In one of the biggest automotive recalls in history, General Motors has informed 141,000 owners of Chevrolet Bolt electric cars that they have to bring their cars in to have their batteries replaced.

Last month the U.S. Senate passed a $1.2 billion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. As you have probably heard, this bill (also called the Invest in America Act) has something to do with recycling. But what exactly? And exactly how could it affect precious metals?

Hurricane Ida caused unprecedented losses of property and life in its recent rampage across Louisiana up through New England. We don’t know how many people also lost precious metals in the storm, but we believe that losses were probably substantial. Many of the places where people traditionally store precious metals were destroyed, including homes, garages, outbuildings, roadside self-storage facilities, and more.

Have you been so focused on recycling gold, silver and platinum scrap that you have let the value of other metals and materials slip through your fingers?

It can happen. Investors who focus on extracting gold from electronic devices are one common example. They’ll extract the gold and then toss the rest of the devices, neglecting a variety of materials that are worth something.

What are these extra materials, and what are they worth? In today’s post, we are going to find out.

Did you give your office or place a business a spring cleaning this year? If you didn’t, we would like to suggest that you give it a late-summer tidying up right now. You might discover some items that you can send to us for recycling. Depending on what you and your business do, you might be surprised to find some items like these that you can recycle for cash:

We hope you’re visiting our home page daily to check on current trading prices for your favorite precious metals. Hopefully, they are the precious metals you have invested in, and own.

But today, we would like to consider the relationship between weight and value. Because you see, certain metals are simply heavier than others. That’s another way of saying, for example, that if you have two identically sized cubes of, say, aluminum and platinum, the aluminum cube is going to weigh a lot less than the one that is made of platinum. To look at it from a different perspective, let’s say you want to make two cubes – again of aluminum and platinum – and you want them both to weigh one ounce. If you do that, the aluminum cube is going to be about four times the size of the one that is made of platinum.

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?

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.

People often call us and ask for advice on how to package and ship precious metals to us for testing and recycling. When they call us, we tell them what to do, based on our years of experience. They follow our advice, nothing goes wrong, and their gold scrap, silver scrap, platinum scrap or other precious materials arrive safely at our facility.

Because gold was cheaper in years past, it was commonly used to decorate all kinds of relatively inexpensive items that can be easy to find – and undervalued - today.

Here are some common gold-plated and gold-filled items and forms of gold scrap that are worth snapping up in today’s market.

There are many ways to enjoy financial advantages from the precious metals you own. You can have Specialty Metals Smelters and Refiners process your gold scrap, silver scrap and platinum scrap, and have us send you a check for the value of the metal they contain. But there are other ways. You can fund your IRA or other investment accounts with precious metals, donate them to your preferred charity – and the list goes on and on.

You’re bound to find old black and white photographs in nearly every junk or antique store you visit. You might find one nicely framed old photo hanging on a wall. Or you might find a cardboard box that’s chock full of prints on paper, gathering dust in a corner.

There have always been some health risks – most of them easily managed – associated with investing in precious metals. Some precious metal prospectors have tried to smelt piles of material that contained silver or gold, for example, and in the process have released noxious gases that hurt their lungs or made them feel sick. Other people have lit their garages on fire while melting of smelting metals. Other precious metal hunters have fallen down wells, gotten chased by dogs, gotten sunburned and encountered other minor health problems, but we won’t dwell on those.

The first thing you need to know about investing in gold-plated flatware is that not every piece of gold-toned flatware contains gold. That’s true because. . .

If you are a fan of the old TV sitcom Cheers, you remember what a classic role Cliff Clavin was. Cliff, who was played by the actor John Ratzenberger, was a know-it-all who either made stuff up or presented truths that nobody cared about. Usually, he preceded his revelations by saying, “Here’s a little-known fact.”

One example? Cliff once told his buddies at the bar Cheers, “2008 was the last time Ohio State lost the ninth game of its season.”

Do you have parents who are downsizing? Or are you planning to downsize your own residence? It’s an issue that seems to be on more people’s minds in the aftermath of the covid-19 crisis.

Deciding what to keep and what to part with is a very personal matter. Certain possessions, after all, have great emotional value for you that exceeds their dollar value. So perhaps the first step to take is to identify those items and set them aside if you have no intention of getting rid of them. With them “off the table,” you can focus on finding items like these, which contain precious metals, and which can be worth quite a lot.

If you live just about anywhere in our great nation today, you know that non-essential businesses have been closed during the covid-19 crisis. Those businesses have included “we buy gold” stores and other metal-related businesses such as jewelry stores and even pawnshops. Many of those non-essential enterprises are only reopening now, and you can only enter them if you are wearing a face mask and practicing social distancing.

Don’t worry. When you call us to discuss sending your precious metals to our refinery for testing and processing, we will explain what you need to do to send them safely.

The purpose of today’s post is to help you avoid some of the more common mistakes people make when sending precious metals – and valuable items of all kinds – to other people and businesses.

Over the last weeks and months, people have been logging more time at home. And many of them have been thinking up new ways to spend their time. Some have been attending exercise classes online. Others have been taking piano classes. People are discovering all kinds of new interests and enthusiasms.

You’re someone who loves to invest in precious metals. But what have you been doing to keep yourself motivated about your investments while you’ve been logging time holed up at home?

Over the last few weeks on this blog, we’ve suggested some motivational ideas that will work, whether you invest in gold scrap, platinum scrap, palladium scrap, silver scrap, or something else. We’ve suggested, for example, that you inventory your precious metals holdings, review your 2019 tax strategies, or search your home for precious metals you might have overlooked.