Gold over $900 an ounce, time to start thinking about selling any

[yy4me]

scrap you have accumulated? Years ago, I was able to sell gold to a jeweler near me but he has since gone out of business. Since I worked for a precious metals refiner years ago, I know the pitfalls of selling and recognize that I will not make a fortune out of these parts and pieces. Anyone recommend a jeweler in the North of Boston area that is paying fairly for scrap?

[grasswire]

1. is there a standard of purity for resale?

18 karat? Or???

[yy4me]

2. Hi Grasswire, please see the prior posting:. There is no real

standard for scrap to have refined but all gold will be melted by the refiner and the seller will be paid for the pure recovered less fees. The price paid will usually be based on the daily London fix. The person to whom you sell your scrap to will offer you a price per pennyweight based on the karat weight of the gold you give him. You should be aware of what is 10K, 14K, 18K etc because the value of each karat weight is different. Unless you can sell directly to a refiner(unlikely) you will have to have an idea of what you have so you know the middleman is paying you a fair price. Check the daily price in the paper (Precious Metals) and do some quick math.

The problem with selling scrap as an individual is finding someone who will pay you fairly, allowing himself a profit margin too. He has to take a chance that the assay of his scrap will come out in his favor and that the price of pure has not dropped between the time he bought your junk scrap until the day he is paid.(usually after it is refined)

It is not an easy business to get rid of junk stuff but now that gold is so high, it is worth the trouble.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=403&topic_id=175

[Stinky The Clown]

3. This phenomenon decimated the existing stocks of fountain pens back in the 70s

Everyone was yanking pen nibs willy nilly for the 'scrap' value. The biggest nib ever made weighs what? Two feathers? Three, maybe? And most of them are only 14k (European nibs, by law, must be 18k), so the gold value in any one of them was next to nothing. And yet they got yanked. The value of the pans, complete with nibs, even back then, exceeded the scrap value of the nibs.

Here's a web site with nib values. Even the most common and ordinary of them are well more than the scrap gold value in them.

http://www.nibs.com/nibvalues.html

[yy4me]

4. I agree that certain items should not be scrapped. What I refer to

when I talk about junk gold is the old broken chains, jewelry of no artistic merit, old gold fillings, things of that nature. I was sick to death during the Hunt brothers silver shenanigans when the beautiful silver jar tops, flatware, tea services and the like went into the smelter. It was during that time that I worked for the refiner and saw what was thrown out. Broke my heart but whatever came in went into the pot.

As an Antique dealer,(long retired), I know when to assess the value of an item as a collectible. Your pen nibs are a very good example of what should not be scrapped. Those nibs by themselves are not of great value but put it on the right pen and you have a complete unit that is.

I would never scrap anything solely for the $$$ if the item had value in its form as part of a greater whole.

Just the bits and pieces form the last 20 years will go into my lot. I buy junk stuff at yard sales and the like all the time.