Pawn Stars: $650,000 for ONE-OF-A-KIND Texas Currency (Season 6) | History - YouTube

so what do we got here we have notes from  the republic and the government of texas  

all right that is pretty cool that's pretty  amazing most people in texas believe they live  

in a separate country already and it'd be really  cool to have their own money too absolutely i came  

to the pawn shop today to sell a set of republic  of texas and a government of texas note this is  

the real currency that they used back in the 1830s  and 40s the reason i'm trying to sell the notes  

is the business that i own has invested in them  it's time to refund the business so we have nine  

republic of texas bills and this one that says  government of texas we have sam houston right here  

he was president most people don't know that  he was indeed it just wasn't of the united  

states it was uh the republic of texas absolutely  texas was part of mexico there was a revolution  

they declared their sovereignty it was his own  country and then the united states government sort  

of annexed texas saying you're part of the united  states the people in texas really didn't dig that  

texas has a wild history native groups like the  comanches were fighting in that area for over a  

thousand years and when european explorers showed  up in the early 1500s the fighting just got worse  

finally texas declared itself independent from  mexico and was its own country for nine years  

before the u.s government annexed texas in 1845  so tell me what you know about the bills the notes  

were produced between 1838 and 1840 finest  set of notes known to exist all the notes  

have been authenticated and graded so there's no  question as to their authenticity or the quality  

not only are these bills old and rare they've  already been authenticated and graded and they're  

in great condition i can definitely sell these and  make a profit if the guy will let them go at the  

right price so what were you looking to do with  the mall sell them okay and how much did you want  

for them the nine notes of the republic of texas  approximately 25 000 and then for the government  

of texas note 650 000 650 1000. oh really um  why would you think this bill was worth so much  

that's the rarest of all of them it's the only  known uncirculated specimen graded the next  

highest note is au 58 which is about uncirculated  okay ed do you know how much that one sold for  

uh i still own it okay all right so um we have  nothing to compare the price to not a thing  

do you mind if i call someone and try and  figure out this price here i think that would  

be a good idea 650 grand is more than i've  ever spent on anything coming in the shop  

so there's no way i'm gonna shell out that kind of  money until i have someone look at it who knows it  

could be worth every penny hi guys jay how's it  going man what's going on jay the guys call me  

in when they have a piece of currency that they uh  need more expertise the guy's got a lot of stuff  

here from the republic of texas and one from the  government of texas looks like a nice collection  

these notes are part of a very colorful history  they're fascinating they're scarce and they come  

up at auction usually in lower grades early texas  notes can can be very rare and like anything else  

it depends strictly on condition this gentleman  might have something real valuable here  

what we asking for this group in  the neighborhood of about 25 000.  

uh with a 500 bill which you very rarely see so  you're evaluating this at around 10 000 at least  

yeah and these you're evaluating at about 700  to a thousand each how about that in my opinion  

the retail value on these would be three to six  hundred dollars each okay on the 500 i would say  

a couple of thousand in an auction  it could go for more but not 10 000.

not even close now this is quite a bill this  government of texas ten dollar i believe this  

is the highest grade they've ever issued for  this this is this is very different from the  

rest of these i think it's in fabulous condition  what were you asking for this bill 650 000. yeah

actually

that's not even in the ballpark that's over  the moon over the planets over the stars  

has anyone offered you a quarter of that uh i've  turned down that offer well have you saved their  

phone number absolutely you better run and take  it before they change their mind i would put a  

much lower value on this okay in my opinion the  ten dollar sam houston note would retail for

five to seven thousand dollars and on a  great day at a great auction ten thousand  

i paid more than that i've looked up the  auction records to know where they trade  

this note of course has never been seen before  well unlike it but it's still a limited number of  

collectors it's not like 20 gold pieces it's not  like silver dollars that have millions of people  

that are interested absolutely this is a small  universe of collectors maybe a few thousand real  

serious collectors so the fact that something  is the finest known is great but that doesn't  

necessarily mean it's worth a fortune of money  most people don't have a clue what it's worth  

um you're on your own i've given you my opinion  okay it's a free country and people can ask  

whatever they want i have to give my opinion based  on what i consider the real world the real market  

obviously we're really far apart you  know my guy says 6 500 you're saying 650  

000 so i appreciate you bringing in an expert  but obviously this is so rare he just doesn't  

normally deal with it and if i could buy notes  at his prices retail i'd probably buy him out  

jay's my guy i got to listen to him i've never had  any deal that far apart before on prices but uh  

just more research and more time is probably what  we needed obviously a deal's not going to be made  

here today just a difference of opinion happens  all the time absolutely no hard feelings no hard  

feelings all right certainly he doesn't know  enough about the republic or the government of  

texas to give an accurate number this man just  doesn't have a clue what he's talking about

you