Gold, silver remain popular among buyers

Coins have always been a good investment, and these days people are buying them up for not just their value, but for their metal content, according to Mike Mouret with Nashville Coin and Currency in Brentwood.

“Even though the prices of gold and silver are relatively high right now, the most popular items are those that sell for close to just their metal content,” he said. “‘Bullion’ items are ones that people buy for their intrinsic metal value only.”

He said that in the U.S., most collectors prefer U.S. coins. However, on the world scene, coins from other nations are popular.

“With their expanding population and collector base, coins and sets from China are in high demand,” he said. “Gold is high and silver is up there, as well.”

He said that even though the stock market is reaching all-time highs, that doesn’t usually affect the price of gold and silver.

“Many people buy gold and silver to diversify their stock and bond portfolios,” he said. “In the past few years, though, we have seen both the stock market and gold markets rise together as large funds find themselves holding cash and looking to place it somewhere seeking a good return”

Gold and silver are the oldest forms of money, sot hey continue to be popular among those who collect and those who don’t.

“Gold has a nearly three-thousand year track record of being valuable,” he said. “Coin and currency collecting represents history and many people relate to that. Nowadays, many people buy gold and silver even though they are not collectors in the traditional sense. They buy gold and silver to hedge against calamity and uncertainty in today’s world.”

He said over the past five years, they have purchased more than they have sold locally.

“But, ever since the Presidential election in November, we have seen a huge rise in the number of people buying gold and silver as precious metals,” he said. “People are buying today to defend their wealth against a government that appears to have gone wild printing paper dollars.

“As more paper dollars are printed, it makes the existing paper dollars worth less and less in purchasing power. Gold is not really any rarer than it was four years ago, but our dollars have dropped in value, therefore taking more of those weak doll ars to buy that same ounce of gold.”

He said many people buy gold and silver, expecting the value to rise in the future.

“The primary reason that they purchase gold and silver is for ‘wealth insurance,” he said. “They are more looking to preserve their existing wealth and asset value, than they are looking for a quick profit. Many people who buy precious metals today, do not plan to sell if the market goes up. It is a buy and hold mentality to maintain the purchasing power of their money.”

Some of the more popular items to sell are “broken or unwanted gold, silver and platinum jewelry, sets of sterling silver flatware and tableware, and items or collections of coins that they have inherited from love ones who were collectors.”

Nowadays, people are not entertaining like they used to and, therefore, are selling their formal silver pieces, he noted.

“Sterling flatware is high maintenance to keep it looking beautiful, and many people are choosing to forgo that effort of storing, polishing, storing and polishing.”

He said although the name of the store is Nashville Coin and Currency, they do buy and sell more.

“People think of us for all rare and collectible coins and paper currency since that is our specialty, but we are also very strong buyers of old gold and silver jewelry since we are an end-user of the actual metals,” he said.

“We buy sterling silver flatware by pattern and not just by weight to melt. And we also buy civil war era maps and documents, relics, antique bottles and the like. We have purchased politcal and music celebrity memorabilia, presidential autographs, antique weapons, and even an occasional meteorite or two. It’s a really fun business to be in, and I’ve been blessed to make a living at it for 30 years now.”

He added that there is a need for consumer protection against the “potential for misrepresentation in our industry. Since the prices of gold and silver have risen so dramatically over the past few years, many new ‘we buy gold’ places have sprung up, and there is no regulation of pricing in our industry.

“When selling precious metals, it is important to compare prices of what you will receive for your items. Some buyers may offer 40 percent to 60 percent of what the market value is, so consumers should clearly understand what they have, and what it is worth. Clearly detailed, written estimates should be obtained from the prospective buyer so you can compare apples-to-apples pricing, and make an informed decision from there.”

Nashville Coin and Currency is located at 7003 Chadwick Drive, Ste. 154 in Brentwood. For more information, call (615) 377-4949 or visit www.nashvillecoin.com.

By Angie Mayes/Staff writer