My title refers to a nickname radio legend Don Imus gave himself awhile back because he was born with three testicles instead of the usual complement. I may be a little unobservant, but I seem to be seeing fewer and fewer pawnshops around New York City these days, so this one on 8th avenue and West 34th in the shadow of Penn Station stands out for me. Perhaps some readers might not be familiar with the symbol at all.
There are two traditional pawnbroker signs, one shown here suspended from a shaft over the sidewalk, and another one on the vertical neon “LOANS” sign on the marquee.
This traditional symbol originated in the Middle Ages in the Italian province of Italy, where pawnshop banking originated and practitioners suspended three gold spheres, supposedly imitative of gold coins, above their shops. The symbol came to be associated with the Medici family, which adopted it as their family crest.