What do you got here?
I've got some of these bills from the 19th century.
RICK HARRISON: Do you know anything about them?
VINCE: I really don't.
RICK HARRISON: What you have here is education money.
VINCE: To, like, fund education, or?
No, it was just to educate people
about beautiful works of art.
For the time, that was really risqu
to put bare breasts on bills.
Yeah, I can see.
Hm, check that out there.
RICK HARRISON: [chuckles]
[whistling]
VINCE: I decided to come to the pawn shop
today to sell some old currency.
I'm kind of scared because I'm supposed
to be getting married in a month,
and I spent $7,500 on this.
If I don't get my money back, I'm going
to have one pissed-off fiancee.
RICK HARRISON: We have a Bolton, inventor of the steamboat.
And that's Morse right there.
Morse code.
And it's one of the few bills where
Martha Washington's on it.
In 1896, the US government issued silver certificates
that were educational notes.
The reason they did this is because, if you
lived in a rural community, you would never get to see art.
There were no nearby museums.
So they figured, hey, let's put them on money.
So where in the world did you get these?
VINCE: I was in an estate sale.
I got caught up in this auction, and man, I just really hope
I can make something out of it.
Do you mind telling me what you paid for them?
$7,500.
I'm always getting into some type of trouble.
Yeah.
Happens all the time.
RICK HARRISON: This money is just-- it's beautiful.
I mean, it's the prettiest paper money
the United States ever made.
And arguably, some of the prettiest paper money
ever made in any country.
Is the artwork, you know, have anything
to do with the value of it?
RICK HARRISON: Well, that's one of the reasons
why these are so collectible.
But paper money is weird the way it's graded.
There's 70 different grades of a piece of paper money.
And the grade on these things is so important.
The difference between a 50 and a 55
is thousands of dollars on a bill like this.
Wow.
This was worth anywhere from $200 to $25,000.
Really?
Depending on the grade.
RICK HARRISON: Depending on the condition of it.
Wow.
RICK HARRISON: And when we start talking money like that,
I have to have someone look at it.
Let me call up a buddy of mine.
He knows everything about this stuff,
so we can get a better understanding
of the grade of them.
No problem.
It sounds good.
RICK HARRISON: This guy is out of pocket
$7,500, which makes him either a genius or an idiot.
So I'm going to get my buddy Leonard in here
to have a closer look, and hopefully,
he'll have some good news.
These are some important banknotes.
These are silver certificates from 1896.
This is what we call the educational series.
So they all mean something.
They all mean something.
This one is the $1 note.
This is History educating youth.
You know, young country.
History's going to educate us.
On the back, George and Martha.
The $2 note, we've got Science, Electricity, and Steam.
On the back, we've got Robert Fulton, Samuel Morse.
And Science is presenting Electricity and Steam
to Commerce and Industry.
In this one, we've got Civil War heroes Grant, Sheridan.
And this note shows electricity is the dominant force
in the universe.
This is 1896, they figured that out.
VINCE: And I thought this was just a bunch
of naked women on a bill.
[chuckles]
The grading of these notes is what's important
as far as their value.
Were the notes used?
How much were they used?
Are they folded?
Are they stained?
Are they crisp?
Are they nice and bright?
Here's what we got here.
The $1 note, we got a center fold right here.
Slight-- it's hard to see, but it's there.
This note's worth $700.
$2 note's got a horizontal fold, three vertical folds.
This note's $2,500.
Make you feel a little better?
Oh, that's a little better.
LEONARD: This note's got a very light center fold.
It's the most desirable note of the three.
This note is worth, um, $7,500.
A little over $10,000 for the lot.
Thanks, Leonard.
Any time.
Take care, buddy.
RICK HARRISON: $7,500 turned out to be a decent gamble
for this guy, because most notes I've seen
like this are beat to hell.
They've been circulated.
But these are in amazing shape.
There's no question I want them.
So now I let you know what they're worth,
how much you want for them?
I'm thinking $10,000.
I'm thinking $8,000.
I just spent $7,500 on these, and the risk I took
is just worth more to me than $500.
I'll let you make $1,000 off me and not a dime more.
So $8,500?
$8,500 is it period.
You got to think, man, $1,000 is a good profit
on a complete gamble.
You know what, for $1,000, all right.
$8,500.
Corey, you want to write him up?
Yeah, let's go do some paperwork.
RICK HARRISON: I'm so glad I kept my poker face.
When he started to grab them, I thought he was out the door.