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DEAD PAWN INDIAN JEWELRY
Most of our dead pawn jewelry comes directly from several respectable pawn shops located in Gallup, New Mexico. We have been dealing with these pawn shops for many years now and they are true pawn shops, that have been serving the needs of their Native American clients for many generations. (Some of them are second and third generation pawn shop/trading post owners.) Our pawn shop dealers have said that for the past few years, the percentage of Indian pawn that is going dead (unredeemed) is quite small, making dead pawn jewelry more difficult to obtain and hence more highly sought after by collectors.
For the Southwestern Native American Indian, pawn refers to the practice of converting jewelry into cash by using it as collateral for loans from authorized pawn shops. Pawn is also used by some Native Americans in the same way that a safety deposit box would be used. The jewelry is "pawned" for safe keeping in between religious ceremonies or other special occasions. However, if the loan or pawn fees are not paid up by the agreed date, the pawn shop or trader is then authorized to sell the jewelry. When jewelry is not redeemed by its owner by the expiration date, it is referred to as Dead Pawn. The term Dead Pawn does not indicate the age of the jewelry - dead pawn jewelry can be new, old or in-between.
Dead Pawn Indian Jewelry
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