As you have noticed, spring has sprung. That means that it is the official time of year to clean your house – and to clean out all kinds of unwanted stuff you have accumulated since, well, last spring!

And we have a suggestion for a way to not only clean out your home, but to make some money doing it and possibly do some good in your community . . .

“You shouldn’t just toss your old iPhone,” a friend tells you, “it contains a lot of gold.”

Your friend isn’t kidding you, because your iPhone does contain gold. But he or she is stretching the truth, because although your old iPhone does contain gold that can be reclaimed, it doesn’t contain a lot of gold. It only contains a little.

So how much? In today’s post we will answer that question, along with others that are probably on your mind. Let’s dive right in.

Hunting for precious metals often involves looking for small items. You get lucky when you find a gold tuxedo shirt stud in a jewelry box. Or you find a sterling silver spoon at an antique store, mixed in alongside less valuable items of tableware, and buy it for just a dollar or two.

People think about more than corned beef and cabbage on Saint Patrick’s Day. Many communities hold parades. People think about wearing green clothing. They think about the fact that Saint Patrick, according to legend, drove all the snakes out of Ireland. Some people even think about Leprechauns, but only occasionally, because they are too busy eating corned beef and cabbage. Many people think about pots of gold that can be found at the point where rainbows touch Earth.

You can’t hit a homerun or score a touchdown if you are sitting on the sidelines. You have to get in the game.

The same can be said for making money by investing in precious metals. You will never make money as an investor if you never stand up and get started. Also, you will never make a sizable return on your investment if you only make small investments that never take you a little bit outside your comfort level.

So at the risk of asking you a personal question in today’s blog post, may we ask . . .

Sometimes it is hard to resist climbing into a dumpster and looking around. Who could resist dumpsters that look like these?

For some reason we don’t quite understand, some people who invest in precious metals think it is smart to hide them where no one will ever find them.

The question is, why is it smart to hide precious metals and conceal all the clues to where they are? If you do that, you are only inviting a lot of problems. If you pass away or become incapacitated, your heirs:

If you’ve been reading our blog, you know that you can reclaim gold from old cellphones and remotes. You also know that you can recycle the silver that is found in old knives, forks, and spoons.

But did you know that you can recycle gold and silver from the following sources too? They don’t contain much gold or silver but – as is always the case in recycling – if you can collect very large quantities of them and send them to us for testing and processing, they can be worth the time and trouble.

Ready? Here are some sources of gold and silver scrap you probably don’t know about.

What Will You Find Closer to Home?

Metal detector enthusiasts have recently found astonishing treasures buried in the British Isles. Last December, a retired police officer who was exploring on the Isle of Man found a cache of Viking-era jewelry that contained a gold arm ring, a silver brooch and other items that were apparently hidden 1,000 years ago.

April 15th coming up soon and it is time to start thinking about taxes.

By the way, the deadline for filing our federal taxes in 2021 is April 15th. You might remember that in 2020, the filing deadline was extended until July 15th, because of Covid-19. But this year the filing deadline is again April 15th unless (of course) you file for an extension.

What’s in Your Toolbox?

We have written blog posts in the past about metal detectors, drones, and other equipment that can help you locate gold, silver, and other precious metals outdoors. But what tools and equipment should you have on hand when you go looking for precious metals indoors? Let’s say, for example, that you are going to comb through an old jewelry factory, welding shop, or other building that is soon to be demolished or sold?

In January 2021, a gold coin that bore the image of Oliver Cromwell sold at a British auction for about $650,000.00. How much gold did it contain? We are not certain, but chances are the gold in the coin was worth only a fraction of what the coin sold for.

Why did that coin command such a high price? There are reasons . . .

“I recently bought a three-story mixed-use commercial building in my home town. The building is about 50 years old. There had been a coffee bar on the ground floor. A CPA and a title company had occupied the two upper floors. I’m about to renovate and I’m wondering if you can tell me someplace I might not know about where I should look for gold scrap, platinum scrap and silver. Thanks for opening my eyes to possibilities I might not know about.”

It’s a good idea to collect large quantities of little smartphones that were made in the last five years – batches of 50, 100 or more – and send them to us to be recycled. The same is true for remotes. But let’s face realities. In order to make a good return on having us recycle them for you, you need a lot of them.

We have written before about burning materials or exposing them to very high heat, as a way to extract the gold, silver, platinum, and other metals they contain. Today, let’s review and also tell you about some additional materials that can be processed in this way by a qualified precious metals refinery like ours.

We don’t enjoy seeing any businesses fail, even companies that are competing with us. When business is good for one company, it is good for all of us. So we certainly haven’t been enjoying the fact that a number of small businesses have suffered, and sometimes closed, during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A lot of people buy metal detectors, take them out to the beach once or twice, then stick them in a closet or a garage because they didn’t find anything. In our informed opinion, that is a mistake.

Here are some common misunderstandings about metal detectors that could actually be robbing you of the dollars you and your detector could be making every day you head outdoors to do some hunting.

You inherited a big box of silver tableware a few years ago. You stuck it on a shelf for the last two years and then, when you pulled it out last week and looked at it, you discovered it had tarnished.

Ouch! That beautiful, shiny old silver was gray and oxidized-looking – ugly! But at the same time you were looking at it and feeling disappointed, a number of questions began to race through your mind. Let’s consider what those questions might have been and answer them.

Let’s say you have a gold wedding ring that you would like to sell or recycle. Let’s also say it weighs 10 grams, which is pretty typical. So how much gold is in it, and what is it worth?

The first question to answer is, how much pure, 24K gold does it contain? (The 24K designation means pure gold.) Here things get a little complicated and require some calculation. But here’s what you need to know . . .

The year 2020 was not a very good year in a lot of ways. But it was quite a good year for people who invest in precious metals and precious metal scrap, because trading prices for precious metals have remained strong or have risen. Also, a growing number of investors have discovered that precious metals offer a type of investment that is sound, even in difficult economic times.