Businessman In 1981 Harrison's father opened his first 300-square-foot secondhand store, the Gold & Silver Coin Shop, on
Las Vegas Boulevard South. Harrison worked for his father in the store in the daytime while
repossessing cars at night. After five years the store moved to a larger location on
Fremont Street. After two years at that location the Harrisons lost their lease. They subsequently moved into a new building in a commercial neighborhood on Las Vegas Boulevard. Harrison relates in his autobiography that he and his father had long-sought to convert the store into a pawn shop, calling it a "logical progression." Because of a 1955 Las Vegas law requiring the issuing of new pawn licenses to be limited on the basis of the city's population, which by 1988 was over 200,000 and rapidly growing, Harrison called the city statistician every week, so that they could apply for a rare and much-coveted pawn license as soon as the city's population reached 250,000. By 1989 the city's population reached that number and after some legal struggles, the Harrisons obtained their pawn license. That year Harrison and his father opened the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop at 713 Las Vegas Boulevard South, less than two miles from the
Las Vegas Strip. By 2006, the shop had developed a reputation for carrying special sports items with unique histories, including a 2001
New England Patriots Super Bowl ring that belonged to
American football cornerback Brock Williams. It also served gamblers who, according to Harrison's son Corey, often came in to "pawn something so they have gas to get back home." According to Harrison in 2010, the items most often brought into the store are jewelry. Since the inception of
Pawn Stars, Harrison's inventory typically has a ratio of 5,000 items pawned per 12,000. In 2015 Harrison opened up a Smoke BBQ & Tavern in the shops plaza where he occasionally bartends.
Television fame Harrison spent four years pitching the idea of making a show about a pawn shop after his shop was featured in the show
Insomniac with Dave Attell in 2003, but his efforts did not yield success. In 2008, Brent Montgomery and Colby Gaines of Leftfield Pictures came up with an idea about a reality show based in a Las Vegas pawn shop and approached Harrison. The series was originally pitched to
HBO, though the network preferred the series to have been a
Taxicab Confessions-style series taking place at the Gold & Silver's night window.
Nancy Dubuc of the History Channel changed the format, which included on-camera experts appraising the items brought into the Gold & Silver as well as personality dynamics of the store's staff and patrons. Initially to have been titled
Pawning History, the program was renamed
Pawn Stars at the suggestion of a Leftfield staffer, In 2010, the
National Pawnbrokers Association awarded the Pawnbroker of the Year Award to Harrison for his contributions in enlightening the public about the pawn industry. In January 2011,
Pawn Stars was the highest rated program on the History Channel, and the second-highest rated reality show behind
Jersey Shore. On June 7 2011, Harrison published a biography called
License to Pawn: Deals, Steals, and My Life at the Gold & Silver. His book reached No. 22 on
The New York Times Best Seller list on June 26, 2011. Harrison appeared as himself, alongside his son Corey and Chumlee, in "iLost My Head in Vegas", the November 3, 2012 episode of the American TV series
iCarly. Four days later, he appeared as an antique store owner in "The Safe", the November 7, 2012 episode of the TV series
The Middle. In January 2014, Harrison became spokesperson for the Micro Touch One Razor, a personal care shaving product for men. Harrison appeared in a television commercial promoting the One Razor product line. In June 2014, History premiered
United Stuff of America, a series from the producers of
Pawn Stars that focuses on notable artifacts that were used in important moments in history, such as the cane with which
Andrew Jackson fended off a presidential assassin, the axe
Abraham Lincoln used as a young rail splitter, and the pencils
Ulysses S. Grant used to write his memoirs. In July 2014, the game show
Pawnography premiered on the History Channel, in which Harrison, Corey, and Chumlee compete against players in an attempt to prevent them from winning cash and items from the inventory of the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop. In 2022 the first season of
Pawn Stars Do America aired featuring Harrison, Corey and
Chumlee traveling across the United States buying items. In 2025 he alongside Chumlee, started the
Pawn Stars After Dark Podcast where they discuss behind-the-scenes stories from the Pawn Shop, along with Pawn Stars castmates, and various guests. ==Personal life==