Operating Segment Information (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2014	Mar. 31, 2013	Mar. 31, 2014	Mar. 31, 2013
Revenues:
Merchandise sales	$ 103,454	$ 100,082	$ 209,041	$ 194,686
Jewelry scrapping sales	26,193	42,582	53,896	87,291
Pawn service charges	59,162	62,015	123,295	127,415
Consumer loan fees and interest	64,785	60,751	131,114	123,885
Other revenues	6,106	2,684	11,711	7,498
Total revenues	259,700	268,114	529,057	540,775
Merchandise cost of goods sold	63,857	58,716	127,445	113,661
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold	20,111	29,311	40,131	60,616
Consumer loan bad debt expense (benefit)	10,422	8,457	28,854	21,978
Net revenues	165,310	171,630	332,627	344,520
Operations	108,064	101,831	220,833	205,116
Administrative	20,032	8,603	35,777	22,274
Depreciation	7,539	7,071	15,005	13,631
Amortization	1,975	1,316	3,915	2,030
(Gain) loss on sale or disposal of assets	342	13	(5,948)	42
Interest expense (income), net	5,275	3,753	9,607	7,390
Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliates	(492)	(4,125)	(1,763)	(9,163)
Impairment of investments	7,940	0	7,940	0
Other expense (income)	1,324	405	1,156	(96)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	13,311	52,763	46,105	103,296
Segments [Member]
Revenues:
Merchandise sales	103,454	100,082	209,041	194,686
Jewelry scrapping sales	26,193	42,582	53,896	87,291
Pawn service charges	59,162	62,015	123,295	127,415
Consumer loan fees and interest	64,785	60,751	131,114	123,885
Other revenues	6,106	2,684	11,711	7,498
Total revenues	259,700	268,114	529,057	540,775
Merchandise cost of goods sold	63,857	58,716	127,445	113,661
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold	20,111	29,311	40,131	60,616
Consumer loan bad debt expense (benefit)	10,422	8,457	28,854	21,978
Net revenues	165,310	171,630	332,627	344,520
Operations	108,064	101,831	220,833	205,116
Administrative	0	0	0	0
Depreciation	5,850	5,386	11,679	10,253
Amortization	1,289	1,061	2,584	1,669
(Gain) loss on sale or disposal of assets	(284)	13	(6,596)	42
Interest expense (income), net	4,230	2,816	7,381	5,446
Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliates	(492)	(4,125)	(1,763)	(9,163)
Impairment of investments	7,940		7,940
Other expense (income)	364	(316)	305	(369)
Segment contribution (loss)	38,349	64,964	90,264	131,526
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	38,349	64,964	90,264	131,526
Segments [Member] | U.S. & Canada Operations [Member]
Revenues:
Merchandise sales	89,937	86,409	178,827	166,113
Jewelry scrapping sales	24,697	40,501	50,622	82,489
Pawn service charges	52,154	54,500	109,223	112,697
Consumer loan fees and interest	45,657	42,266	94,359	86,594
Other revenues	1,009	1,620	1,494	4,411
Total revenues	213,454	225,296	434,525	452,304
Merchandise cost of goods sold	54,890	50,819	107,937	97,141
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold	18,793	27,563	37,363	56,637
Consumer loan bad debt expense (benefit)	9,121	6,441	24,677	17,369
Net revenues	130,650	140,473	264,548	281,157
Operations	85,926	82,827	176,608	167,399
Administrative	0	0	0	0
Depreciation	4,295	4,030	8,562	7,721
Amortization	657	622	1,309	769
(Gain) loss on sale or disposal of assets	(441)	(1)	(6,759)	28
Interest expense (income), net	(16)	15	(11)	32
Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliates	0	0	0	0
Impairment of investments	0		0
Other expense (income)	0	(1)	0	(5)
Segment contribution (loss)	40,229	52,981	84,839	105,213
Segments [Member] | Latin America [Member]
Revenues:
Merchandise sales	13,517	13,673	30,214	28,573
Jewelry scrapping sales	1,496	2,081	3,274	4,802
Pawn service charges	7,008	7,515	14,072	14,718
Consumer loan fees and interest	14,328	11,842	28,621	23,719
Other revenues	5,065	205	10,187	1,846
Total revenues	41,414	35,316	86,368	73,658
Merchandise cost of goods sold	8,967	7,897	19,508	16,520
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold	1,318	1,748	2,768	3,979
Consumer loan bad debt expense (benefit)	454	(661)	1,845	(1,709)
Net revenues	30,675	26,332	62,247	54,868
Operations	18,086	15,335	36,468	29,970
Administrative	0	0	0	0
Depreciation	1,450	1,257	2,909	2,362
Amortization	607	416	1,224	851
(Gain) loss on sale or disposal of assets	(2)	14	4	14
Interest expense (income), net	4,246	2,802	7,394	5,415
Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliates	0	0	0	0
Impairment of investments	0		0
Other expense (income)	(11)	(315)	(41)	(295)
Segment contribution (loss)	6,299	6,823	14,289	16,551
Segments [Member] | Other International [Member]
Revenues:
Merchandise sales	0	0	0	0
Jewelry scrapping sales	0	0	0	0
Pawn service charges	0	0	0	0
Consumer loan fees and interest	4,800	6,643	8,134	13,572
Other revenues	32	859	30	1,241
Total revenues	4,832	7,502	8,164	14,813
Merchandise cost of goods sold	0	0	0	0
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold	0	0	0	0
Consumer loan bad debt expense (benefit)	847	2,677	2,332	6,318
Net revenues	3,985	4,825	5,832	8,495
Operations	4,052	3,669	7,757	7,747
Administrative	0	0	0	0
Depreciation	105	99	208	170
Amortization	25	23	51	49
(Gain) loss on sale or disposal of assets	159	0	159	0
Interest expense (income), net	0	(1)	(2)	(1)
Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliates	(492)	(4,125)	(1,763)	(9,163)
Impairment of investments	7,940		7,940
Other expense (income)	375	0	346	(69)
Segment contribution (loss)	(8,179)	5,160	(8,864)	9,762
Corporate Items [Member]
Revenues:
Merchandise sales	0	0	0	0
Jewelry scrapping sales	0	0	0	0
Pawn service charges	0	0	0	0
Consumer loan fees and interest	0	0	0	0
Other revenues	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	0	0	0	0
Merchandise cost of goods sold	0	0	0	0
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold	0	0	0	0
Consumer loan bad debt expense (benefit)	0	0	0	0
Net revenues	0	0	0	0
Operations	0	0	0	0
Administrative	20,032	8,603	35,777	22,274
Depreciation	1,689	1,685	3,326	3,378
Amortization	686	255	1,331	361
(Gain) loss on sale or disposal of assets	626	0	648	0
Interest expense (income), net	1,045	937	2,226	1,944
Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliates	0	0	0	0
Impairment of investments	0		0
Other expense (income)	960	721	851	273
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	$ (25,038)	$ (12,201)	$ (44,159)	$ (28,230)