KLAS-TV Las Vegas: "I-Team: Stolen Coin Controversy Involves Famous Pawn Shop"(Updated 3/1
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Sure, I'll take these stolen coins and pawn them with Chumlee. 
I-Team: Stolen Coin Controversy Involves Famous Pawn Shop
Posted: Feb 26, 2014 6:18 PM EST
Updated: Feb 26, 2014 9:35 PM EST
By George Knapp, Chief Investigative Reporter
By Matt Adams, Chief Photojournalist
LAS VEGAS -- If you were going to try and unload a fortune in stolen coins, would you take them to the world's most famous pawn shop? That's allegedly what a local thief did after stealing $40,000 worth from a home.
The suspect sold the coins to Gold and Silver Pawn Shop, the home of television's hit show "Pawn Stars." But what happened next is raising questions about whether Nevada's pawn shop laws have a big loophole.
Nevada pawn shops are highly regulated and subject to pretty strict rules about how to handle merchandise, stolen or otherwise. The overwhelming success of the "Pawn Stars" television show has further boosted the image of a once seedy industry, and police tell the I-Team that thieves now tend to avoid pawn shops because the ones in Las Vegas tend to make it too tough to unload stolen stuff.
But there is a catch, one particular type of merchandise is specifically exempted from the laws that govern pawn shops. This loophole led one thief right to the doorstep of the best known pawn shop on the planet.
Everyday, 1,000 or more people line up to shop and snoop inside the world's best known pawn shop. Gold and Silver Pawn Shop on Las Vegas Boulevard is the hub of a multi-million dollar empire fueled by the television show that's a hit worldwide. Television has turned the pawn stars into millionaires, but it's still a working pawn store, and like all Nevada pawn shops, is always on the alert for stolen merchandise. The stars even talk about that in their show.
Nonetheless, Gold and Silver Pawn was the hock shop of choice for Jennifer Beckman who, police say, stole a $40,000 coin collection from a home in the northwest valley. The coins belong to Jennifer's uncle, Dave Walters, who says he had them hidden in the house. Walters gave the I-Team an on-camera interview about the crime, but later said we couldn't use it.
He said his gold and silver coins were of the highest quality and untouched by human hands. They had been purchased over the years for his children and had great sentimental and financial value.
Beckman, his niece, had stayed at the house for one day in Nov. 2013, and while there, court documents allege, she stole seven of the coins and took them to Gold and Silver Pawn Shop where she got more than $2,600 for them.
Walters didn't know about the theft until days later, over the Thanksgiving holiday, when there was a break-in at the home and the rest of the coin collection was stolen. He says he knew immediately who had done it. Within two hours of that theft, police say, Beckman and her boyfriend showed up in a taxi at the pawn shop, and sold 25 gold and silver coins for a total of $9,300 dollars. She came back a few days later and sold the remaining coins for a few hundred bucks.
"The law requires that pawn stores report all items pawned," said Greg Watkins, a Metro robbery detective.
He says the shop followed the law by reporting the purchase of the coins into a database. Within days, Watkins put together the case against Beckman that led to charges of felony burglary and grand larceny. Just four days after the break-in, Walters says Watkins called him with the good news that he would be getting his coins back. An hour or so later, Walters got another call informing him the coins were no longer at the shop. They were gone. He was crushed. And the detective?
"I was set back, yes."
Nevada pawn shops are highly regulated. Every piece of merchandise gets reported into a database, every customer has to present identification and pawn shops are required to hold all items for 30 to 90 days. Thieves know it.
"These people know they can't come to these places without being reported. They have to go to Craigslist or eBay or swap meets that don't have our reporting requirements," said Michael Mack, the owner of Max Pawn.
Walters says he was told by Metro the missing coins had been melted down as bullion right after they were purchased.
George Knapp: "They told you they melted them down?"
Detective Greg Watkins: "They go into a bin and they either get melted down or sent to a coins distributor."
Walters says he simply does not believe his coins were tossed into a bin or melted down for the simple reason that they are worth four to five times as much as their metal value.
In an email to KLAS-TV, he called it the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard. If police had recovered the coins, he notes, the pawn shop would have been out the ($12,000) it paid for them. Walters points out that Gold and Silver Pawn should know the value of his coins because the store has cases filled with similar or lesser coins for sale and the owner sells them online as well.
Metro says there is an exception in Nevada law. The only thing which pawn shops are not required to hold for 30 or more days is coins. Gold and Silver Pawn had the legal right to melt or sell the coins.
"It's within the parameters of the law." Watkins said. "Whether it's a loophole or not, is not up to me. It's how the law is written."
Persons familiar with the coin trade say that while Walters might think his coins were worth $40,000 or even $50,000 dollars, different grades are assigned by different graders and that the true value might have been much less.
A spokesperson for Gold and Silver Pawn, Laura Herlovich told the I-Team that the shop has been 100 percent compliant with all regulations and has assisted Metro in investigating criminal activity on identifiable items. She added, the owner, Rick Harrison, takes pride in honest and fair dealings. They further dispute the dates of the events.
Police stopped short of saying the loophole that exempts coins from being held for 30 days might be something the legislature should consider.
Link with video
I-Team: Stolen Coin Controversy Involves Famous Pawn Shop
Posted: Feb 26, 2014 6:18 PM EST
Updated: Feb 26, 2014 9:35 PM EST
By George Knapp, Chief Investigative Reporter
By Matt Adams, Chief Photojournalist
LAS VEGAS -- If you were going to try and unload a fortune in stolen coins, would you take them to the world's most famous pawn shop? That's allegedly what a local thief did after stealing $40,000 worth from a home.
The suspect sold the coins to Gold and Silver Pawn Shop, the home of television's hit show "Pawn Stars." But what happened next is raising questions about whether Nevada's pawn shop laws have a big loophole.
Nevada pawn shops are highly regulated and subject to pretty strict rules about how to handle merchandise, stolen or otherwise. The overwhelming success of the "Pawn Stars" television show has further boosted the image of a once seedy industry, and police tell the I-Team that thieves now tend to avoid pawn shops because the ones in Las Vegas tend to make it too tough to unload stolen stuff.
But there is a catch, one particular type of merchandise is specifically exempted from the laws that govern pawn shops. This loophole led one thief right to the doorstep of the best known pawn shop on the planet.
Everyday, 1,000 or more people line up to shop and snoop inside the world's best known pawn shop. Gold and Silver Pawn Shop on Las Vegas Boulevard is the hub of a multi-million dollar empire fueled by the television show that's a hit worldwide. Television has turned the pawn stars into millionaires, but it's still a working pawn store, and like all Nevada pawn shops, is always on the alert for stolen merchandise. The stars even talk about that in their show.
Nonetheless, Gold and Silver Pawn was the hock shop of choice for Jennifer Beckman who, police say, stole a $40,000 coin collection from a home in the northwest valley. The coins belong to Jennifer's uncle, Dave Walters, who says he had them hidden in the house. Walters gave the I-Team an on-camera interview about the crime, but later said we couldn't use it.
He said his gold and silver coins were of the highest quality and untouched by human hands. They had been purchased over the years for his children and had great sentimental and financial value.
Beckman, his niece, had stayed at the house for one day in Nov. 2013, and while there, court documents allege, she stole seven of the coins and took them to Gold and Silver Pawn Shop where she got more than $2,600 for them.
Walters didn't know about the theft until days later, over the Thanksgiving holiday, when there was a break-in at the home and the rest of the coin collection was stolen. He says he knew immediately who had done it. Within two hours of that theft, police say, Beckman and her boyfriend showed up in a taxi at the pawn shop, and sold 25 gold and silver coins for a total of $9,300 dollars. She came back a few days later and sold the remaining coins for a few hundred bucks.
"The law requires that pawn stores report all items pawned," said Greg Watkins, a Metro robbery detective.
He says the shop followed the law by reporting the purchase of the coins into a database. Within days, Watkins put together the case against Beckman that led to charges of felony burglary and grand larceny. Just four days after the break-in, Walters says Watkins called him with the good news that he would be getting his coins back. An hour or so later, Walters got another call informing him the coins were no longer at the shop. They were gone. He was crushed. And the detective?
"I was set back, yes."
Nevada pawn shops are highly regulated. Every piece of merchandise gets reported into a database, every customer has to present identification and pawn shops are required to hold all items for 30 to 90 days. Thieves know it.
"These people know they can't come to these places without being reported. They have to go to Craigslist or eBay or swap meets that don't have our reporting requirements," said Michael Mack, the owner of Max Pawn.
Walters says he was told by Metro the missing coins had been melted down as bullion right after they were purchased.
George Knapp: "They told you they melted them down?"
Detective Greg Watkins: "They go into a bin and they either get melted down or sent to a coins distributor."
Walters says he simply does not believe his coins were tossed into a bin or melted down for the simple reason that they are worth four to five times as much as their metal value.
In an email to KLAS-TV, he called it the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard. If police had recovered the coins, he notes, the pawn shop would have been out the ($12,000) it paid for them. Walters points out that Gold and Silver Pawn should know the value of his coins because the store has cases filled with similar or lesser coins for sale and the owner sells them online as well.
Metro says there is an exception in Nevada law. The only thing which pawn shops are not required to hold for 30 or more days is coins. Gold and Silver Pawn had the legal right to melt or sell the coins.
"It's within the parameters of the law." Watkins said. "Whether it's a loophole or not, is not up to me. It's how the law is written."
Persons familiar with the coin trade say that while Walters might think his coins were worth $40,000 or even $50,000 dollars, different grades are assigned by different graders and that the true value might have been much less.
A spokesperson for Gold and Silver Pawn, Laura Herlovich told the I-Team that the shop has been 100 percent compliant with all regulations and has assisted Metro in investigating criminal activity on identifiable items. She added, the owner, Rick Harrison, takes pride in honest and fair dealings. They further dispute the dates of the events.
Police stopped short of saying the loophole that exempts coins from being held for 30 days might be something the legislature should consider.
Link with video
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Comments
Later in the day the man came back with a small box, about the size of a deck of cards. He said that this box contained his $100K collection. I looked inside and found about 12 circulated coins: a Flying Eagle cent (his best coin), two common date Barber dimes, common date Mercury dimes, common date Buffalo nickels, and some Jefferson nickels. If he had asked me to buy his collection for $50, I would have turned him down. There may be plenty of other people who are equally delusional about values.
My father-in-law had a nice coin collection that he said was worth $50,000. We talked several times about coins and one day he broke out the collection and showed me what he had. After he showed me his coins, he asked if I would appraise them for him. Which I did. Long story short, it had a value of about $5000. His collection was nice. But didn't have the value he thought it did, just because the coins were old. He had a lot of coins too, pulled from circulation over a span of several years when he and his family were in the UK. Because they were in good shape, he thought they had value.
Makes me wonder if this is a similar situation where the owner didn't really know the true value of his collection.
Still a sad story. Regardless of value.
I am guessing to reduce the pawn shops exposure to pm price fluctuations. Since the margins can be presented as low the ability to sell off for melt as quickly as possible is important.
Just a thought...the 'untouched by human hands' comments makes me think they might have been mint issued items. Then they would have been coined, encapsulated in an air tight and sent to him directly.
K
<< <i>Interesting loophole in the law....wonder why - or how - that came to be included
I am guessing to reduce the pawn shops exposure to pm price fluctuations. Since the margins can be presented as low the ability to sell off for melt as quickly as possible is important.
Just a thought...the 'untouched by human hands' comments makes me think they might have been mint issued items. Then they would have been coined, encapsulated in an air tight and sent to him directly.
K >>
Exactly !!!
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dispose of them on the same day..no law against it.
bob
I knew it would happen.
<< <i>Coins are one of the most likely things to be stolen and sold in a pawn shop. Why would a loophole exist in the first place?
I'm not a dealer or a lawmaker. But, I think with the volatility of the metals market this is the reasoning. After all, most knowledgeable
folks would not likely go to a pawn to sell coins. A dealer or show or such, would probably provide a better option. So, most pawns just
take in silver and pay silver value.
Now, that is the probable reason behind the lawmaking.
Buying silver/gold in a dropping market would kill pawn buys if they had to hold for 30 days or more.
However, that being said these folks are not coin illiterate. They are members of PCGS and I've seen them drop off coins
for grading at the PCGS shows here in Vegas. So, they do know collector coins and values. How good they are with this
facet of collecting, I do not know.
Not saying this is good or bad, but I do feel for the owner. Sucks.
bob
March 11, 2014
By ALAN FARNHAM via Good Morning America
A man whose $50,000 coin collection was first stolen, then hocked, cannot recover it from Las Vegas' famous "Pawn Stars" pawn shop. Reason: The hock shop claims it melted the coins down.
According to a criminal complaint filed by the State of Nevada in Clark County Justice Court, a coin collection valued by its owner, David Walters, at up to $50,000, was stolen from Walters' Las Vegas home in November 2013 by Walters' niece, Jennifer Beckman.
Court documents say Walters' collection--kept in a bag hidden under a dresser--contained such rarities as a 1903 St. Gaudens $20 gold piece and Silver Morgan coins from the 1880s. It also contained contemporary 1 oz. American Buffalo gold pieces.
The complaint alleges Beckman stole the collection in installments, taking parts of it on three different occasions to Las Vegas' Gold and Silver Pawn shop, where, it says, she sold them. The shop is the setting for the hit History Channel TV series "Pawn Stars."
Detective Watkins of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department says in a deposition filed with the complaint that Beckman, from her three visits to the shop on Vas Vegas Boulevard, netted a total of $12,375.
Watkins says he contacted Gold and Silver and attempted to place a hold on the coins, so they could be returned to Walters. But, he says, he was unable to recover them.
Why not?
The reason, according to both Watkins and to a spokesman for Gold and Silver, is that too much time had passed: The owner did not discover the thefts until November 27, and the shop was not notified by police that the coins were stolen until December 5. By that time, they were already gone.
Pawn shops are highly regulated under Nevada law. Customers must present identification, and every item hocked must be entered into a database that police regularly review. Shops must hold hocked items for 30 to 90 days before disposing of them, giving owners time to redeem them, and police time to identify stolen goods.
The law makes only a few exceptions to this holding period requirement. One is for coins: If the hocked items are "coins which are not part of jewelry," the shop can dispose of them any time it wants.
Calls to Walters and Beckman seeking comment weren't immediately returned.
So, what happened to Walter's coins? Where did they go?
Explains Silver and Gold's spokesperson, Laura Herlovich, "In a fast-moving shop, particularly our shop, because of its fame, you move things quickly." When coins come in, she says, they typically are in plastic cases, with a value already assigned them by a grader.
"We go through them," says Herlovich. "If the grader is not someone we trust, the cases are cracked open and the coins are sent out to be melted down. That was the case here. I don't know for sure, but I believe a majority were melted down. They weren't worth what he [Walters] thought they were worth."
ABC News Link
<< <i>It is pretty obvious that the coins were not worth anything close to the amount claimed. They appear to have been little more than bullion value "stuff" that the pawn shop wanted to turn into cash quickly. I'm sure they get many, many such items and have learned through experience that the secondary market for them is weak. >>
I think it is between both sides for the story. They very well may not have been worth what he thought they were but I seriously doubt they were all melted.
If they were AGEs, they are worth more than melt and can be moved quickly. If there was a 1903DE, that isn't a melt coin either, is it.....
They got a hell of a rip and knew it and moved the crap out as quickly as they could in order to claim "melt". It was probably "big hosts" doing a lot of it as he is shifty as all get out.
I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment
<< <i>Chumlee probably ate them. >>
POTD. Nicely done
When you start believing pawn shop owners, I got an island to sell ya.
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<< <i>He said his gold and silver coins were of the highest quality and untouched by human hands. >>
Then touched by monkeys at the mint?
See http://www.doubledimes.com for a free online reference for US twenty-cent pieces
I smell a Rat here
All the descriptions were of US coins. There is no US gold coin that is worth more melted than it's original state, period. All classic gold coins are roughly 90% pure gold. There are refinery charges / assay charges that would net a Pawn Broker less than what they could get by wholeselling them out. The more recent gold coins such as the Buffallos that are 100% pure gold would also be a money looser. All the US gold coins are a known entitiy and easy to liquidate wholesale for more than anyone would net by melting.
What I don't understand is, do the Pawn Brokers have to give back to the rightful owner the melted value ? or is there no repatriation of value at all if they claim them to be melted ?
When the Pawn Shop says they weren't worth more than $12k, that's a Cop Out. What theyre saying is, they weren't worth more than 12k to them because they wanted a profit of $20k ........ there isn't a credible statement from the reporter / seller / detective of what the "market value" would be.
I think the Pawn Shop should be squeezed for much more credible information. It just stinks way too much the way they've left it.
What is a lot more troubling is the fact that this is shedding a lot of negative, national light on the exemptions the coin industry enjoys from holding laws. While it might not seem like a big point, the ability to buy and sell our material with no holding time is what allows us to pay fair prices and keep merchandise moving. I am sure all of the dealers here would agree any kind of holding laws on coins and bullion would be potentially devastating. While this is a high profile pawn broker, there have been times where their actions has caused things to hit the fan in our industry. Keep your eyes and ears open and if you hear about any government actions as a result, please contact ICTA
Eric
<< <i>Well I guess the police should go just one step beyond and ask them for their submissions to PCGS and NGC for the past couple of months. >>
Now, THAT would be very telling...and funny....and I would love to see it happen (it won't, but it would be nice)
I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment
"Pawn Stars" is owned by the Disney corporation.
Does that make their shop a "Mickey Mouse" outfit?
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1. claiming the value as being $50,000
2. getting the media involved
if it were just some joe schmo pawn shop. He would have filed a claim with his insurance company.
Just another example of someone looking to famous for 15 minutes and hope to hit big money.
Like the lady who glued her butt to the toilet at Home Depot.
God Bless America.
<< <i>Just another example of someone looking to famous for 15 minutes and hope to hit big money.
Like the lady who glued her butt to the toilet at Home Depot.
God Bless America. >>
And things get twisted. I thought this incident above was in the restroom and the lady did not know someone super-glued all the seats? She was the victim, no?
Eric
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Keep an open mind, or get financially repressed -Zoltan Pozsar
<< <i>I agree, Modern US Mint bullion that trades at a premium does not normally get sent to a refiner. Rick, show me the paperwork. >>
I second that sentiment.....what's up Rick??
For a large selection of U.S. Coins & Currency, visit The Reeded Edge's online webstore at the link below.
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The 1903 $20 is hardly a rarity. I'd bet that coin was a simple AU/BU coin. Maybe it was a rarity to the owner, but not to anyone else. Even a slabbed PCGS MS63 of that date is only worth a 15% premium to melt. Still, no double eagle needs to be melted. At least I've never seen one so destroyed that was the only option.
<< <i>
<< <i>Just another example of someone looking to famous for 15 minutes and hope to hit big money.
Like the lady who glued her butt to the toilet at Home Depot.
God Bless America. >>
And things get twisted. I thought this incident above was in the restroom and the lady did not know someone super-glued all the seats? She was the victim, no?
Eric >>
I call BS on the toilet seat one for at least two reasons:
1. Who in thier right mind sees (and she HAD to have seen it) shiny goop on a toilet seat in a public restroom and plops their butt down on it?
2. And she was soooo embarrassed about the whole thing yet her SISTER took cell phone video of the rescue and gave it to the news channel.
oh and
3. super glue dries extremely fast. She almost would have HAD to have seen who put it on the seat.
Looks to be a regular routine in that place
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<< <i>Was in a gold buying shop today here in town, two black dudes walk in with a sock full of gold jewelry rings, chains, etc. wanting to sell, owner buys it all, and says keep it coming guys. No paperwork, no id nothing
Looks to be a regular routine in that place >>
Sounds similar to the credentials to vote in the USA.
Not stereo typing, just describing:
I could have just as easily said
two white dudes
two Asian dudes
two hispanic dudes, and so on.
Color or nationality has nothing to do with any thing regarding potential stolen or legit. I can tell you that from running my store. I have had two clean cut white "dudes" come in with merchandise , that turned out to be stolen.
the sock was dirty white
True Story
I'm a fairly lge white guy with a gun that met
one gangsta looking larger black dude that called on my buying ad, he also brought
what he described as his security guard, an even larger brown dude around 10pm in an almost deserted Carl's Jr a couple yrs ago
He would only sell for all cash, no checks at a teller's window etc.
He had 1/2 - 1 Million dollars of coins he wanted to sell. He only showed me a few dzn and told me of the others. He did have a BU Octagonal $50 Pan Pac I saw, and other scarce coins he described. He wasn't at all familiar with coins and therefore couldn't fully describe the ones I didn't see. They were all raw. He didn't have a clue about grading, but knew enough not to touch them. He got them from his dead Uncle
Anyone find it suspicious ?
<< <i>True Story
I'm a fairly lge white guy with a gun that met
one gangsta looking larger black dude that called on my buying ad, he also brought
what he described as his security guard, an even larger brown dude around 10pm in an almost deserted Carl's Jr a couple yrs ago
He would only sell for all cash, no checks at a teller's window etc.
He had 1/2 - 1 Million dollars of coins he wanted to sell. He only showed me a few dzn and told me of the others. He did have a BU Octagonal $50 Pan Pac I saw, and other scarce coins he described. He wasn't at all familiar with coins and therefore couldn't fully describe the ones I didn't see. They were all raw. He didn't have a clue about grading, but knew enough not to touch them. He got them from his dead Uncle
Anyone find it suspicious ? >>
I would not willingly arrange to meet strangers in some remote location to buy valuables at night. The need to bring a gun and cash...you lost me there. No matter who I was are meeting. Not my preferred way of doing business. YMMV. Just my opinion. I would guess this situations was OK.
Eric