Definition of Old Pawn/Dead Pawn
I'm an easterner but have a great appreciation and passion for vintage Native American, Southwest and Mexican silver jewelry. I recently read a great explanation from Medicine Man Gallery defining Old Pawn and Dead Pawn. Here's an excerpt from a longer post:
"Because Native Americans had no access to cash or banks on reservations, jewelry became a portable form wealth not only used on the reservation as barter, but as the widespread commodity of exchange with the traders for cash and supplies.
In times of need, Native American turquoise jewelry could be pawned to authorized agents and pawn shops that were springing up along the boundaries of the reservation. The lender would give the Native Americans credit using the pawned jewelry as collateral to guarantee that the loan would be repaid within a specified period of time – usually 90 days to one year. The rate of interest on the loan was regulated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs at 10% a year. The terms of most loans were 120 days and could be renewed by paying the interest.
While 70-85% of the jewelry pawned in this manner was usually paid off and reclaimed, the items that were not were then known as “dead pawnâ€. After a certain grace period most traders would grant to maintain good relations with their Native American clients, the unclaimed jewelry would be placed on public display for sale to repay the dept. When family elders died, their jewelry was also often pawned in this manner to receive cash which could then be split up among the heirs."
Here's the link to the longer thread. For information purposes: Old Pawn Native American Indian Jewelry (medicinemangallery.com)
evelyb30
·3 years agoJust to be a real pedant, "old pawn" is a marketing hype term that's actually meaningless. True pawned jewelry that wasn't redeemed (and still has its ticket) is "dead pawn". The Juliana misuse is almost universal now unfortunately.
frommichel
·3 years agoFabulous information! Thank you for the education!
flipping_treasures
·3 years agoGreat information Dream. Dead Pawn /Old Pawn has always been misused in most listings for a long time. It's kind of like D&E Jewelry and Julianna Jewelry .... All Julianna Jewelry is D&E Jewelry ... but all D&E Jewelry is NOT Julianna Jewelry. So, all American Native is NOT Dead or Old Pawn, but all Dead and Old Pawn is American Native Jewelry.
dream*peddler
OP3 years agoRight, Sandy. Also, most collectors of authentic old/dead pawn jewelry look for an original pawn receipt before they part with big bucks for the high end pieces. It's like a COA.
Another fabricated term to denote vintage sterling and turquoise Native American jewelry is "Fred Harvey era." I guess people think using those keywords will create more sales 🤑.
flipping_treasures
·3 years agoIt has been interesting watching over the years how terms have developed and been used.
1940fc
·3 years agoThanks, dream! I`d seen the term used here before..but wasn`t quite sure what it actually meant!
I had a vague idea, but now I know! 😀