Lending Money: Pawnbrokers

A pawnbroker is a person to whom people bring valuable articles so that he will lend them money, and who has the right to sell the articles if the money is not repaid within a certain time. Pawnbrokers usually lend less money than the value of the article and sell it at a profit if the owner cannot redeem it (= get it back by paying the money lent, with some extra money charged by the pawnbroker).

A pawnbrokers' place of business is called a pawnshop. The sign for a pawnshop is three golden balls. In former times every town had a pawnshop, but they are now much less common. The pawnshop was the only place where poor people could borrow money, and poor families would sometimes have something such as a piece of furniture or clothing that was regularly pawned when money was needed.