Paris pawnshop opens vault to fine wines

AFP, April, 2008

PARIS8 (AFP) — Forget your grandmother's wedding ring: France's oldest pawnbroker will now take in a vintage claret dug out of the family cellar as security for a tide-you-over loan.

A household institution, the Paris Credit Municipal was set up in 1777 to offer the poor an alternative to usurers and their punitive interest rates, on a model created by a Franciscan monk in 15th-century Italy.

Run on a not-for-profit basis in partnership with the city, it decided last month to open its doors to wine as collateral for short-term loans, as well as the usual artworks, watches, jewels or antiques.

"People started arriving within days, we never expected so many. It's a very promising start," said a spokesman for the pawnshop, Vincent Vogt, who said it had taken in 400 bottles since March 17, from Paris and the provinces alike. ...