I didn't care much for the coin release, but, I do recall boasting here and there, where people were unloading them for $3000+, correct me if I'm wrong. Again, not really within my interest.
While it is just my opinion, everyone undervalues a coin/item they are buying and overvalues a coin/item they are selling. That said, I think it was very likely that he was pulling a number out of his backside in an attempt to be somewhat close at the time the show would air. There was a good bit of hype with this for a brief period, and, if it was recorded in the middle of that he could have been guessing it would be on the upswing. But, to me it doesn't matter. It's a decent television show - but like all shows, entertainment and sales is the goal.
I've been to their "store" a couple of times. The last time it was during a filming. Public entrance was forbidden, and only actors were in there, posing as customers. The people "coming in with their items" were well rehearsed and very well scripted. These items must be offered to the show via an online site, and then the producers vet the items, and give the Pawn Shop actors the info on the items, prices, etc. Once the filming was over, all the known actors were gone, the ones posing as buyers were gone, the production crew was gone, and it turned into a store selling modern jewelry, coins (including their silver & gold coins) and other items at exorbitant prices that seem off the charts to me (I think their own 1/10 Oz. gold coin with the old man on it was $275 or so and the silver was $50). Most of the back of the store is transformed into a gift shop, selling "Pawn Shop" show memorabilia, from $25 T-Shirts to $75 sweat shirts and the like. Nothing you see on this show is reality, nothing is real, and the entire show is made for pure entertainment, if you are entertained by this sort of show. And, by the way, ChumLee is very smart. He's making $25,000 per episode!!!
This makes me think of: Do not try and bend the spoon. That's impossible. Instead only try to realize the truth. What truth? There is no spoon. There is no spoon? Then you'll see that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.