Corey Harrison had a history lesson on “Pawn Stars,” finding out how rare gold civil war buttons were in a YouTube clip recently.
The show loves Civil War stuff, so this find resonates with Harrison and company.
A seller named Lauren comes to the shop in Season 9 for Episode 14. The woman had about 20 gold Civil War naval buttons, finding them in a house she had purchased. Her selling goal for them was $1,300.
She said, “she had never had any piece of American history before, so it was kind of neat coming across that.” She added, of course, that it was “not something you come across every day.”
The show explained a little about the Civil War while adding that the Union forces started with 40 vessels and finished the fight with around 700 in four short years.
Civil War Button Owner Tells Of Coins History
Lauren discovered that the house’s previous owner had a grandfather who served in the Union ranks during the Civil War.
Cory Harrison made a quick examination and proposed Lauren had something valuable or nothing at all. The “Pawn Stars” star called Mark Hall-Patton from the Clark County Museum.
Patton said that from 1850 to 1941, the U.S. Navy did not change the design on their buttons.
Hall-Patton studies the button, finding one came from London. Other buttons he determined came from button makers like Scoville and Horsman and Sons.
Eventually, the historian concludes the 20 buttons are Civil War buttons, calling them “a nice find.” He dates the uncommon buttons to either the late 1850s or early 1860s. One more interesting Hall-Patton fact mentioned the Civil War button collectors liked having a variety of buttons to choose from, and this small collection fit the bill.
The historian’s final parting words were that he knew that a naval officer wore those buttons during the Civil War.
“They’re a tangible tie to that time period,” the man said.
Lauren-Corey Bidding War Stars Low
The “Pawn Stars” star provided a little viewer-only commentary, saying that the button sale depended on the right buyer. He called any sale a “crapshoot” but determined to get the most out of the sale.
Harrison, of course, started with a low bid of $200. Lauren countered with $1,000 using her knowledge of comparative Civil War button values.
The “Pawn Stars” star knew he had something with the coins but fell on the “it’s going to take some time to sell them” crutch. Harrison tried to sound reasonable, going to $400 bucks. He seemed to show no more flexibility with any more proposals.
This prompted Lauren to counter at $600, and Harrison shot back at $500 with a bit of a smile. The moment seemed to be locked in silence before Lauren blinked and took the deal.
At first, it seemed she walked away with a little less than what she wanted. But in her narration to the camera, she thought the buttons would go for less, calling the deal “a good payoff.”
