May 06, 2017

Million-Dollar Gold Discoveries that Are Worth Only Pennies

May 06, 2017/ Barry Lenson

Did you ever find a gold collectible that looked like it was worth a ton of money… but which turned out to be worth only a few pennies or dollars? If that has happened to you, don’t feel ashamed. Sooner or later, we all learn the hard way that the world is full of priceless-looking gold items that are worth a dollar or two at most. Here are some items that appear much more valuable than they really are.

July 24, 2015

Why the Gold Kentucky Derby Trophy Could Be the Most Valuable Trophy Ever Made

July 24, 2015/ Barry Lenson

Odds are that you will never find a trophy like that one at a yard or estate sale, or find a gold or gold-plated trophy either. But you will find silver-plated and even solid sterling trophies that you can recycle using a qualified silver refinery like Specialty Metals Smelting and Refining, the parent company of GoldRefiners.com.

July 17, 2015

Can You Reclaim Gold from Antique Ronson and Zippo Lighters?

July 17, 2015/ Barry Lenson

Although chances are slight that the lighter will contain a quantity of gold that is worth recycling, a small number of lighters have been made over the years with gold and gold-filled cases that really do contain gold that can be profitably recycled – they’ll pay back your $25.00 investment four or five times over or maybe even more. If not, chances are you can sell the lighter on eBay and get your investment back anyway.

May 01, 2015

What Your Elderly Relatives Aren’t Telling You about the Gold They Own

May 01, 2015/ Barry Lenson

Most older relatives don’t intentionally hide precious metals from members of their families. What some tend to do, however, is to underestimate the value of the precious metal items that they own. As a result, they fail to cash in on their value at a time of life when money could come in very handy for them.

March 14, 2015

How to Make Money Buying Precious Metals on eBay

March 14, 2015/ Barry Lenson

Once a day, I get emails that display all the newly listed items on eBay that contain those words. It saves me the trouble of going to eBay daily to hunt for them. On a typical day, I get more than 100 listings that I can quickly review...

November 14, 2014

Raising Funds for Holiday Shopping: Why Not Get Family, Friends and Neighbors Looking for Precious Metals to Recycle?

November 14, 2014/ Barry Lenson

This is a time of year when everyone could use a little extra cash, right? Or maybe a lot of extra cash would be even better.

Shown: a kitchen filled with buried treasure - precious metal bearing appliances, silverware and more, that can be recycled profitably by Gold Refiners.com, a part of Specialty Metals.

So here’s a suggestion. Why not get together with your relatives, friends and neighbors, search for precious metals in your homes, and then send them to Specialty Metals Smelters and Refiners? The result could be a nice big check, just in time to make everyone’s holiday shopping a lot more exciting and fun.

Why search for precious metals with other people, instead of on your own? There are some great reasons. First, it is motivating and fun to start a shared precious-metals search. Second, you will end up with a larger quantity of items to recycle, which makes it more likely that we here at Specialty Metals can quickly recycle them promptly and send you a check. Third, you could end up discovering valuable items that you would have overlooked otherwise; when other people suddenly discover a silver plate or an old pair of eyeglass frames in their homes, you could suddenly remember that you own similar items too.

Here’s a Checklist

Here’s a checklist of precious metal-bearing items that are found in many homes.

Old items of jewelry . . .

Remember that even in a batch of what appears to be nothing but costume jewelry, there could be a few items hiding that are made of 14K, 18K or even 24K gold.

Old silverware and tableware . . .

It could be either pure sterling or silver-plated. Either way, it could be well worth recycling.

Old eyeglass frames . . .

As we have noted on this blog before, eyeglass frames that were made before about 1970 are often “gold-filled” rather than “gold-plated.” That means that they contain a much greater quantity of gold.

Trophies, commemoratives . . .

Newer items generally do not contain enough silver or gold to recycle. Older items, however, usually contain far greater quantities of precious metals.

Coin collections . . .

If they’ve been set aside for years, the chances are pretty good that you will find a quantity of silver or even gold coins that are worth recycling.

Mantle clocks, pen sets, cigarette cases, lighters and other old-fashioned decorative items . . .

Not that many years ago, it was common for small decorative items to be made of silver or – sometimes – plated with gold.

Form a Team, Start Looking, then Call to Tell Us what You Found

We are always available to discuss the precious metal treasures you have found. Call us at 800-426-2344 when you are ready.

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