• The character “当” means “to pawn”, which means to deposit an object with a pawnbroker in exchange for money. Pawnshops and pawn businesses are believed to have been in existence as early as 1,500 years ago.
• In Singapore, pawnshops and pawn businesses have become increasingly developed over the years, and are now an important part of Singapore’s credit system.

Certain that many customers wanted to renew their pawn tickets but were unable to do so during operating hours, the pawnshop owner invested S$70,000 to install Singapore’s first two 24-hour self-service pawn renewal machines, to keep up with the times. (Lianhe Zaobao, 25/11/2019)

当铺 (Mainland China)

In ancient China, pawnshops had many names, such as “质” or “质库” in the Tang dynasty, and “典” and “典库” in the Song dynasty. By the Ming dynasty, there were more than a dozen names for such shops. The term “当铺” eventually became the generic term for pawn shops.