Richard Benjamin Harrison Richard Benjamin Harrison , Jr . ( also known by the nicknames The Old Man and The Appraiser ) ( born March 4 , 1941 ) , is a Las Vegas businessman and reality television personality , best known as the co - owner of the World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop , as featured on the History channel series " Pawn Stars " . Harrison is co - owner of the pawn shop with his son Rick Harrison , which they opened together in 1989 . Harrison is usually referred to by his nickname , " The Old Man " , which he earned at age 38 . Early life . Richard Benjamin Harrison , Jr . was born March 4 , 1941 . Harrison ' s grandson , Corey , has mentioned that his grandmother stated that they are related to President William Henry Harrison . Harrison has indicated that he does not give much credence to this idea , though he has stated that they are distantly related to Benjamin Harrison . 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 attended Lexington High School , but left during his junior year . 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 the morning to pick up the schoolchildren , for which he was paid five or six dollars a week . Marriage and 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 . They married in 1960 . 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 . Harrison chose the latter . Joanne became pregnant with their first child immediately after they married , and Sherry , their first child , was born with Down syndrome . They also had three sons , Joseph , Richard Kevin " Rick " Harrison ( born 1965 ) and Chris . 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 . She died when she was six years old . Harrison ultimately served in the U . S . Navy for 20 years , including stints as a paymaster , and attaining the rate of Petty officer , first class . Harrison served on four ships , including his final five years on fleet tug ATF 100 " USS Chowanoc " . In 1967 Harrison was transferred by the Navy to San Diego , California . Harrison continued to serve in the Navy , while JoAnne obtained her real estate license in 1970 and opened her own office in 1973 . After Harrison was discharged from the Navy , he worked part - time in his wife ' s office . 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 . Business career . With only $ 5 , 000 , in April 1981 , Harrison and his wife and three sons moved to Las Vegas , Nevada , where he opened Gold & Silver Coin Shop in a 300 square foot shop at 1501 Las Vegas Boulevard . In 1986 he relocated the business to a larger building at 413 Fremont Street . In 1987 he obtained a license to buy and sell second - hand goods . The business ' s lease expired in 1988 . In 1989 , Harrison and his son Rick opened what would become the World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop at 713 Las Vegas Boulevard South , located less than two miles from the Las Vegas Strip . The most common item brought into the store is jewelry . As of July 2011 , the store has 12 , 000 items in its inventory , 5 , 000 of which are typically held on pawn . According to episodes of " Pawn Stars " , Harrison is the first to arrive at the shop in the morning , and has not had a sick day since 1994 . Since July 19 , 2009 Harrison and his son , Rick , along with his grandson Richard Corey " Big Hoss " Harrison and Corey ' s childhood friend and employee Austin " Chumlee " Russell , have featured in the reality television program " Pawn Stars " on the History Channel . Harrison is depicted as saying little and easily angered . " Chumlee " has stated that he is " old and cranky " , while Harrison himself indicates : " My role on the show is to be an old grump . " Within ten weeks of its debut , " Pawn Stars " was the highest rated program on the History channel , and second highest rated reality show program behind " Jersey Shore " . In that same period the average number of customers in the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop increased from 70 to 700 per day . By February 2012 between 3 , 000 to 5 , 000 people visited the store each day . Awards and recognition . In March 2010 , Harrison , his son , grandson and Austin " Chumlee " Russell were awarded the key to the city of Las Vegas , by Mayor Oscar Goodman . Harrison and the other stars of " Pawn Stars " served as grand marshal s for the History 300 NASCAR race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 26 , 2012 . On May 29 , 2012 , Harrison was awarded a key to the city of Lexington , his hometown , by Lexington Mayor Clark Newell , in the Lexington City Council Chamber , and the day was also officially " Richard Harrison ' s Day " . On July 17 , 2012 , the Clark County Commission declared that day to be " Pawn Stars / Gold & Silver Pawn Day " . At the Commission meeting , Harrison donated $ 1 , 000 to the Clark County Museum , and lent the U . S . Senate floor chair used by Senator Patrick McCarran ( sold to the Gold and Silver in the " Pawn Stars " episode " Take a Seat " ) to the museum as part of a display on Senator McCarran . Harrison and his son Rick , were nominated for the 2012 Time 100 list . Other appearances . On December 5 , 2011 , Harrison made a special appearance at the American Country Awards 2011 , giving a speech onstage . On February 25 , 2012 , he was a guest star at a Celebrity Bingo Bow Wow charity event , which was held at the Silverton Casino Lodge . Legal issues . Daniel Callahan . In May 2012 , Daniel Callahan ( born 1950 ) filed a lawsuit in the District Court in Las Vegas claiming that Harrison and his son Rick failed to provide " reasonable and necessary " security at their store , seeking around $ 20 , 000 for injuries he allegedly suffered from being " dragged out of the pawn shop and tossed on the sidewalk " after an argument over a rifle he had brought . Harrison ' s grandson Corey defended them both , stating that they were never in direct contact with Callahan and " it was in our best interests to get him out of there . " Interference with business practices . In October 2012 , A & E Network and The History Channel , as well as Harrison and the rest of the cast members from the show , were sued in Clark County District Court in Las Vegas for interference with business practices by Wayne F . Jefferies , a Las Vegas promoter and the Harrisons ' manager , who represented them and " Chumlee " Russell in their television business dealings . Jefferies , who managed and operated the Las Vegas world cuisine restaurant Seven in 2001 , and who , as an event promoter , put up to $ 75 , 000 in support of the 2005 and 2006 Las Vegas Red , White and Boom Independence Day event , was instrumental in helping to launch the series Jefferies states that after the show premiered , his influence in the show was increasingly reduced , and that he was ultimately fired and left without his promised share of fees and merchandising royalties from the series , purportedly due to network executives after a January 2012 leaked story on TMZ that indicated at the " Pawn Stars " cast were taken aback by the History ' s launch of the spinoff " Cajun Pawn Stars " , of which the cast had been unaware . Personal life . Harrison is particularly passionate about automobiles , showing an interest in all types of cars . Cars he has owned or expressed an interest in on the television series include his 1966 Chrysler Imperial , which took him fifteen years to convince the previous owner to sell , and was subsequently restored by his son and grandson for his 50th wedding anniversary ; a 1957 Chevy 150 sedan given to him by the stars of two other History shows , " American Restoration " and " American Pickers " ; and the mid - 1960s B & Z Electra - King electric car shown to them in " Honest Abe " , which he suggested could be converted into a golf cart .