The traditional symbol for pawn shops is three gold balls suspended from a bar. The three sphere symbol is attributed to the Medici family of Florence, Italy, and refers to the Italian province of Lombardy, where pawn shop banking originated, often referred to as Lombard banking.
The symbolic meaning is said to be derived from this region and is humorously interpreted by pawnbrokers as, “Two to one, you won’t get your stuff back.” However, the beauty of the symbol is that everyone can find their own meaning in those three gold balls.
Pawnshops offer collateral-based loans. You take in something you own, and the pawnbroker offers you a loan. The loan amount is usually less than 50% of what the pawnbroker believes they can sell the item for.
- In Japan, the symbol for a pawn shop is a circled number seven.
- In Malay, the word for pawn is "pajak gadai".
The gold balls are often jokingly said to signify the odds of not recovering your pawned item, symbolizing the transaction’s uncertainty.