“Isn’t the pandemic creating a lot of demand for precious metals,” a caller asked us recently. “Gold, silver and platinum and even cadmium are used in medical devices and medications, and isn’t the demand for those things increasing because of the pandemic?”

“The gold price dropped from $1,783.90 an ounce at the end of October to $1,763.90 on 3 November, as the US Federal Reserve indicated in a statement that it would `begin reducing the monthly pace of its net asset purchases by $10bn for Treasury securities and $5bn for agency mortgage-backed securities.”

“Gold Prices Forecast for 2022 and Beyond: A Buy, Hold or Sell?” by Nicole Willing, Capital.Com, December 9, 2021

With gold currently trading at $1,787.40 per troy ounce, this is a good time to look for and recycle even small amounts of gold.

Here are some easy-to-overlook places you can find small amounts of gold today – even in your own home.

“When I was looking at a small box full of metal pellets, I just knew they were made of platinum,” says a man who has spent years investing in precious metals. “There were only about 25 of them, but something about them convinced me they were platinum beads that had probably been used in plating operations. So I bought them up, had them tested and sure enough, I was right.”

Let’s say that you have just finished pulling the printed circuit boards out of 100 old laptops and you’ve packed the boards up and sent them to Specialty Metals Smelters and Refiners to be processed. Or let’s say that you have pulled the circuit boards out of cellphones, old stereo components or even old televisions.

What is the most unusual thing about gold? If you think about that question for a minute, chances are your answer to it will be, “Gold is beautiful.”

Of course, that answer is right. Gold really is beautiful, which explains why it has been the most sought-after metal on earth for thousands of years. The ancient Egyptians and Assyrians loved it, as did the Vikings, the Incas, the king and queens of Europe, and everyone else through the ages. Chances are your grandparents and parents had gold wedding rings and if you are married, chances are you and your spouse have them too. And if pure 24K gold weren’t beautiful enough on its own, it can be made into rose gold, white gold, and even green and pink gold by adding other metals.

A man in Delaware emailed us recently to ask, “Are there any scrap gold buyers near me?” He explained that there were plenty of companies in his area that would be happy to buy gold jewelry, bullion, and coins from him if he walked through their front doors. But nobody in his area was in the business of buying the kind of gold scrap he wanted to sell – a bunch of old circuit boards and used sputtering targets that contained gold.

When you invest in bullion or coins, you know almost exactly how much precious metal they contain – or come close to knowing.

Investing in scrap is another matter completely, as these examples show . . .

Over time, an investor bought about 200 discarded cellphones. He had paid about 50 cents for each of them, so his total investment was about $100.00. When they were recycled to extract the gold they contained, it turned out that each device contained about 0.001 Troy Ounces of gold. In sum, the gold in all those phones was worth about $350.00. So if you do the math, that shows that his investment was a very good one indeed. His $100,00 investment netted him more than a twofold return.

A man in Connecticut – we’ll call him Pete in this post because he asked us not to use his real name – has a story that might be familiar to you. Why? Because many people end up in situations like his.

Pete has a welding and metal fabricating business that handles all kinds of work. Last year, a university asked him to make a special chair that was needed for a medical research project. Often, people ask him to do small welding projects, like reattaching a trailer hitch that was coming loose from the back of a truck. Pete also does brazing and spot welding repairs on a lot of lawn mowers. Recently, a restaurant asked him if he could help design and fabricate an unusual service counter out of stainless steel – “something like you wouldn’t see anywhere else in the world,” Pete says. Pete employs two very skilled employees, but he shares the work with them.

This past week, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a report entitled, “Climate change widespread, rapid and intensifying.”

If there are people who still believe that global warming is really not happening, we would urge them to spend a little time reading this report. It has a blunt message, which is that we need to act immediately and decisively if we wish to protect our planet, our future, and our children from further catastrophic effects of climate change.

Today, we would like to point out some steps that the smartest investors take to safeguard their investments – and to simply make more money.

Ready? Let’s get going.

Here at Specialty Metals Smelters and Refiners, we are proud that we are helping to protect the environment with everything we do.

When we are processing precious metal scrap of any kind, we use the latest processes that virtually eliminate the release of noxious gases into the air. Although smelting and other reprocessing processes often involve high temperatures, we never release heated liquids or gases into the air or the water supply. We pride ourselves on having a very small carbon footprint. So when you send your gold, platinum or silver scrap to us for testing and processing, you can do so with a clean conscience.

If you follow gold trading prices, you know that gold prices have risen by more than 40% in the last few years. One reason experts cite is the current distrust between the U.S. and China. And chances are that distrust between our two nations will only rise as the U.S. builds scrutiny of why the Covid-19 virus might have arisen in Chinese laboratories.

Some people believe they need metal detectors to find precious metals. Other people use drones. And still others think they need precious metal testing kits.

Those people are right. But today, we would like to remind you of another very basic fact that can help you find more precious metals . . .

The question that we chose to be the title of today’s post – “What Is the Best Part of the Country for Gold Investors to Live?” – probably seems a little puzzling to you. After all, if you invest in gold scrap (or silver scrap or platinum scrap for that matter), what difference does it make where you live? You can call our precious metal recycling advisors from wherever you live, send us your scrap. And of course, we will send your payment wherever you live.

The period of Covid-19 has been a year of doom and gloom – and with good reason. But now that the end is in sight, opportunities are increasing for precious metal investors.

So let’s throw off the gloom and feel optimistic. We are certain that the coming years will offer great opportunities because the following trends are at work. All of them lead to the conclusion that increasing demand for gold, silver and platinum will drive prices upward in the coming years. And as prices rise, your investments in precious metals will pay you a bigger return.

Are you trying to figure out how much gold, silver, platinum, or other metal is contained in a small metal item you have found – a button, a little pyramid, or maybe a charm or a religious medal?

In most cases, getting a bead on how much precious metal you have is simple. You just weigh it!

What was your preferred way of selling precious metal items and precious metal scrap a few years ago – before the pandemic struck?

Some people took their gold, silver and (in some instances) platinum items to one of those “we buy gold” stores that were doing business in their towns and on nearby highways. Other people took items to jewelry stores and sold small pieces of jewelry to them. Still other people went to pawn shops. And of course there were people who called us up at 800-426-2344 and sent their scrap to us for testing and recycling.

No matter what you invest in, you are probably worried about something. If you have money in stocks, how are the companies faring that you have invested in? If you invest in art, have the kind of items you have invested in been increasing in value, or going down? And if you invest in collectible cars and own a 1957 Thunderbird (just one possible investment), how much did a similar car sell for at auction last month?

It’s no secret that the Covid-19 pandemic is on the way out! Like you, we are extremely grateful to hear that wonderful news.

But the pandemic has left so much sadness behind. The saddest part of it all is that so many of us have lost loved ones who can never be replaced. And there are other sad results too. One is that many of us have lost jobs. Still others of us have seen our businesses suffer or even close.