Original “Pawn-broker's sign” or three-ball symbol, symbolic meaning of Lombard, in Blackpool, Lancashire, UK
"The pawnbroker's symbol shows three balls suspended from a bar. The three-ball symbol is attributed to the Medici Family of Florence, Italy, because of its symbolic meaning of Lombard, referring to the Italian province of Lombardy, where pawn shop banking originated under the name of Lombard banking. It is now as well established as anything of the kind can be that the three golden balls, which have for so long been the trade sign of the pawnbroker, were originally the symbol which medieval Lombard merchants hung up in front of their houses, and not, as has often been suggested, the arms of the Medici family. It has, indeed, been conjectured that the golden balls were originally three flat yellow effigies of byzants, or gold coins, laid heraldically upon a sable field, but that they were presently converted into balls the better to attract attention."
Size: 2731px × 4096px
Location: Blackpool, Lancashire, UK
Photo credit: © EnVogue_Photo / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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