As you have probably noticed, since the crash of 2008, tens of thousands of cash-for-gold businesses have sprung up all over the country.
You’ll find them in most malls, and online. In fact, last time I went to my local dry cleaners, they had put a cash-for-gold sign in their window.
It makes sense, because when people felt the pain of the crash, they needed to get their hands on some money. And they got that money by going through their drawers at home, finding old gold jewelry items they no longer wanted, and took them down their local cash-for-gold store.
Most people weren’t making a fortune this way, but many walked away with a few hundred dollars in their pockets.
However, there is also a dark side to the arrival of all of these stores.
Put simply, there has been a significant increase in home burglaries, with thieves specifically looking for gold.
Thieves are seeking out gold for two reasons.
One, the price of gold has never been higher. So they are getting a very nice return on what they steal. Also, stealing gold and stuffing it in your pocket is a lot easier and safer than walking out of someone’s home with a giant flat-screen TV.
Two, thanks to all those new cash-for-gold stores, it has also never been easier to convert stolen gold jewelry into cash.
Thieves no longer have to risk going to their neighborhood fence. Instead, they just walk into one of these many stores. The whole thing appears to be completely legitimate. They say they have some old jewelry they want to sell, and the store owner has no way of knowing that it’s stolen.
This situation has got so bad that in some jurisdictions, state and local governments are requiring that everyone who comes in to sell has to have their photo take, along with a photo of the items they are selling. This way, police have a better chance of identifying stolen items, and the people who tried to sell them.
What does this mean to us, as owners of gold?
It means we need to ramp up our security – not only for our gold bullion coins, but also for items of gold jewelry.
If you have read our page about storing gold, you’re aware of the various options when it comes to keeping your gold secure.
Above all, with more and more thieves targeting private homes, be sure that if you store your gold at home, you keep it in a safe which is out of sight and very hard to find.
Our favorite is an in-floor safe, buried in concrete. Impossible to remove, and easy to hide.
Just be aware that your gold is more at risk today than it was just a few years ago. And take steps to protect yourself.