Media Skepticism Meets The Gold Market Again

Not for gold buying, but for gold selling. A Boston Globe investigative report on several cash-for-gold companies using some pre-appraised earrings went like this:

First, an independent gold coin dealer - Miles Coggan, a rare coin and precious metals specialist who co-owns JJ Teaparty in Downtown Crossing - was asked to estimate the actual value of the gold in the earrings. His finding: $14.65 a pair.

The Globe then sent a pair of earrings to each of two mail-in cash-for-gold companies, and awaited a check for their value. The third pair was taken to a jewelry shop and, later, to a mall kiosk that buys jewelry.

So what did the earrings fetch on the gold buying market? Between $3 and $7.

Cash4Gold offered the lowest amount, but a spokesperson defended the company by saying the price was low in the case of the earrings because of mailing costs. That company's name is not unknown to the Better Business Bureau's complaints department.


It's a bit of a change for the MSM-gold beat - and the campaign's not inconsistent with advice to not sell your gold at all.