What are the best places to find huge quantities of precious metals?

How to Avoid Myths and Mistakes

Many answers are flying around to that question. Unfortunately, many of those answers are just plain wrong. In today’s post, let’s take a closer look.

Up until a few years ago, it was difficult to see genuine videos of thieves at work. But now that security cameras are just about everywhere to record activity in public places, homes, and stores, it is easy to watch videos of thefts of all kinds. If you search for “theft” or jewel heist” on YouTube, you will find dozens of actual videos of crimes taking place.

Gold-plated and gold-covered items look beautiful - and they look expensive. But even though many collectible items have a beautiful surface of genuine gold, some contain only a tiny amount of the precious metal. Over the centuries, tiny amounts of gold have been beaten thin and used to decorate all kinds of items, even buildings.

Tariffs, Trade Wars, Shrinking Tech . . .What’s the best way to invest in scrap gold today?

We have to admit, we have never seen a period when it has been so difficult to pinpoint the biggest trends that will affect the prices of gold. In the past, there were periods of uncertainty when it was possible to consider just one trend, see how it was probably going to affect domestic gold prices, and formulate an investment strategy. You could say, for example, “Looks like trade relations with China are going to be rough for a while, there could be fewer gold crossing borders, so the price of gold that is already in the U.S. is probably going to rise.”

Have you heard that half of all marriages end in divorce? If you do a little research online, you will learn that statistic is not true. It seems that in about 1980, the divorce rate hit an all-time high of 40%, and is be declining today. That could be because more young people are skipping marriage - and if you don’t get married, how can you get divorced?

Abracadabra! 

Back in medieval times, alchemists tried to convert silver and base metals into gold. At the same time, magicians tried to use gold to help their clients ward off evil, attract love, or cure various diseases.

Have you every had a fantasy like this?

Your old Uncle Chuck died and while you are clearing out his house, you find an old watch in his dresser drawer. It has a stainless steel case, nothing special. But the appraiser who comes to evaluate the estate says, “Hold on, this watch isn’t made of stainless steel, it’s made of platinum and is worth at least $10,000.”

Copper is a metal with many wonderful and useful properties. It is soft and malleable. It is also a “friendly” metal that can be blended with many other metals to form alloys.

What precious metals are most often mixed with copper? And when they are, how does that affect their value? Let’s explore that topic.

We watched the royal wedding. Did you?

And while we were caught up in the wonderful spectacle of two young people starting their married life together, we couldn’t help noticing that a lot of jewelry was on display too. (We assume that most of the gold and gemstones we saw were the real thing, given the wealth of the celebrities in attendance and the serious nature of the event.)

Where to find hidden gold and other valuables under fake bottoms

Over the years, people have devised some very clever ways to hide valuables. They have buried jewel boxes in their yards, painted diamonds black to disguise them, stashed gold under floorboards, and hidden jewelry in hollowed-out banisters and behind loose bricks in the basement.

As people age, they tend to acquire a growing number of aches and pains. Yet if they have lived good lives, they often end up with something much more valuable . . .

Let’s face it. Engagements have a way of not working out and when they don’t, many women end up with a valuable platinum engagement ring. If you find yourself in that situation, what should you do with your old ring, which could be worth a lot of money?

Bling has been around for centuries. Marie Antoinette, members of the Russian Imperial family and all kinds of royals from past ages have loved to adorn themselves with shiny, oversized pieces of jewelry. They were apparently trying to send a message that said, “I can afford this stuff, you can’t, I am richer than you are, and you better be impressed.”

If you have visited the Statue of Liberty or another tourist destination lately, you have noticed that hardly anybody is using digital cameras these days. Five years ago you would have seen all those tourists taking snapshots with small cameras made by Olympus, Sony, and other companies. Today, nearly all those pix are being shot using smartphones.

Where to Find Precious Metals in Your Local Junkyard

Where can you find platinum scrap, gold, and other precious metals in your local automotive scrapyard? Here’s a guide.

We have written a lot on our blog about the most common places to find platinum scrap, including catalytic converters, lab equipment, and thermocouples.

We have written on this blog before about retrieving gold scrap from old computers. It is actually pretty easy to do, since you can see the gold, which is mostly found on the little pins that are on the edges of motherboards, printed circuit boards, memory chips - in the little pins that are used to plug those devices into surrounding contact blocks.

For today’s post, we’d like to put on our science fiction glasses and think about what the world could look like in year 2050. We admit that it is unlikely that all the following conditions will have arisen by then, but let’s consider them anyway . . .

Over the years titanium has been used mostly in aerospace and industrial applications, and with good reason. Titanium is nearly as hard as steel, but it weighs much less. It is extremely resistant to corrosion and wear. It resists deformation -  you are going to have to jump up and down pretty hard on a titanium ring or pipe to get it to flatten.

Back in his student days, our friend Joe was short of cash one month. So to pay his rent, he sold his high school ring to a jewelry shop on 47th Street in New York.

“I took it in, we struck a deal on price and before he even paid me, the guy behind the counter stuck my ring on a mandrel, grabbed a big hammer, and smashed the gem stone that was mounted in it. I left the store with some cash in my pocket, but I wasn’t feeling too great about the whole experience.”