The history of pawnbroking begins thousands of years ago in the west in Ancient Greek and Roman Empires and in the East over 3000 years ago in China. The pawnbroker offers a loan of cash in exchange for property or goods as security. When the loan plus interest is repaid, the pawnbroker returns the property. However, if the clients don’t repay the loan, they forfeit the property and the pawnbroker may sell it to recover the loan.