Traveling “we buy gold” tables: why the hotel ballroom is not your shop
The banner is rented. The testers may be fine. The bid is built to leave town on Sunday. A shop…
Read →Articles
The public coin and money library, plus dealer guides — what people bring to a shop, how money works, and how shops run.
Start in the library · Coin history · Visitors · SpotPro for dealers
Junk silver vs Silver Eagles vs bars: what you actually have
Three ways to hold silver. Three bids. Eagles are easy. Bars depend on the stamp. Junk is a formula. Do…
Read →
90% silver, 40% silver, and war nickels: junk silver in English
US dimes, quarters, and halves before 1965 are 90%. Some 40% halves exist. War nickels are a different trick. Face…
Read →
Sterling vs silver plate: the magnet is not the whole test
Sterling is 92.5% silver. Plate is a skin on something else. Flatware drawers are where estates go to get their…
Read →
Gold filled, gold plated, and solid gold: they are not cousins
Plated is paint. Filled is a thicker skin. Solid is the metal. Shops see all three every day. The stamp…
Read →
Karat vs fineness: what 10k, 14k, 18k, and 22k actually mean
24k is the whole pie. 14k is a little more than half gold. The stamp is a claim. The test…
Read →
Why the buy price and the sell price are different
The gap is the shop. Rent, cash, risk, testing, and the fact they have to still be here tomorrow. Spot…
Read →
Appraisal vs cash bid: they are not the same number
Insurance wants replacement. You want a check today. Those are different jobs. A shop that mixes them up is either…
Read →
Why shops weigh and test jewelry in front of you
The scale and the acid are not theater. They are how both sides stay honest. If they take it in…
Read →