Created: 10/29/2009 10:46:15 AM 
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Go ahead and admit it. You have a little stash of something, a necklace or a ring that are old or broken.
It all usually sits at the bottom of a jewelry box. Prima Regaspi just cleaned out hers and found a few pieces of gold she forgot she had. "I was cleaning. I found pieces broken, outdated. I said, let me take this to a jeweler and see what I'm gonna get for it," said Regaspi. The market to sell gold is a golden opportunity right now. The price for a single ounce has set records recently. CLICK HERE to go to our webpage dedicated to selling your gold. Jewelers want to buy up what you don't want. Regaspi brought her two broken necklaces, one earring and a couple of rings to be appraised. "I said, 'are you kidding me.' They said 'yeah.'" Investigators from First Coast News decided to see what they could get. They took a class ring, another ring with a stone, an old engagement ring, two bracelets and a chain with a cross to Underwood's and Miriam's in San Marco. "I cleaned a small section of each piece. I looked at it under the microscope," says Michael Richards of Underwood Jewelers. "$610 would be a fair price. Less than that would not be the best value for you," Richards said. The quote included everything but the old engagement ring. Underwood's said the engagement ring could be worth a couple hundred dollars, but the store does not buy that kind of ring for scrap gold. Miriam Alexander, of Miriam's, weighed and examined the jewelry, too. For the 20 grams of 10k gold and 60.2 grams of 14k gold, "I have a total of $1,140," said Alexander. There are several reasons for the difference. Underwood's did not want the old engagement ring, Miriam's did. Underwood's also does not melt its own gold. It pays someone else to do it. "We are a mom-and-pop store here, and we are not hiring people out to buy our gold. So, therefore we are going to pay higher prices," said Alexander. Once we set the price range, we sent a First Coast News employee undercover to 11 different jewelry stores and pawn shops. The price of gold was hovering around the $1,040 mark on a day when we made stops in Fernandina Beach, Jacksonville and St. Augustine. At the Gold Exchange, we were offered $638 for everything. Beards quotes $850, Value Pawn, $650. Elias' Jewelry offered $700 in cash. The lowest bid came from Florida Cash and Pawn for $500. The highest was Hemming Plaza Jewelers, offering $964. "Go to someone you trust. There are so many ways an unfair price could be arrived at," said Richards. The experts say before you made the final deal, always shop around. Always know the price of gold; it can fluctuate throughout the day depending on the stock market. Also, try and weigh gold beforehand so you know what you have. Make sure to find out if the store melts its own gold, which can affect the quote. "We have to fill out a lot of forms and fingerprint. That's for the police department," said Alexander. If a store doesn't ask to fill out forms or get fingerprints, beware. "I did a couple of forms. They took my fingerprints. It was fast. They gave me a check," said Regaspi. And $1,400 later, "I was happy." That "old" gold turned into some "new" cash for her to spend. To avoid getting shortchanged, do some homework first, using an online Precious Metal Calculator. CLICK HERE for one we like. To use, fill in the weight of your gold, silver, platinum, palladium, or rhodium and the currency you want to cash it in for, then click "Calculate Value." You get the current going price. You can even figure out the dealer's markup. U.S. Gold Buyers, Inc. also provides valuable tips to help consumers avoid getting ripped off.
to go to our webpage dedicated to selling your gold.
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