Buried Gold

[imoldernu]

No, not about gold as an investment.

For a long time we've watched the "scrap gold" ads on TV, and the Gold Kiosk at the mall as well as some of the newspaper ads about bringing gold jewelry to the local Holiday Inn to exchange it for cash. Since we don't have much in jewelry, we never gave it a second thought.

Today, DW found her old H.S. class ring (which she never wore, and has no sentimental value), and we brought it to the lady at the mall, who assayed it with chemicals and a scale. Ten caret gold... and $68 on the spot. (Cost, back in 1953, was $12.) Now we're looking around in the junk drawer, at the chains, bracelets, pins and a few gold caps. We don't expect much, but then we didn't think that little ring was worth anything either.

There must be a good industry built around this, but we rarely, if ever see people having their gold checked over for value. Brings up the question:
Have you ever brought old gold to have it checked for value? Were you surprised?

 

[Brdofpray]

It wasn't gold, but silver. For some reason, my aunt left me all of her silver spoons. No forks, or knives, just spoons. They were old, but did not have any sterling silver markings on them. We kept about half of them. The ones that had family initials, or other sentimental value, and had the rest we had checked for value. The dealer did his tests, and they turned out to be coin silver, and therefore, did not get the sterling silver stamp.

We walked out with $300.

 

[MichaelB]

We keep all our gold jewelry, and plan to use it to barter for food and supplies once the zombie apocalypse occurs. Be prepared!

 

[Brdofpray]

That's why we kept the other half of the spoons!

 

[calmloki]

Good to be an informed seller - I sold some gold but discovered that the buyer gave me weight in pennyweight - and claimed not to have a conversion to ounces. Be better prepared than me:

Kitco :: Jeweller Section

24 carat = 100% pure gold
12 carat = 50% pure gold

With the above information you can determine exactly how much gold you have and using the current spot price what it is worth and how much the buyer is discounting it.

 

[W2R]

I don't wear much jewelry, and other than an old college class ring I don't think I have any gold jewelry at all.

On the other hand, the gold in my teeth would probably send someone's kid through college. That's one more reason to not walk through rough neighborhoods by myself at night, I suppose (not that I would do that anyway).

 

[Ronstar]

DW is keeping her gold. I don't have any, but if I find the lost Dutchman mine, I'll be set for life.

 

[Katsmeow]

This is actually interesting to me. At the grocery store we go to there is one of those buy gold/silver shops. I have a few pieces that I don't wear any more and don't really have value as jewelry as they are not in that good shape. I had wondered if it was worth bringing in. I have an 18 carat chain, for example, and some silver jewelry that is very tarnished. I hadn't thought about my high school class ring but I still have it and it has no sentimental value to me so that might be an option also.

I guess it would be prudent to try a couple of places though.

 

[GrayHare]

The traveling buyers of precious metals have a bad rep. They are looking for bargains and might offer less than half what a brick & mortar jeweler or coin shop will pay.

 

[grasshopper]

DW is keeping her gold. I don't have any, but if I find the lost Dutchman mine, I'll be set for life.

So you have been east to the Superstition Mountains, I loved the First Water, and Flatiron Trails.

 

[braumeister]

The WSJ ran an article on selling gold a year or two ago. Their opinion was that the best deal was an outfit called US Gold Buyers. They gave me and a couple of friends prices that I determined were great.

 

[brewer12345]

Dad was a jewelry dealer for a number of years before he retired. HHe spent most of his time buying wholesale and selling to retail customers. As gold did its moonshot and took every precious metal and gem with it, his customers suddenly could not afford to buy much. But he did the reerse trade and began buying stuff for melting down, making a weekly trip to the diamond district to cash out what he bought. Occasionally he would buy pieces that were nice enough to be resold as jewelry rather be melted. When he hung up his spurs for good, he simply liquidated all of his inventory, much of it for melting.

DW and I will keep what we have. I have very little and it is all of sentimental value (wedding band, a chain my dad gave me, etc.). DW's is her daily wear and fancy jewelry and she does wear it (pretty funny sometimes when she walks around with 10+k of gold, diamonds and tanzanite in jeans, no make-up and hiking boots).

 

[Tyro]

There must be a good industry built around this,

There is, but it can be a racket.

The Jewelry Polka - Video Clips - South Park Studios

Best to check out the dealer for reputation & price.

It wasn't gold, but silver. For some reason, my aunt left me all of her silver spoons. No forks, or knives, just spoons. They were old, but did not have any sterling silver markings on them. We kept about half of them. The ones that had family initials, or other sentimental value, and had the rest we had checked for value. The dealer did his tests, and they turned out to be coin silver, and therefore, did not get the sterling silver stamp.

We walked out with $300.

Coin silver can vary greatly in silver content, especially in pieces made prior to 1906, but some later pieces may (unusual but possible) still have higher silver content than sterling.

Definition of Coin Silver | eHow.com

Tyro

 

[Ronstar]

So you have been east to the Superstition Mountains, I loved the First Water, and Flatiron Trails.

Yes I have - beautiful area.

 

[Tyro]

Yes I have - beautiful area.

+1. Made a day trip of driving the Apache Trail a couple years ago. Next time we plan to begin to explore the interior...

Tyro

 

[grasshopper]

The hike from Rt 60 drive to Woodburg trailhead to Reavis Ranch is unbelievable. Make sure you have 4WD and lots of gas and a good spare.

 

[Dimsumkid]

I tried 3 places for gold/silver that I found over the years:
1) American Jewelry Exchange (by mail using video conference, in TX) - sent in some silver and small gold chain. All silver rejected and tested a small gold chain as not gold. All items mailed back to me.
2) Gold Max (Robin Leach spokesman) - Brought in all items from #1 above plus more gold items. 1st offer $600, 2nd offer $800, call to mgr offer before I walked out - $1100! Told me my gold crown was 14k for $18 (w/o testing). They were really interested in my heavy gold chain and only tested this piece.
3) Rogers & Holland Jewelers at the mall - brought in all the items as #2 right after leaving Gold Max. Ran multiple tests on all the gold pieces. They offered me over $1300 for all, gold crown tested at 24k for $38. I sold them my small gold chain and crown for $130+. This place recommended I keep the heavy gold chain (offered me $1100) and wait until gold reaches another high point before I sell it.

None of these places would buy my silver unless it was clearly stamped as such. Store #1 tested and rejected my small gold chain that stores #2 and #3 verified as 14k gold. Store #2 claimed my crown was 14k even though store #3 tested as 24k. As you can tell by my offers, some stores aren't running the same tests (scams) as others, so it's best to get more than one estimate.

 

[imoldernu]

As you can tell by my offers, some stores aren't running the same tests (scams) as others, so it's best to get more than one estimate.

Yeah.. thanks for that information. We had guessed that much of the promotion on gold would bring out the worst.

The gal who assayed our little ring, rubbed it on what looked to be a very fine knife sharpening stone, drawing a tiny gold line. She then put a drop of chemical from three different bottles, and watched for color change. this is how she determined that it was 14K. We were well satisfied with the price. She is a local gal who is well known in our town. Other than that, I have no idea how one would trust. I suppose two or three estimates would be worthwhile on a higher value item.

 

[dm]

My father put up some money for a relative to buy gold back in the 80's. He said it was like making change, they give you $100, you give them back $50. He still has a cigar box full of the nicer stuff that they didn't send in for melting.