A pawnbrokers business is to accept personal pledges, items of value , left as security in the possession of the pawnbroker in exchange for about ten per cent of the value of the item in cash.

The business is said to have originated in Italy during the middle ages. Pawnshops were operated by the Jews and the Lombards.

The first money lenders in England came from Lombardy during this same time period. They set up their shops on Lombardy Street in London.

The Lombard family of Medici at Florence ,Italy were among the first person's to engage in money lending and pawnbrokering.

Averardo de Medici, a guard under Charlemagne ,is said to have slain a well known person named Mugello on whose sign were three golden balls. The Medici people adopted the three golden balls as their professional symbol. The three balls were supposed to represent three "pills". in keeping with their medical profession.

Shortly after this the Medici's became money lenders and bankers. They slowly began using the symbol from the first profession as a symbol for the second profession.

During these times, banking,lending, and pawnbrokering were all the same business.

To this day the three golden balls still represent a pawnbrokers shop.