Sometimes a sign can deliver a message without using words, as is the case with the pawnbroker sign. The universal sign for a pawnbroker is three golden spheres suspended from a bar. It is said the sign originates from the crest of the Medicis, a 15th century Italian family known for banking and lending. Other lenders, wanting to cash in on the Medicis’
success, adopted similar crests and the three orbs became the symbol of the entire pawnbroking profession. http://ow.ly/8gF25
