Goldfinger and Beyond: These Movies Will Get You Excited about Investing in Gold

Sean Connery, who most people agree was the greatest of all the actors who played James Bond on screen, died this week. His way of introducing himself with only three words – “Bond. James Bond” – has become one of the most often-quoted lines in movie history.

There are many downsides to living through the Coronavirus pandemic. Many of us are frightened, getting cabin fever, watching the same kind of programs over and over again on cable, and making sure our children complete their schoolwork.

That can all be emotionally difficult, no questions about it. But at the same time, many of us are discovering that there are good things about sheltering at home. One of the really great things is that we have the opportunity to explore all kinds of new things . . . nearly anything we want.

The meaning of the term “floor sweepings” is pretty obvious, right? You go into an area of a factory where gold, platinum or silver jewelry or other products were manufactured, you sweep them up, and send them to a precious metals refinery like Specialty Metals Smelters and Refiners, correct?

An article in The New York Times on September 28th (“There’s Gold in Them Thar Braes”) reports that a new gold rush is currently taking place in Scotland. That’s right, Scotland. Stephen Castle, who wrote the article, notes that during the 19th century, several gold rushes took place in Scotland that rivaled the famous gold rushes of the 1840s in the New World, which attracted tens of thousands of gold prospectors to California and Alaska.

You might think you know what a precious metal refinery can do for you. It can extract a precious metal from different kinds of scrap, correct?

By and large, that is true. But it is not as simple as that. Let’s explore.

The following tale doesn’t tell the story of something that really happened to someone we know. But it does represent a fairly typical story of someone who was not paid full value for gold he recycled.

Here’s the story . . .

A man had a pair of old 14K gold cufflinks he didn’t want any more. He walked into a local jewelry store that had a sign in its window that said, “We Buy Gold.” The jeweler behind the counter tested one of the cufflinks using a simple gold testing kit and said to the man, “These are gold.” He then took out a calculator, punched in some numbers, and told the customer, “We will pay you $90.00 for the gold these contain.” The customer accepted the offer and left the jewelry store with $90.00 in his wallet.

Before you toss your old cellphone, TV remote, laptop, or tablet, remember that they contain gold. Although those small devices don’t contain immense quantities of gold, you don’t want to throw gold away, do you? So before you toss them, give our precious metal recycling consultants a call at 800-426-2344 and we can explain your recycling options.

If you bought an old house, you should search it carefully for bits of gold, silver and even platinum that could be hidden from sight. And if you are about to sell an old house – maybe one that was owned by a family member – you will obviously want to search it carefully to be sure you will not be leaving any precious metal items behind.

When was the last time you lifted the hood of a car that was made in the 1960s? Let’s say, a 1965 Ford Mustang? If it’s been a while, you might have forgotten that on cars that old, electrical components were pretty minimal. There were a battery, distributor cap, spark plugs, and wires running to headlights and other electrical devices. Not too much electrical activity going on.

We think you will like – and profit from – the information we will give you in today’s post.

We will tell you about sources of gold and silver that many people overlook when they are looking for precious metals.

It’s been hard or impossible to travel during the coronavirus pandemic. How frustrated have you been?

Chances are you have been eager to travel again. But frustrating as it has been, we all need to remember that even though we have not been able to travel much in the last four or five months, we have still been able to continue buying, refining and selling gold scrap, silver scrap, and platinum scrap too.

Don’t let valuable precious metals slip through your fingers

A recent trip to our town recycling yard (once called the “town dump”) convinced us that a lot of people are tossing an awful lot of stuff during the time they are staying at home because of Covid-19. They’re cleaning out their basements, attics, garages, and storage rooms. That’s probably a good thing to do. Decluttering and cleaning out are great projects to take on right now. They help us feel like we are making progress and getting organized, in a time when we feel stuck and out of control.

Would you believe that Bob Dylan wrote the song, “The Times They Are A-Changin’” way back in 1964? Ever since then, the times have been changing year by year, and there is no doubt about that.

But today, 56 years later, Dylan’s song seems to have become completely true. Suddenly, the world has changed in ways that we would never have predicted only five or six years ago.

If you’ve watched “Raiders of the Lost Arc” recently, you know that in the movies, archaeologists seem to live dangerous and exciting lives. They lower themselves on ropes down into vast underground tombs. They pry up huge stones and squeeze into ancient burial chambers that are full of treasures.

Gold continues to hit new highs. We would say that it can’t go much higher. But the fact is, no one knows just what level the price of gold will hit in the current upward spiral.

Marie Antoinette apparently wore a lot of jewelry. When you jump ahead to our century, you see that gold has hardly lost its popularity among celebrities. A few decades ago, Mr. T of The Mod Squad wore huge gold necklaces and medals.

Although you might think that the current cancellation of big-scale social events like the Met Gala have driven celebrities indoors, current new stories reveal that today’s A-List celebrities are still wearing a lot of gold jewelry when they go out and about, even just to buy a bag of bagels on the weekend.

On July 27, just one week ago, we wrote on this blog, “Gold is trading for $1,900.90 on the London Fix. Just to put that price in context, let us mention that the all-time historical high trading prices for gold is $1,920. We are in stratospheric territory.”

Gold is trading for $1,900.90 on the London Fix. Just to put that price in context, let us mention that the all-time historical high trading prices for gold is $1,920. We are in stratospheric territory.

What is driving up the price? It’s more than the traditional law of supply and demand (which of course is at work too). Most analysts agree that the immediate driver of these high prices is the trade conflict between the U.S. and China. If things continue the way they are going, the flow of gold into the U.S. from China should slow to a trickle.

The first thing you need to know about investing in gold-plated flatware is that not every piece of gold-toned flatware contains gold. That’s true because. . .

If you are a fan of the old TV sitcom Cheers, you remember what a classic role Cliff Clavin was. Cliff, who was played by the actor John Ratzenberger, was a know-it-all who either made stuff up or presented truths that nobody cared about. Usually, he preceded his revelations by saying, “Here’s a little-known fact.”

One example? Cliff once told his buddies at the bar Cheers, “2008 was the last time Ohio State lost the ninth game of its season.”