Wait! Do You Really Want to Scrap That Old Gold Jewelry?

Back in the late aughts, gold hit $1,000 an ounce for the first time. People all over the country attended gold parties where they could sell anything made of gold and walk away with cash in hand. Now that prices are topping $3,000 per ounce and climbing, a new wave of gold sellers will likely start pulling out all the gold they’ve had stashed away and look to sell some of it for scrap.

Parting with jewelry while prices are way up might make some sense in certain situations, but back around 2008 or so, my fellow adornment lovers and I saw lots and lots of amazing antique and vintage jewelry being melted down in the frenzy, and all the history and beauty associated with those special items literally went up in flames. The way I see it, we’re stewards of these treasures, and it’s up to each of us to safeguard jewelry as an art form.

So, before you get too carried away with the latest iteration of the modern gold rush, don’t let the lure of quick cash push you into making a decision that’ll later be cringeworthy. Take time to evaluate what you might be destroying and its value beyond the intrinsic before handing your jewelry to the smelters.

Decisions, Decisions

Ask yourself these questions as you’re contemplating what to conserve and what to scrap:

Does the jewelry have a family connection? You have your grandmother’s gold ring, but no one in the family seems to want it. Time to scrap it and cash in, right? Think twice before you do this, especially if your children are teens or twentysomethings right now. It may take a few years before the sentimentality of having a family heirloom to pass on to future generations means something to them. Once you scrap it, a priceless heirloom is gone forever.

Is there historical significance in the jewelry? We often don’t know the history of the jewelry we end up with, whether it’s a cache passed on from a family member or pieces you pick up here and there. Nevertheless, if the item isn’t marked for gold content but tests as gold, it could very well be a valuable antique piece. Some Georgian jewelry, for example, looks rather crudely made, but those pieces can sell for thousands. Other jewelry pieces might seem morbid to you, like a tiny skeleton in a casket, but it can be a valuable piece of memento mori from the 18th century. Does it have the characteristics of a significant period in design history, such as art nouveau in the styling? Make sure you thoroughly research antique and vintage jewelry before you destroy a prize steeped in history. And, of course, if you research an item and decide to hold onto it, place a note with it so anyone in your family tasked with caring for it later will know exactly what they have in hand.

Does it have a mark that would make it valuable beyond the gold content? This is an important point because overlooking a jeweler’s mark could mean melting down a piece that’s worth tens of thousands for scrap. Who would do this? Well, hopefully, no one intentionally. But if you get hasty, hoping to get that quick payday, you might overlook a tiny mark inside a ring or on a clasp denoting a jewelry house or designer brand. Sometimes these marks are stamped in the metal and partially obscured when it comes to pendants or brooches, too, so look carefully over the entire piece with a jeweler’s loupe before you decide to scrap a perfectly lovely piece of older jewelry. Sometimes, just having a well-known name associated with a piece makes it worth thousands more than the basic gold content.

Does it have signs of quality craftsmanship? This one applies to both antique and vintage pieces. Not all skilled jewelers marked their output with anything more than a fineness stamping and some very talented mid-century studio jewelers also worked in gold in addition to sterling silver. Even with run-of-the-mill styles like 1970s gold nugget jewelry and brutalist pieces many people find to be less than attractive, some are more intricately made than others. If a piece shows fine detailing or artistry beyond the ordinary—no matter how old it is—do some further investigation before selling it to a smelter.

When It’s Okay to Scrap Jewelry

Like most jewelry sellers, I keep a little baggie on hand to fill with scrap gold. These are things like misshapen rings or earrings that have seen better days and chains and brooches with broken clasps. I run across this stuff in jewelry lots or my personal gold jewelry that just gets broken or crushed from use and wear but is nothing valuable enough to warrant repairing. When gold prices peak, I get it out and cash it in—like now.

Of course, you may have some perfectly fine jewelry you’re considering scrapping, too. That’s all well and good if you have something you just want to dispose of, like a ring from an ex or a pendant that seems to attract bad luck every time you wear it. Hey, some people believe in that sort of thing, and I’m all for eliminating less-than-stellar vibes wherever possible. But if you’ve got a perfectly wearable piece of jewelry, even if it’s something you truly don’t want to hold onto anymore, do you really want to destroy it?

Unless it’s department store jewelry—hollow, lightweight gold jewelry sold by discount stores rather than jewelers—you may be able to sell your jewelry to someone who will keep it and value it for more than you’d get scrapping it anyway. Always take that into consideration and do your homework to determine the age, origin, and value before deciding the fate of any piece of gold jewelry.

Pamela Siegel is a freelance writer and author who has been educating collectors for more than two decades. In addition to three books on topics relating to antiques and collectibles, she frequently shares her expertise through online writing and articles for print-based publications. Pamela is also the co-founder of Costume Jewelry Collectors Int’l (CJCI) and the proprietor of Chic Antiques by Pamela.

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