What are the best places to look for precious metals you can recycle for the highest return?

In answer to that question, most precious metal investors think first of gold and gold-plated jewelry, of scrap from industries that use gold and platinum in the products they make, and of hard-to-collect aerospace scrap.

It’s easy to junk a car. You call a local company that runs ads that say, “We buy cars” and they come and tow your car away.

Yes, that’s easy. But if you dispose of your old car that way, chances are good you will be giving away gold, silver and other valuable materials that can be worth $100.00 or more. So . . . pull them out before you junk that car and talk to us about recycling them.

When you are making any investment – in gold, silver, platinum, or anything else – will you be able to sell it? And will you be able to sell it for the most money possible?

Your ability to sell an investment and to sell it for a good price are defined as liquidity.

Here are two stories that show that liquidity is a more critical consideration than you might realize.

Don’t Forget to Check Out Pawn Shops!

On this blog, we have often advised our readers to go hunting for jewelry and precious metal scrap at factories, in jewelry stores, and at estate sales. Today, we would like to discuss another source that might not be on your radar . . .

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.

With Hispanic Heritage Month taking place now, it seems like a good time to ask how much gold has been mined in Latin America over the past centuries.

To be sure, there is a long, fabled and strong historical link between gold and Latin America. Back in the 16th Century, Spanish monarchs became obsessed with the idea that there were as many as seven cities in South America that were made of gold. They even believed that there was an emperor named El Dorado, who was clothed with golden garments and ruled these cities. So in 1540, Spain sent an explorer named Francisco Vázquez de Coronado to the New World, where he searched in vain for these golden cities.

At Specialty Metals Smelters and Refiners, we are in the business of making it as easy as possible for you to determine the value of precious metals and precious metal jewelry, be it karat gold, silver, platinum and even palladium and rhodium. If you send any item made of precious metals to us, our lab technicians can quickly determine what it is made of and tell you its value at current trading prices.

If you’re about to fly across international borders and go through customs when you land, how much gold can you carry with you?

Fake gold bullion bars and coins look like the real things. 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 and more people are being conned into buying them.

Some recent news . . .

What is the most powerful small metal detecting tool you can carry in your pocket? It’s your smartphone.

Only five or six years ago, we would have advised you to carry a small digital camera with you on your prospecting adventures. Now that is no longer necessary, thanks to the powerful cameras that are now built into phones.

But there are many more apps you should install on your phone, if you haven’t already, including:

What is the safest and most profitable way to profit from investing in precious metals?

It is to invest in scrap and have us extract the gold, platinum and silver it contains. Why is this the safest and most reliable way to make money in precious metals?

Let’s review some of the reasons . . .

. . . But Here’s Why You Should Carry One Anyway

Gold, platinum, and silver are the three precious metals that we write about most often on this blog. And as you know, a magnet will not be attracted to them. Why? Because they do not contain iron, which attracts a magnet. That’s another way of saying, gold, platinum, and silver are non-ferrous metals. (“Ferrous” means that they contain iron.)

There is a story behind every business that closes and liquidates its fixtures, equipment, supplies and assets. Sometimes the story is sad because a business failed. Sometimes it was in an industry that was no longer profitable. Sometimes the owner retired, and that is not a sad story.

When an armored delivery truck was robbed near Los Angeles on July 11, 2022, thieves got away with jewelry that was estimated to be worth more than $10 million. The truck was on its way to an event in Pasadena and somehow, thieves got the jump on the driver.

According to news reports, the jewelry was owned by a number of businesses and individuals. Brinks, the operator of the armored car that was robbed, has promised to repay all the owners. And given the excellent reputation that Brinks enjoys, we are sure the company will.

Industrial catalysts are substances – often metallic powders or screens that are used in industry to speed up, start, or facilitate chemical reactions. Catalysts also are sometimes used to lower the amount of energy that is consumed by chemical processes.

Absorbent materials are another form catalysts can take. They are chemicals that are used to absorb and remove certain chemicals from compounds where they are found. For example, BASF makes a variety of products that absorb and remove impurities from natural gas before it is distributed to consumers. They are catalysts of a special kind.

The 2021 Annual Crime Report published by the Jewelers’ Security Alliance, a nonprofit trade organization, is a free downloadable report that we all need to read. At least, everyone who is involved with jewelry or precious metals should download and read it. It reveals, in depth, exactly where jewelry-related crimes are taking place. Also, it explains how many of those crimes are happening, and whether those crimes are becoming more or less frequent.

If you take a look at your computer and work area, you will notice a major trend that has changed just about everything about the way you work, store data, use software, store videos and pictures, and more . . .

Most of what you do is now taking place on the cloud, not on your computer and local storage devices

While you’ve been driving around recently, you have certainly noticed a growing number of electric cars on the road. Yes, Teslas and other electric cars are gaining market share against gas-powered cars. But how soon will it be until gas-powered vehicles disappear?

As precious metal investors, we need to watch this trend, which will shape both the availability and the demand for different precious metals:

When you’re poking around an antique mall one day, you see a display of jewelry – rings, pins and other small items. All the pins and rings and other items you see are bright and shiny, except one. It’s a small cross on a chain, and it looks dull, chalky gray and tarnished.

So what are your eyes telling you? They are telling you that that cross is made of silver, while the other items on display are not. You see, silver tarnishes, while gold, platinum, titanium and other metals that are commonly used to make jewelry do not.

We just read a terrific article, “50 Metal Detecting Tips that Find Gold,” on the Discover Detecting blog. It’s jam-packed with great advice on how to use a metal detector to find much more gold on every outing you make.

Whether you’re new to metal detecting or an experienced user, you will want to read this article, which contains advice from experts who really know the ins and outs of using detectors. Here are some of the tips and insights from the post – some of them unusual – that can dramatically improve your experience as a user of a detector.