Dear of troy: I read a long time ago that the first pawnbrokers were Lombards. . The Lombards were said to have taken lumber to secure loans, then branched out into other durable commodities. In UK, attic space where unused items are stored is called a "lumber room" by analogy to Lombard storage yards.
I found several sites giving legends about the origin of the three balls as indicating location of pawnbroker.