As with all investments, gold prices fluctuate from year to year,
and decade to decade. The price of Gold is currently at an all time
high, so it may be the time to sell if you have a lot of jewelry odds
and ends. Since the price of gold fluctuates up and down from decade
to decade, it may not get this high again for another 20-30 years,
after it starts to decline.

Before you decide to sell there are a few things you should know.
When you sell gold, you are paid per troy ounce, a little less
than a regular ounce. 24 Carat is pure gold.

If you have 14 carat or 10 carat gold you will get a fraction of
the price paid for pure gold. Most jewelry is 14 carat gold.

If you have gems attached to your gold, that is, precious gems,
zircona, or diamonds you will not get paid for that if the dealer
is only buying gold. Only the gold portion is of interest to the
dealer, they will melt it down to make new jewelry or sell it.
If there are valuable gems on your jewelry, remove them so they
can be remounted or sold.

If your gold jewelry was made in a complicated time-consuming way
the jewelry may be worth more as jewelry than melted gold. You
may be able to auction or sell your jewelry elsewhere.

Look up today’s current price per ounce of gold before selling
your gold. Remember that you will not get paid for 24 carat
gold if you do not have 24 carat gold. The open market price
listed for gold usually means it is for 24 carat gold. Weigh
your gold before going to sell it so you will have a general
idea of the price you can get. Currently, March 9, 2010, the price
of gold is $1,122 US per ounce. As time goes on, and the economy
moves in a different direction, gold prices will go down and
may stay down for another 20 years, so be cautious about buying
gold as an investment, at these prices.

You will receive the best price in a jewelry store and the
worst price with mail in. Mail in only pays about 10-20 percent
of the true value. Try several jewelry stores to see who will
give you the most money before you decide to sell.

Lois Center-Shabazz
Personal finance author