Avoid These Five Precious Metal Investments that Lure Unwise Investors

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Written By Barry Lenson

Here at Specialty Metals, we are big fans of precious metals. Why? Because we have had the privilege of helping customers realize remarkable profits by reclaiming gold, silver, and platinum from precious metal scrap of all kinds.

Yes, we are enthusiastic about investing in precious metals. But our enthusiasm stops short when we hear from clients who have gotten carried away and bought precious metal items and scrap that they shouldn’t have.

Here are some categories of precious metal items that are unwise investments because they promise very little, if any, return on the dollars invested.

Unwise Investment: “Platinum” Jewelry that Isn’t Made of Platinum

You would be surprised to hear that investors sometimes get carried away and buy items that they believe are made of platinum, but which are really made of other white metals like silver or even pewter.

Your defense: Before investing, send white metal items to our testing labs if you can. We can quickly tell you whether the item in question is made of platinum or something else.

Unwise Investment: Counterfeit Bullion and Coins

We recently wrote about fake coins and bullion bars, which seem to be flooding the market now. Fake gold bullion bars and coins look like the real thing. Because they are covered with real gold, they can pass tests done with gold testing kits, and can fool experts. And according to a growing number of news reports, more people are being conned into buying them.

Your defense: Buy only from reputable, well-established dealers that will let you return what you have purchased. And call our consultants at 800-426-2344. These items are small. You can send them to our labs for rapid testing, so you will know before you buy whether the items you are considering are genuine or not.

Unwise Investment: Bushel Baskets full of Electronic Scrap

Selling overvalued batches of electronic scrap has become something of a racket recently. How does it work? Dishonest sellers purchase large quantities of printed circuit boards, put them into a bin or a box, and sell them online. The problem is, most scrap of this kind is made of plastic, not silver or gold. (If you know what you are doing and retrieve motherboards and other circuit boards from computers, you stand a much better chance of making money by recycling electronics.)

Your defense: Avoid buying big batches of mixed electronic scrap from potentially unreliable sources you do not know. Stick with recycling electronics yourself by scrapping old computers, phones, and other electronic devices. Then send the scrap you have collected to Specialty Metals Smelters for testing and evaluation.

Unwise Investment: Big Batches of Silverplate Tableware

You can find such collections at yard sales, estate sales, and for sale online. The problem is that to the untrained eye, silverplated silverware looks just like sterling silver, which contains much more silver and is worth far more. Most silver-plated tableware, in contrast, is next to worthless.

Your defense: Avoid buying batches of tableware, which are worth little. Concentrate instead on buying a few pieces that are stamped with hallmarks indicating that they are made of sterling, not silverplate.

Unwise Investment: Bins and Boxes of Empty “Catalytic Converters”

If you have a “rare opportunity” to buy a big batch of items that are presented as catalytic converters, don’t do it. It is almost certain that any platinum they once contained has already been removed by the crook who is trying to sell the batch to you. Also if the items you are looking at really contained platinum, why didn’t that crook claim that precious metal instead of selling the scrap to you and letting you profit from it? It just doesn’t make any sense . . . so please have more sense yourself and pick wiser investments.

Your defense: Stay away from investing in catalytic converters. Genuine units that contain platinum are almost always being recycled by muffler and car repair shops, not sold to “man in the street” investors like you and me.

Invest with Caution . . . But Do Invest!

We urge you to spend time reading this blog and identifying forms of precious metal scrap that make much better investments that the ones we have written about in today’s blog.

And when you make those investments, call our precious metal refiners at 800-426-2344. We are here to assess your scrap and extract the precious metals it contains.

Barry Lenson
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