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The Three Golden Balls of the Pawnbrokers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 July 2012

Raymond de Roover
Raymond de Roover
Affiliation:
Wells College.
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Extract

The accompanying picture of a pawnbroker's shop and sign was taken in Boston in 1946. The sign of the three balls is a common sight in the poorer sections of many American cities, and its meaning is always the same: the balls signify that within the shop loans may be obtained on the pledge of personal property. This type of loan is centuries old: it existed in ancient Greece at the time of Pericles and in ancient Rome at the time of Augustus. Professional money-lenders, either Jews or Lombards, reappeared in the Middle Ages, and their activities elicited the opposition of the Church and the hatred of the populace. Attempts to get rid of the Jewish or Lombard pawnbrokers were repeatedly made, but the result was always the same: the need of consumers for credit accommodation was so great that the money-lenders were usually recalled after a short while.

Type
Research Article
Information
Business History Review , Volume 20 , Issue 4 , October 1946 , pp. 117 - 124
Copyright
Copyright © The President and Fellows of Harvard College 1946

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References

1 While “lombards” is used to designate pawnbrokers in general, when capitalized it refers to those who came from Lombardy.

2 Hardaker, Alfred, A Brief History of Pawnbroking (London, 1892), pp. 6fGoogle Scholar.

3 The arms of this family were: or, on a bend gules, three purses argent.

4 Young, G. F., The Medici (New York, 1930), chap, vi, pp. 134 fGoogle Scholar.

5 Davies, Arthur Charles Fox, The Art of Heraldry: an Encyclopedia of Armory (London, 1904), p. 446Google Scholar.

6 The arms of Pius XI were: parted per fess, or and argent, in chief an eagle displayed sable, and in base three torteaux.