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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PawnbrokingThe pawnbroker's symbol is three balls suspended from a bar. The three ball symbol is attributed to the Medici Family of Florence, Italy, or to the House of Lombard, a banking family in medieval London, England. According to legend, a Medici employed by Charles the Great slew a giant using three bags of rocks. The three ball symbol became the family crest. Since the Medicis were so successful in the financial, banking, and moneylending industries, other families also adopted the symbol. Throughout the middle ages, coats of arms bore three balls, orbs, plates, discs, coins, and more as symbols of monetary success. Pawnbrokers (And their detractors) joke that the three balls mean "Two to one, you won't get your stuff back".