Month: November 2021

Closing the Golden Circle by Recycling

Since people began mining for gold thousands of years ago, it was understood that gold could be recycled in one way or another. With COP26 reiterating the importance of sustainability in all aspects of life, recycling gold is not just a passing fad, but could be a solution to help reduce carbon emissions worldwide. 

A gold cycle 

One of the biggest drivers for selling gold is often because gold prices are so high. At Cash for Your Gold, we have seen gold resting close to all-time highs in recent years, so the reason for selling is clear. However, something which also comes at a high price is the methods used by the industry which sources much of the world’s gold. The cost comes not just out of pockets but is an environmental toll. Just one troy ounce of gold produced emits almost a tonne of CO2e. 

Add to that the quantities of toxic waste dumped just to produce such a small amount of gold, and you realise the scale of the issue. Alternatively, by selling scrap gold, you help increase supply and reduce the need for having to mine more gold out of the ground. Not only do you benefit financially from selling, but you reduce the demand for more mining. Unlike some commodities, gold isn’t consumed and irretrievably lost in the process, and so demand dynamics are different. 

If needs can be met with existing supplies through recycling, we can move closer to a world with lower emissions and fewer harmful chemicals released into the environment. There are signs that recycling is already a popular habit in the gold markets: 28 per cent of all gold supplies came directly from recycling alone in 2020. Imagine how much better things could be if we recycled more. 

Selling with Cash for Your Gold 

At Cash for Your Gold, we know the different shapes gold can take in the path towards being sold and recycled. Gold fillings, old coinage or jewellery, or even a bullion bar. One of gold’s best attributes is its longevity: it hardly oxidises, so no matter how long you’ve held some gold for, it will have kept its shine over the years and can be melted down easily into something brand new. 

We accept items made from not only high-purity gold, but also gold alloys such as white and rose gold. With prices as high as they are currently, demand is high and by selling today, you could help meet that demand with gold which could be recycled. In this way, your gold can become greener and help us all keep emissions down as we enter an era in which carbon neutrality is the ultimate goal. 

To learn more about selling gold and how to recycle it today, why not get in touch with us? Cash for Your Gold has facilitated sales of scrap gold for a number of years and will be happy to help with your enquiry. 

Copyright: bashta

What is Your Silver Coin Worth?

Silver coins are some of the most popular items for sellers to post off to Cash for Your Gold, but you need to know what you’re sitting on before considering selling silver coins. Not all of them were minted the same, and as you will discover, this can have a substantial impact on purity and overall value. 

Pure history 

If you want to know how far back silver coinage in the UK goes, you have to open history books and look to the Middle Ages. In those days, silver coins were often minted using the highest purity of the metal available, but this had its drawbacks. Pure silver is easily damaged and suffers from wear and tear, meaning mints had to start reducing purity gradually to make coins more durable in the long term. As a result, for much of English history, you would expect high-purity silver coins to consist of 92.5 per cent silver and the remainder would be made up in copper. 

This gave such coins 925 purity status, highly respectable, yielding prices at the higher end of the range. For centuries, legal tender was struck in this way, with various kings and queens ruling with coins bearing their image, with this silvery coinage produced along the way. However, it was all change in 1920, when rising prices forced a fundamental rethink in how silver coinage was produced. From 1920, purity was reduced to 50 per cent silver, with manganese and lower traces of other metals, to keep coins strong but somewhat silver-based. 

By 1947, silver was removed from virtually all coinage, severing a link to the country’s past. Modern coinage which has that silvery appearance might give you the feeling that silver has made a return, but don’t let it fool you: modern coins are typically nickel-plated steel. While the pre-1920 vintage of silver coins are as close to pure silver as you can hope to get, standard modern silvery coins in your pocket are best left as spare change rather than something worth selling. 

Selling silver coins 

As mentioned, purity of silver coinage dropped off from 925 to 500 between the pre-1920 era up until 1947. As with all precious metals, the higher the purity, the higher the price your items are expected to attract. If you wish to sell modern silver coinage, it’s likely to stem from specialist mints rather than modern legal tender. For example, a single gram of 925 purity silver would attract a price of 44p, whereas a gram of 500 purity silver drops the price down to 24p. 

While gold coins are of higher value individually, silver coinage is best when sold in bulk. If you have a good idea about the coin’s purity, it’s possible to get a near-instant free valuation from Cash for Your Gold, using our scrap calculator, which can be found on our homepage. It pays to keep an eye on silver prices first, just to make sure the price is right to ensure maximum returns when you do decide to make that sale with us. Our Live Silver chart keeps you posted about the twists and turns in the silver market. 

It can be tricky to assess the precise worth of coinage without an expert’s eye to take a look, which is why Cash for Your Gold is always happy to help. If you wish to make a sale or learn more about your coinage, give us a call on 01902 623 253.