F. Hardcore Pawn Facts That Are Worth Their Weight In Gold

The stars of Hardcore Pawn will tell you that a story comes with every item that passes through their shop's doors, and they're not kidding. Every time someone walks into American Jewelry & Loan in Detroit, Michigan carrying an old engagement ring, signed hockey jersey, or a slightly used iRobot automated vacuum cleaner, there's a whole lot of history that comes along with it. That's what makes a pawn shop such an interesting place to set a reality show, to which Hardcore Pawn's five-year run on truTV will attest. 

Of course, not every story is created equal. Only a small fraction of those stories actually makes it on the air. The rest, alas, are left on the cutting room floor, to later be dusted off and presented here. If you've ever wondered about the real stories behind the counter at Detroit's favorite televised pawn shop, then you're in luck. Open up your safe and pull out your antique reading glasses: this is the untold truth of Hardcore Pawn. 

American Jewelry & Loan once owned Dr. Kevorkian's van

In one of the more morbid transactions in pawn shop entertainment history, American Jewelry & Loan once purchased Dr. "Death" Jack Kevorkian's van, according to the New York Daily News. Les Gold bought the 1968 Volkswagen Minibus, in which Dr. K performed about 130 assisted suicides, from a scrapyard in 1997 for $20,000. Gold then owned the Deathmobile, as it's known, for almost 20 years, until selling it for a $5,000 profit in 2014 because it took up "too much room."

Seth Gold is a man of the people

In December 2014, Michigan state senators wanted to introduce a bill that allowed pawn shops to increase the interest they charged on pawned items by 20% per month. While this sounds like something shop owners would support wholeheartedly, Seth Gold of American Jewelry & Loan actually opposed the measure, explaining to ABC News, "Our business is predicated on people getting their stuff back... if you make the interest rate higher, the default rate is going to explode." With that kind of civic commitment Gold could run for office, although we'd never suggest anyone give up the noble calling of pawn-shopping to go into politics.

Seth Gold thinks pawn shops are beneficial to society

This one probably isn't much of a surprise, considering Seth Gold co-owns a pawn shop with his father, but his reasoning has some merit. According to an interview with the Las Vegas Sun, Gold believes they offer people "alternative-financial institutions," as opposed to banks. He continued by saying patrons "still have birthdays, still have anniversaries," because pawn shops allow them to persevere in the face of financial struggles. Don't be surprised if years from now people stop telling their children stories about Santa and the Tooth Fairy, and begin telling stories about Seth Gold.

They're patriots

Not only are the Golds men of the people, the folks at American Jewelry & Loan are also patriots. Back in 2012, they helped the U.S. Secret Service nab Kenny "Boom" Smith, who attempted to sell some bogus greenbacks and a counterfeiting machine to the famous pawn shop. But Les Gold really thinks the fool was just after his 15 minutes of fame, as Smith signed a waiver to appear on the show. It's unlikely that Smith has a future in television, except maybe as a regular on World's Dumbest.

Ashley Gold Broad runs an honest shop

In an interview with the Las Vegas Sun, Ashley Gold Broad told a story from a few years prior, when a woman came into the shop seeking $100 for a bag of stones. Broad looked through the bag and found a Burmese ruby, which a certified gemologist appraised at $10,000. Rather than take advantage, Broad did the honest thing and gave the woman the ten grand. While some would see that as an amazingly kind gesture, Broad insists she just thinks of it as good business.

The real reason the show got canceled

The six-year run of "Hardcore Pawn" in the 2000s and 2010s corresponded with its home network's dedication to reality TV and docu-series. What had once been a live courtroom and judicial matters channel called Court TV had rebranded itself as truTV, in time for the reality TV explosion. But in late 2014, according to The Hollywood Reporter, truTV pivoted again, this time positioning itself as a destination for comedy, both scripted and unscripted. That lineup would include hits like "At Home with Amy Sedaris" and "Impractical Jokers," but to make room for the new funny stuff, older, unfunny stuff would have to leave truTV, and that included "Hardcore Pawn."

Production on the series came to an end in 2014, right around the time of the truTV rebranding. Once the comedic overhaul took place, network executives decided not to order any more new episodes of "Hardcore Pawn," according to the Post-Gazette. The last produced and banked installments aired in 2015, and that was the end of the line for the show.