As of July 2011, the store had 12,000 items in its inventory, 5,000 of which are typically held on pawn. The most common item brought into the store is jewelry. By 2005, Harrison and his father were loaning out about $3 million annually, which brought them about $700,000 in interest income. That year Harrison and his father opened the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop at 713 Las Vegas Boulevard South, less than two miles from the Las Vegas Strip. By 1989 the city's population reached 250,000, and after some legal struggles, the Harrisons obtained their pawn license. By 1988 the city's population of over 200,000 was rapidly growing, so Harrison called the city statistician periodically to monitor the population. Harrison's son Rick relates in his autobiography that he and his father had long-sought to convert the store into a pawn shop, but a 1955 Las Vegas law limiting pawn licenses to one per every 50,000 residents precluded this. In 1987, the Harrisons obtained a license to buy and sell secondhand goods. Five years later, the family relocated the business to a larger building at 413 Fremont Street, where it remained for two years before the Harrisons lost their lease. In April 1981, Harrison and his wife, having only $5,000 left, moved with their three sons to Las Vegas, Nevada, where Harrison and his son Rick opened Gold & Silver Coin Shop in a 300 square foot shop at 1501 Las Vegas Boulevard. Declining real estate sales caused by interest rates as high as 18 percent cost Harrison $1,000,000 and the collapse of this business in 1981. After Harrison was discharged from the Navy in 1979, he worked part-time in his wife's office. He continued to serve in the Navy, while Joanne obtained her real estate license in 1970 and opened her own office in 1973. In 1967 Harrison was transferred by the Navy to San Diego, California. Harrison served on four ships, including his final five years on fleet tug USS Chowanoc (ATF-100), from 1972 to 1976. Navy for 20 years, including stints as a paymaster, and attaining the rank of petty officer first class. Harrison left the Navy in February 1962, but re-enlisted fourteen months later in order to obtain the health care benefits necessary to meet Sherry's medical expenses. They also had three sons, Joseph, Rick, and Chris. Joanne became pregnant with their first child immediately after they married, and Sherry, their first child, was born with Down syndrome. Harrison chose the latter, entering the United States Navy in October 1958. Before they married, however, Harrison stole a car, and after he was arrested, was given a choice by the judge to go to prison or the military. When he was 17, Harrison attended a barn dance, where he met his future wife, Joanne Rhue, the daughter of Joseph Rhue, a county judge, who later became one of the lead attorneys for Philip Morris in North Carolina. Marriage and the Navy Harrison achieved the rank of petty officer first class while serving in the United States Navy. Harrison's family was poor, and to make money, Harrison drove a school bus when he was 14, parking the bus at his house every night, and getting up early in the morning to pick up the schoolchildren, for which he was paid five or six dollars a week. Harrison attended Lexington High School, but left during his junior year. When Harrison was one year old, his family moved to Lexington, North Carolina, where they lived at 115 Peacock Avenue, just off South Main Street. Harrison indicated that he did not give much credence to this idea. Harrison's grandson, Corey, has mentioned his grandmother said they are related to Presidents William Henry Harrison and Benjamin Harrison. was born in Danville, Virginia, on March 4, 1941, and was of Irish descent. Harrison was the co-owner of the pawn shop with his son Rick Harrison. (Ma– June 25, 2018), also known by the nicknames " The Old Man" and " The Appraiser", was an American businessman and reality television personality, best known as the co-owner of the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, as featured on the History Channel series Pawn Stars.
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