The Rare Jules Verne Book That Sold For Thousands On Pawn Stars

Certain items come up on History's "Pawn Stars" that the shop always wants to acquire. A huge market exists of people wanting to collect everything from World War II memorabilia to classic cars, and much to Corey Harrison's surprise, a ton of antique book collectors are out there, too. 

It's for this reason the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop has been more than happy to shell out thousands of dollars to purchase valuable items. In one instance, Rick pays $100,000 to get his hands on a rare philosophy book written by Giordano Bruno. Most novels don't go for that high, but luckily, the team has its book expert, Rebecca Romney, on speed dial to appraise anything that could be worth a mint. 

Her expertise came in handy during Season 8's "The Pawntridge Family," when a first American edition copy of Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" comes into the shop. The seller wants $10,000 for the manuscript, but Corey and Chumlee know better than to fork over that kind of cash without getting all the information they need first. They take a trip over to Rebecca Romney's office, and what follows is one of the most intense negotiations Corey has likely experienced. 

After Rebecca Romney confirms the book is a legitimate first American edition that could be worth up to $12,000, it's time to get down to brass tacks. The seller still wants $10,000, and even though Corey tries to talk him down to $7,500, he won't budge. A lot of back and forth takes place, ultimately ending with the Gold & Silver crew paying $9,500 to bring the book back with them. 

It's pretty rare for one of the "Pawn Stars" workers to pay so much over what their initial asking price was, and fans took note of this unusual occurrence. Browsing through the comments underneath the YouTube clip, fans chime in with comments like, "This guy [needs] to be in the hall of fame wall in the pawn shop" and "Hands down best negotiator that has gone up against those guys." Viewers naturally have a soft spot for the "Pawn Stars" cast, but seeing as how there have been numerous instances of the guys ripping off customers, it's nice to see the shoe on the other foot every once in a while. 

However, we assume Corey didn't beat himself up too much over the negotiation. Some retailers have priced this edition of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" for as high as $17,500 (via Biblio), so the shop was likely able to still make a decent profit off of the purchase.