The period of Covid-19 has been a year of doom and gloom – and with good reason. But now that the end is in sight, opportunities are increasing for precious metal investors.

So let’s throw off the gloom and feel optimistic. We are certain that the coming years will offer great opportunities because the following trends are at work. All of them lead to the conclusion that increasing demand for gold, silver and platinum will drive prices upward in the coming years. And as prices rise, your investments in precious metals will pay you a bigger return.

At Specialty Metals Smelters and Refiners, we are all about recycling gold scrap, silver scrap, and platinum scrap too.

But for our post today, we are stepping a bit out of our zone and writing about non-precious metals that you can recycle for money. (Certainly not as much money as you will get when you recycle gold, silver, and platinum but hey, money is money.)

“I am about to build a new mixed-use building in a suburb of a major city,” a real estate developer asked us recently. “But before I build, I have to knock down an older wooden Victorian house on the site. Should I knock the house down and then sift through the rubble looking for hidden treasure and valuables, or would it be better to look through the house while it is still standing? Which approach makes it easier to find any treasures that previous owners might have hidden or left behind?”

Are you trying to figure out how much gold, silver, platinum, or other metal is contained in a small metal item you have found – a button, a little pyramid, or maybe a charm or a religious medal?

In most cases, getting a bead on how much precious metal you have is simple. You just weigh it!

What was your preferred way of selling precious metal items and precious metal scrap a few years ago – before the pandemic struck?

Some people took their gold, silver and (in some instances) platinum items to one of those “we buy gold” stores that were doing business in their towns and on nearby highways. Other people took items to jewelry stores and sold small pieces of jewelry to them. Still other people went to pawn shops. And of course there were people who called us up at 800-426-2344 and sent their scrap to us for testing and recycling.

No matter what you invest in, you are probably worried about something. If you have money in stocks, how are the companies faring that you have invested in? If you invest in art, have the kind of items you have invested in been increasing in value, or going down? And if you invest in collectible cars and own a 1957 Thunderbird (just one possible investment), how much did a similar car sell for at auction last month?

It’s no secret that the Covid-19 pandemic is on the way out! Like you, we are extremely grateful to hear that wonderful news.

But the pandemic has left so much sadness behind. The saddest part of it all is that so many of us have lost loved ones who can never be replaced. And there are other sad results too. One is that many of us have lost jobs. Still others of us have seen our businesses suffer or even close.

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.

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.”

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.