we can do.
Okay.
Thank you very much.
I have had diverse appraisals from $1,500 to $20,000.
Maybe it's time to have a real expert take a look.
Earlier today, I got a call from a guy looking to sell a 1980s delorean.
These cars are awesome.
But seeing as how this car is close to 30 years old, I'm bringing our shop's mechanic, Johnny, with me to come check it out.
This thing's pretty sweet, man.
Looks pretty good from the outside.
So where's the flux capacitor go in this? This one doesn't have one on it, unfortunately.
I guess we're stuck, then, aren't we? This is supposed to be the future.
Right.
[Laughing.]
So I decided to call the guys from the pawn shop to see if they'd be interested in buying my '81 delorean.
This car was made famous by the back to the futumovies.
John delorean wanted it to be the new sports car, the car of the future.
The reason why I want to sell this car is, it's not a real practical car.
I have three kids, and I can't put the whole family in the car and go drive and get something to eat.
So what can you tell me about it, man? It was my father's car.
He passed it on down to me.
It's a 1981 delorean, you know, stainless steel body.
They're two-seater cars.
This one's an automatic.
John delorean designed a whole lot of cars for gm and then went out on his own, and this was the first and only car he ever manufactured.
John delorean was known for creating cars such as the Pontiac gto and the firebird.
But his car put him on a whole new level.
But after it was featured back to the future, it became legendary.
Isn't this the car that he got caught selling cocaine to the FBI to fund or something? Uh, he got wrapped up in that stuff, and he was looking to get funding to help manufacture his cars.
The cocaine market's not a real good place to start funding your business.
You mind if we open it up and take a better look at it? Not a problem.
Let's go.
All right.
Man, I never get tired of seeing these doors open.
That is kind of neat, isn't it? It's very cool.
I like it.
Can we check out the engine real quick? Sure, no problem.
Deloreans use what's called a mid -engine, which is pretty much designed for weight distribution and also makes them handle really well.
That's why you also see them in ferraris and lamborghinis.
I mean, delorean really knew what he was doing.
It's a Volvo-Renault-peugeot.
It's an all-aluminum v-6.
I mean, I wasn't even alive back in 1981, and I mean, this car still looks, you know, cool to today's standard.
It's still a head -Turner, 30 years later.
You can look at this car still and go "wow" when it drives by you.
Are you looking to pawn this thing or sell it? Probably I'd like to sell it.
Well, before I can make you an offer, let me have my guy take it for a test-drive real quick.
No problem.
All right.
Here you go.
All right.
[Engine revving.]
[Tires squealing.]
If everything checks out, I'd love nothing more than to drive the car back to the shop.
I might even go 88 miles an hour and see what happens.
But as much as I want it, I have to get it for a price that makes sense.
So hopefully this guy doesn't want something out of this world for it.
Quick, Corey, get in.
There's a problem with your grandfather back in 1955.
No, you go back and save him.
I got [Bleep.]
To do.
So how's it run? Eh, it runs.
A little shifting problem with the tranny, maybe.
You could smell it runs hot.
You can tell it's 30 years old.
How much are you trying to get out of it, man? Well, they've been documented to go through the Barrett-Jackson auction at right around $40,000, so Shoot me a number of what you'd like to get for it.
I'd go $30,000 for it.
You got to remember my situation.
If I do buy it, I got to buy it to make a profit on it.
I could go probably around $12,000.
Oh, at that price, there'd be no way.
I mean, I could maybe go down to $28,000 would be about all I'd consider.
There's no way, in today's market, it's gonna go for that much.
Houses are worth 1/3 of what they used to be.
I figure cars are worth about the same.
All right.
I'll go up $15,000, and that's gonna be the most I can do on it.
That's gonna be the final offer there.
I'll probably stay stuck at the most the lowest would probably be $28,000, and I'll probably keep it for that, then.
All right, man.
Well, good luck to you.
There's no way I could let this go for $15,000.
I know the car's worth more money.
[Phone ringing.]
Gold and silver.
Sure, buddy.
You know, quit prank-calling me.
I don't need this.
Who wants to be a millionaire? This ain't who wants to be a millionaire? What do you mean? Chum, chum, chum, chum.
Now, you know, please stop calling me.
Chum, wait.
Hello? Yeah.
Um, yeah, sure.
Thanks a lot.
We're gonna be on who wants to be a millionaire? It wasn't [Bleep.]
? No.
Yeah! All three of youse going on there? Yeah, we're all gonna be on who wants to be a millionaire? We ain't got a fighting chance in hell with him on there.
You've got to promise me that you're not gonna try to answer the questions.
Of course I am.
You're not allowed to answer anything.
Of course I am.
Rick, if you let him answer questions, you won't make it past the first round.
You know what? I'm gonna study and answer every single question and show you guys.
You know what? Don't study, because I don't want you thinking that you might know the answer.
[Laughing.]
I answered the phone.
Shut up.
Franklin Roosevelt's signature is very intricate.
The name seems to be clear.
It is the white house letterhead.
Price-wise, could be $40,000, $50,000.
Chumlee, go back to work.
I'm studying for who wants to be a millionaire? [Cheers and applause.]
For $1 million, chum.
How's it going? Hey, Jesse.
How's it going? Pretty good.
Earlier, a lady came in with a classic 1950s Gibson electric guitar.
She's asking some major money for this thing.
So I brought in my buddy Jesse so he could tell us what it's worth.
And this is it.
Oh, very cool.
I work at cowtown guitars here in Las Vegas, a vintage guitar shop.
And I do appraisals and stuff for Rick every time they get something in that they need some help with.
Looks like an es 225t, you can see stamped down inside this f-hole.
"T" stands for thin body.
It's a very cool guitar.
It's got some neat factory options on it that you don't see every day.
The bigsby tremolo.
These didn't come on all these guitars standard.
You had to order it with this specifically.
Gibson guitars are just cool.
Gibson's one of the oldest manufacturers of guitars.
A lot of famous people played them: Les Paul, Chuck Berry, b.
B.
King.
I even named my youngest son Gibson.
So I mean, Gibson guitars are the business, man.
George thorogood, you know, tbad to the bone guy, oh, yes.
Absolutely.
He uses a guitar very similar to this, same pickups, same body style.
These were good-sounding guitars.
So what are your questions? Basically, is it a 1956? Is it all original? And what's it worth? Okay, you can see, stamped down inside this f -hole, a letter and four digits and then a space and two digits.
Well, that's the batch order number.
It looks like it's a "v," which would put this at '56.
'56 was the first year they started doing two pickups.
It's all original, as far as I can tell.
I mean, it's still got the flatwound strings on it.
Looks like these strings are probably almost as old as the guitar.
Price-wise, in this condition, in today's market, you're probably looking at, like, 35.
Um, $3,500.
Really? That surprises me.
Yeah, and that would be top of the market for this guitar.
What makes the value, in my opinion, so low at $3,500? You know, if it was an es 335, you'd be looking at, you know, a $20,000 guitar.
It isn't.
It's a 225.
The 335 has two cutaways and has a solid block of wood down the middle of it so you can play the guitar really loud.
You know, a lot of people use those.
Eric Clapton uses 335s.
This guitar's completely hollow, so it squeals if it gets too loud.
Thanks, Jesse.
All right, man.
Appreciate it.
Take care.
You're the best, man.
It's kind of a bummer she thought the guitar was worth 20 grand.
Those guitars never got that high.
A cool guitar, not a real popular guitar.
Well, do you have any other experts? [Laughs.]
I mean, literally, I'd offer you $2,000 for it.
Well, I guess I need to make a decision as to what I want to do.
Okay.
I know, 'cause you walked in here with one number, and it's so much different.
I can realize the shock.
It is.
And I you know, I would go, like, $2,200.
That'd be, like, the best I could go.
I'll tell you what.
Right now, I know my dad is up there looking down with the biggest grin on his face, saying, "you've had it sitting there for 26 years.
" We all enjoyed it through the years he played it.
So let's make a deal.
Okay.
$2,200.
Great.
Sounds like a deal.
Letting my guitar go for $2,200 is kind of a letdown, but at the same time, I know wherever it goes, it's going to give pleasure.
Got something I want to show you.
See what you think about it.
Okay.
This is a letter that was sent to my grandfather years ago by president Roosevelt.
Who was your grandfather, sir? H.
L.
Lax.
He was a minister there in Western Kentucky.
Lax, l-a-x.
Just like ex-lax.
Okay.
[Laughs.]
I came to the pawn shop today to try to sell a letter from president Roosevelt to my grandfather.
Well, I got the letter from an old shed out in my granddad's house.
And I opened it up, and there's the envelope from the white house.
And I thought, "gosh, what is that?" Finally decided I'd bring it out here to see if it had any value to it.
So what's the letter about? I think this is right after the president put the social security into action.
And he wanted to make sure that it worked.
And so he was writing my grandfather to ask his counsel.
"Because of the grave responsibilities of my office, "I am turning to representative clergymen "for counsel and advice, "feeling confident that no group "can give more accurate, unbiased views.
Sincerely, Franklin Roosevelt.
" Basically, what we got here is, "how does your congregation feel about the social security act?" And "hey, dude, can you help support it a little bit, say it's a good thing?" Yeah.
I mean, that's basically what it says.
It's an interesting letter.
I like it.
The social security act was enacted in 1935 as part of fdr's new deal.
It was really controversial at the time, and it was a political bloodbath getting this thing passed.
Today it's one of the largest government programs in the world.
The only thing that concerns me is, this looks like it's a form letter.
They'd make thousands of copies of it.
At the bottom, they'd put different ministers and addresses.
They didn't have copy machines.
They had mimeograph machines.
That's not mimeograph, I can tell you that.
I know.
I used to run one.
Yeah.
[Laughs.]
This could be secretarial-signed or something like that.
It looks like an actual signature.
I just want to make sure it's his signature, him doing it.
Let me get my buddy drew down here.
He does this for a living.
He'll tell us what it is.
Okay? Good deal.
Thank you.
Thanks.
Hey, thanks, sir.
I went online, and some of his signatures sold for $2,600.
So I'm hoping it is real.
I've seen a lot of fdr stuff but never anything related to social security.
If it's real, I definitely want it.
Chumlee.
Yeah? Put the damn book down and go back to work, please? This is work.
I'm studying for who wants to be a millionaire? I'm gonna win a million bucks.
It's for charity, dude.
Well, my charity's gonna win a mil.
I didn't even know you could read.
[Chuckles.]
Let's quiz chum.
Try.
Let's do this.
What was the famous battleship that was sunk 1941 in pearl harbor? The USS Arizona.
Damn.
Next.
Come on, big hoss.
I know you got something up there.
What album spent the most time on tbillboard 500? Come on, man, everybody loves pink Floyd.
Dark side of the moon.
I'm impressed.
Ricky, have you medicated chumlee or something? I don't know.
I think he can read minds, 'cause I know he's not that [Bleep.]
Smart.
All right, chum, who said, "for every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction?" Newton.
What else is he famous for? Fig Newtons? [Laughing.]
Chum, since you're so damn smart, go back to work and make some money for the shop.
[Laughing.]
Earlier, a guy came in with a letter signed by fdr.
If it's real, I want it.
So I've asked a buddy of mine to come down and take a closer look.
Morning.
Hey, drew.
Hey, good to see you.
What's going on, drew? Is this today's project? Yes, it is.
I'm drew with authentic autographs unlimited, and I'm a forensic document examiner.
Okay, fdr, interesting.
Rick, what are your concerns on this? I just want to know if it's secretarial -signed or did he sign it? I mean, it looks like a form letter.
I could be wrong.
It does appear to be kind of like a form letter.
But that doesn't necessarily mean he didn't sign it.
Sure.
At this particular time, he needed as much support as possible.
It kind of took a while for people to kind of accept the social security act.
Now, it is possible this was signed by a secretarial, so we're gonna have to check out the details on it to see if that's true.
So basically, we need to break down the signature to see what we have.
Franklin Roosevelt's signature is very intricate.
You're looking at partially cursive, partially printing.
It's quite a different combination.
The first name seems to be clear.
It is broken up in different strokes.
The slant line is correct.
The capital letters are all about the right height.
Okay, it is white house letterhead.
Paper stock looks proper for the time period.
When you put it all together, there's only one conclusion.
This thing's definitely authentic.
Great.
I appreciate that, man.
You sure? He actually signed it? Well, it is kind of a form letter, there's no doubt about it, but it was so important that he get the support, I wouldn't doubt that he sat down and signed every single one.
All right, yeah, it's just a little shocking, 'cause I was, like, 90% sure it was right, right.
You're wrong again, Rick.
[Laughter.]
I love you too, dad.
Okay.
So what does, like, a letter like this go for? You know, I've seen Roosevelt letters go $3,000 up to $40,000, $50,000.
It depends: If it's on white house letterhead, that brings the price up.
If it was concerning world war ii, that kicks the price up some more.
But two of his biggest legislative things was the new deal that put people back to work and the social security act.
So he is talking about something that's very important to him.
Price-wise, I would say probably, retail, at auction, $5,000, $6,000, $7,000.
Okay.
Thanks, drew.
Rick, it's been a pleasure.
You're the greatest.
Thanks, drew.
You bet.
All right, so have you figured out what you want to do? Well, it's a great piece of history.
It means a lot to me because it's family Mm -hmm.
Which has no value to anybody else.
Yeah.
And I heard $40,000 there.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
I heard that.
I'm sure I heard that.
No, he said, like, world war ii, something like that, $40,000.
He said something like this, $5,000, $7,000 at auction.
I would give you, like, $2,500, and that's cash.
Can you do it at $3,000? I'll go $2,000.
I'll go $2,750.
I'll meet you in the middle.
Well Yeah, I think I'll sell it.
Okay.
It's a deal.
Made a deal for $2,750.
I was tickled at that price.
That way, everybody makes a little bit, and the world's happy.
So, chum, you just won $500,000.
How are you feeling? I'm excited.
Let's see the $1 million question.
For $1 million, chum, in a popular video game, Ms.
pac-man gobbles up pellets while pursued by four ghosts named inky, blinky, pinky, and what? I love pac -man.
It's my favorite game ever.
Final answer is "c," sue.
You're sure? Is that your final answer? That's my final answer.
You just got yourself $1 million, baby.
Yeah! [Cheers and applause.]
Way to go, man.
[Applause.]
Wake up.
Chum, you're snoring.