Rene Thirion
Rene Thirion, 61, is the director of the Mont-de-Pieté in Brussels. It’s a pawn shop which is based on the same principles as its better known American counterpart, but with major differences
You bring in an item to use as collateral against the loan we give you and you pay interest on the loan. Once you pay back the loan and interest, we return your item to you. This, I feel, is the only real similarity between us and a typical pawn shop.
The Mont-de-Pieté is a non-profit organisation. The money collected is used for the upkeep of the business and the low rates of interest are based on the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor) index. The current rates are 6.5 percent for the first six months, 10.5 percent per year for the remainder. There is also no time limit on how long an item stays with us. If you keep paying the interest, we will hold on to your item. In the private shops, they will charge 12 percent or more per month on items. The private pawn shop will also sell your item as quickly as possible.
The company holds 36 auctions per year where the unclaimed items are sold. Thirty of these are ordinary auctions and six of them are specialist. Although we hold many auctions, less than 10 percent of the items pawned go to auction. When pawning an item, we will pay you 70 percent of the estimated amount we feel we will get at auction. This is evaluated by our own team of experts. However, if the item makes more than the 70 percent estimate, the difference between the loan and the sale price is returned to the owner. A pawn shop keeps the difference.
Historically, the first Mont-de-Pieté was set up by a Catholic monk. Although not affiliated to the Catholic Church, there’s still a casual connection. In countries where the two main religions are Protestant and Catholic, the association can be seen. In the Netherlands, for example, where the northern part of the country is predominantly Protestant, private pawn shops abound while in the Catholic south, it is Mont-de Pietés. This association can also be seen in other countries such as Germany and France. Mont-de Pietés can be found in South America and the Philippines as well.
To use the service, a proof of identity is needed but not proof of ownership. This does not cause as big a problem with stolen goods as one might think, as there is very good cooperation between ourselves and the police. Also, we only pay 70 percent of the price we think we will get at auction, not a percentage of market value. Your details are on record as well, so it makes finding you again easier.
Twenty-eight people are employed here in Brussels and we come under the jurisdiction of the city of Brussels. We are the only Mont-de-Pieté left in Belgium. At one time there was well over 20 in the country, but due to economic circumstances in the cities, they were unable to stay open. Another big reason is discretion. People prefer heading into a big anonymous city to do this type of business instead of taking the chance of being seen in their own town. I guess there is still a stigma attached.
Nearly all of our transactions involve jewellery. We need to be able to recoup a minimum of €30 per item at auction and there is no maximum limit to the loan. We have had items worth over €20,000 Euros and above in our inventory at times.
23 Rue Saint-Ghislain/Sint-Gisleinsstraat, Brussels
www.montdepiete.be
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