Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 September 1902 — Pawnbroker’s Three Balls. [ARTICLE]

Pawnbroker’s Three Balls.

The three balls used as a sign by pawnbrokers were introduced into England by the merchants and money brokers from Lombardy, Italy, who settled in London in the middle ages, and they were used by them in remembrance of the feature in a coat of arms than which none was more familiar in their native province, that of the Medici family. These balls or disks, in the Medici arms were variously explained, the more popular suggestion being that they were intended for pills in playing allusion to the name “Medici” (doctors). William Roscoe, howevea, in his “Life of Lorenzo de Medici 1 * refers their origin to a more plausible source, an exploit of Averardo de Medici, a commander under Charlemagne. “This bold warrior slew the giant Mugello, whose club he bore as a trophy. This mace or club had three iron balls, which the family adopted as their device.” z