What You Don’t Know About The Experts On Pawn Stars

Steve Grad

Steve Grad was a Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) who appeared on Pawn Stars between 2013 and 2014. Unfortunately, some embarrassing controversies make it very unlikely he’ll reappear on the show anytime soon. The trouble started when Grad found himself at the center of a 2011 lawsuit; apparently, his company tried to pass off a signature as belonging to famed aviator Charles Lindbergh. Lindbergh’s own daughter came forward with an expert and successfully challenged the claim.

It turned out that Grad’s “expert opinion” had cost collectors hundreds of thousands of dollars after he allegedly approved scores of forgeries as legitimate—and it gets worse: despite heavily implying that he’d been educated at the prestigious Columbia School of Journalism, further research determined that Grad had briefly attended Columbia College Chicago in 1993, but never actually graduated. In fact, during a court-ordered deposition, he revealed he’d received no formal training of any kind to back up his “expert” label. He instead credits much of what he knows to being mentored by the “King of Memorabilia” Bill Mastro—a man who landed in prison after being busted for various acts of fraud.

Mark Hall-Patton

In a complete reversal from our previous entry, Mark Hall-Patton was recognized by the Los Angeles Times as “the real deal.” Hall-Patton is the museum administrator for the Clark County Museum system. Although nicknamed “The Beard of Knowledge,” he readily admits that if he doesn’t know something, he’s always ready to perform detailed research. Most of us would turn to Google, but Hall-Patton can also pull facts from his personal library of over 20,000 books.

He’s appeared on close to 100 episodes of Pawn Stars, making him one of the show’s better-known experts. His wife, Dr. Colleen Hall-Patton, wrote a Celebrity Studies article on her husband’s sudden fame. He even has a group of fanboys in the Washington State Penitentiary.

Stuart Lutz

Stuart Lutz appeared briefly on Pawn Stars during its eighth season. He authenticates “historical documents, manuscripts, and letters,” and he’s also one of the few experts to be granted a seal of approval by the Appraisers Association of America “in the field on Books and Manuscripts: Historic Documents.” Lutz has an online catalog of historical documents, autographs, letters, and manuscripts, and also owns one of just three authentic castings of President Eisenhower’s hands, something that’s either really awesome or really creepy. We can’t quite decide.

Lutz wrote The Last Leaf, a book about the last known survivors to witness major historical events or interact with now deceased celebrities. You can learn a bit more about this fascinating subject and Lutz’s contribution in the video clip above.