You
Can't Go Wrong at Peters Creek Pawn!
The
History of Pawnbroking
PawnshopBalls
As
mankind's oldest financial institution, pawnbroking carries
on a tradition with a rich history.
Pawnbroking can be traced back at least 3,000 years to ancient
China, and has been found in the
earliest written histories of Greek and Roman civilizations.
During
the Middle Ages, certain usury laws imposed by the Church
prohibited the charging of
interest on loans, thus limiting pawnbroking to people who
had religious beliefs outside of the
Church. Out of economic necessity, and because of problems
with the banking system, pawnshops madea resurgence in later
years. The House of Lombard operated pawnshopsthroughout
Europe. Legend contends that they even counted royalty,
such as King Edward III of England, among their clientele
during the 14th century. The symbol of the Lombards' operations
was the three gold balls that still remain the trademark.
Pawning
has long been a source of capital for people in times of
need, as well as a means of financing business ventures.
Historical
Facts and Legends
The
nursery rhyme "Pop Goes The Weasel" refers to
pawning. A weasel is a shoemaker's tool and to "pop"
is to pawn. "That's the way the money goes...Pop goes
the weasel."
Queen
Isabella of Spain pawned the crown jewels to finance Columbus'
voyage to America. The word pawn originates from the Latin
word "patinum" which means cloth or clothing.
The French word "pan" refers to a skirt or blouse.
In the early centuries, the principle assets people had
were their clothes and borrowed money by pawning their clothing.
The
universal symbol of pawnbroking is three gold balls and
is one of the most recognized in the
world. The Medici families in Italy along with the Lombards
in England were moneylenders in
Europe. Lengend has it that one of the Medicis in the employ
of Emperor Charles the Great fought a giant and slew him
with three sacks of rocks. The three balls or globes later
became part of their family crest, and ultimately, the sign
of pawnbroking.
Throughout
history, pawnbrokers have been helping people. The Bible
offers references to
pawnbroking, and in Deuteronomy 24:6-13 it states: "No
man shall take the nether or the upper
millstone to pledge, for he taketh a man's life to pledge."
What this means is: you should not
take as a pledge anything a man needs to make a living.
The same chapter also says: "Thou shalt
not go into his house to fetch the pledge. Thou shalt stand
abroad and the man to whom thou dost
lend shall bring the pledge...unto thee." Interestingly,
often the debtor's children could be used
as a pledge (2 Kings, 4:1-7). Also in Deuteronomy 23:21
the people were told not to take interest
from their own countrymen - only from foreigners.
According
to ancient Mesopotamian law, the rates of interest charged
- even in those days - were 20% for silver, and 33% for
grain. The moneychangers of Jesus' time served two purposes.
First they exchanged Antiochian Tetradrachms for the local
currency (shekels), exacting a fee between 4% and 8% for
their services. Second, they functioned as bankers and lenders.
In the well-known Gospel story, Jesus overturned their tables
because he didn't feel the gates of the Temple were the
right place to be conducting that business. In fact, such
moneychangers set up shop there as a service, to deal with
people who came to pay their half-shekel Temple tax. The
Rabbis insisted it be paid in silver didrachms of Tyre,
which nobody carried.
Other
Legends of the Origin of the Pawnbroker Symbol
More
on the Medici family - The symbol of the three balls was
part of the coat of arms of the
Medici family, who established the Medici trading and banking
empire in Florence, Italy. The
Medicis were a 15th century Italian family of bankers and
lenders, with considerable fame and
fortune. They became so well known in the finance and lending
profession that the other lenders,
wanting to share in their success, adopted similar coats
of arms, signs, shields and symbols, with
three golden balls being the most popular. Once other merchants
involved in monetary dealings
adopted the three golden balls as their symbol, the three
balls came to symbolize the entire
profession founded on the ethic of mutual trust.
Throughout
the Middle ages you can find many coats of arms bearing
three balls, orbs, plates
discs, coins and more as symbolic of monetary success.
When
Italian bankers began to open branches abroad, the symbol
of the three golden balls spread to the European west. It
is known that there was pawnbroking in Spain because Queen
Isabella pawned some of her royal jewels to finance Columbus'
long voyage to the New World. I wonder if the pawnbroker
who made that loan knew just want he was starting?
The
symbol of the three golden balls was brought to North America
from England, where pawnbrokers still display the symbol
to this day.
The
Least Known Legend
One
of the most least known origins that has been researched
is the coin known as the "Silver
Shekel" or "Shekel of Israel" which was issued
in A.D. 68 after a Jewish revolt against the
Romans. One side of the coin depicted three pomegranates,
with a common stalk.
Saint
Nicholas - The Patron Saint of Pawnbrokers
Through
his great acts of kindness and generosity, Saint Nicholas
became the patron saint of many; of seafaring men, of marriageable
young women, of the falsely accused, of endangered travelers,
of farmers, of children (of course), of merchants, and of
pawnbrokers. Pawnbrokers and bankers in northern Italy,
who would look to Saint Nicholas as their patron saint,
would hang three golden balls above the doors of their shops
in tribute to, and for good luck from, their Saint Nicholas.
