There have always been some health risks – most of them easily managed – associated with investing in precious metals. Some precious metal prospectors have tried to smelt piles of material that contained silver or gold, for example, and in the process have released noxious gases that hurt their lungs or made them feel sick. Other people have lit their garages on fire while melting of smelting metals. Other precious metal hunters have fallen down wells, gotten chased by dogs, gotten sunburned and encountered other minor health problems, but we won’t dwell on those.

Due to the upcoming increase in the number of cars that use batteries, lithium is poised to increase in value over the next half century.

Just to review . . .

When demand increases for a material that is in limited supply, the value of that material increases. The more the demand increases and the more limited the supply, the more the value increases. It’s the old law of supply and demand.

On your trips to the beach, chances are you’ve seen people using metal detectors. They’re often out there in the early morning or early evening hours, looking for items that people have lost.

What do these modern-day prospectors do after they have found something – a piece of jewelry, a watch or maybe a small stack of coins? That depends. For some users of metal detectors, the enjoyment comes from the “joy of the chase,” meaning that what they really like to do is hunt for valuables using their high-tech equipment. When they find something, they turn their discoveries in at the lost and found counter if they are hunting in a town or public beach or post a notice on a bulletin board.

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. . .

In today’s post, let’s explore a question that is a bit more complicated than it seems . . .

If you find something, does it belong to you?

It’s a question that comes up more often than you might think, because people lose personal items every day and presumably, the things they lose are found by other people. If you don’t think people lose and find things frequently, just visit the Lost & Found section on the Craigslist in your area. You’ll quickly see that people lose keys, rings, dogs, cats, parrots, cellphones, and all sorts of personal items. You’ll also see that lots of honest people post “found” notices on Craigslist. They found your key or your parrot, and they would like to return it to you.

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.”

Do you have parents who are downsizing? Or are you planning to downsize your own residence? It’s an issue that seems to be on more people’s minds in the aftermath of the covid-19 crisis.

Deciding what to keep and what to part with is a very personal matter. Certain possessions, after all, have great emotional value for you that exceeds their dollar value. So perhaps the first step to take is to identify those items and set them aside if you have no intention of getting rid of them. With them “off the table,” you can focus on finding items like these, which contain precious metals, and which can be worth quite a lot.

If you live just about anywhere in our great nation today, you know that non-essential businesses have been closed during the covid-19 crisis. Those businesses have included “we buy gold” stores and other metal-related businesses such as jewelry stores and even pawnshops. Many of those non-essential enterprises are only reopening now, and you can only enter them if you are wearing a face mask and practicing social distancing.

Everybody likes to invest in platinum. Even small quantities of it are valuable, which means you can store a lot of money’s worth of it in just a small space. It’s not that difficult to find, as we will discuss in our post today. It’s liquid, meaning that when you decide to sell what you have, you can do so fast.

And as an investment, platinum has the traditional virtues that all precious metals do. Even though trading prices can rise and fall, precious metal values have been shown to be more stable in the long term than the investments you make in stocks.

“When people have been out of work and are hurting financially, they are more likely to sell valuables at low prices, right?”

We have heard people ask that question lately. It is not a nice question to ask. It implies that when people have lost their jobs and need money – or have encountered other kinds of bad fortune – they will be eager to sell off their assets on the cheap. It also implies that a time of economic hardship for many, like the one we find ourselves in now, is a good time for unscrupulous people to take advantage of others.

Okay, you’re spending the day sequestering at home. Maybe your kids are there with you and you are looking for a fun, different project you can do online.

If you’re looking for adventure, we have a suggestion for you . . .

Beautiful warm spring weather is here! If you’ve been cooped up and developing a case of cabin fever over the last few months, chances are you are eager to get out of your house and enjoy the great outdoors.

And we have two suggestions about ways you can do just that – and possibly find gold and silver scrap and collectibles too.

As we have written before on this blog, old x-ray films contain silver that we can extract for you.

But how much silver do they contain? That’s what a number of our clients have wanted to know over the years. They have called to ask questions like this . . .

Don’t worry. When you call us to discuss sending your precious metals to our refinery for testing and processing, we will explain what you need to do to send them safely.

The purpose of today’s post is to help you avoid some of the more common mistakes people make when sending precious metals – and valuable items of all kinds – to other people and businesses.

If you have experience recycling and profiting from precious metals, chances are you have some familiarity with dental scrap. In years past (and less often during about the last 25 years), gold was often used to make fillings, caps, and even larger gold bars that were used to make bridges that were installed in patients’ mouths. Also in years past, it was common practice for dentists and dental labs to keep used gold items and, when they got around to it, to have those pieces of gold dental scrap recycled.

When your great uncle Charles retired after working for Firestone for about 50 years, he got a gold watch. And then when you saw him last Christmas, he said to you, “Can you find out whether this thing is really made of gold, and let me know what it is worth?”

There’s no doubt that the coronavirus crisis has changed everything. It has changed the way we connect with other people, shop, work, enjoy our free time, and much more.

So it only stands to reason that the crisis has changed the way we invest, and profit from, precious metals. But the funny thing is, not everything has changed. Gold scrap, silver scrap, platinum scrap and certain other investments were smart investments before the pandemic struck – and they are still good investments today. But how can you determine which forms of those scrap investments will yield the biggest return today? How can you make the smartest picks among all the precious metal investments that are available right now?

Because we are a very efficient, active and productive silver refinery, we can answer the following question for you . . .

Why is recycling silver different from recycling gold, platinum, palladium and the other precious metals?

Over the last weeks and months, people have been logging more time at home. And many of them have been thinking up new ways to spend their time. Some have been attending exercise classes online. Others have been taking piano classes. People are discovering all kinds of new interests and enthusiasms.

“Can I find a precious metals refinery that’s still operating during the coronavirus period?” a man from Ohio asked recently.

The answer is, you can. In fact, Specialty Metals Smelters and Refiners is still ready to test and recycle precious metals for our customers. How can we be doing that? Weren’t we required by law to close down because we are a nonessential business? No, we can continue working, and working safely, for several reasons.