Buying Scrap:

You have seen the commercials: “Turn your old, unwanted, or broken gold jewelry into CASH!” Send them away in the mail and wait for the check…But now, think about how much money was spent for you to see that message. TV advertising is some of the most expensive advertising on the market. Will you REALLY get top dollar for your jewelry or silverware or gold teeth?

Oceanside Coin and Currency is consistently one of the areas highest paying gold and silver buyers in the North County area. There are no hidden secrets, fees, or magic tricks. Everything is separated, tested, weighed, and priced RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!

Below, we will explain exactly what happens when Oceanside Coin and Currency makes you an offer:

Step 1: Make an appointment with Oceanside Coin and Currency to look over your unwanted, old, or broken jewelry, silverware, dental gold etc.

Step 2: Any items that you are interested in possibly selling or having appraised can be evaluated. If there are any items you are unsure about, feel free to bring those along, too.

Step 3: Each item will be carefully sorted based on its gold content (10k, 14k, 18k, 22k, 24k, gold-filled etc), platinum content (950, 900, 800), palladium content, and silver content (925, 900, 850, 830, 800). Most items made after 1910 have some sort of marking as to the precious metal content or ‘Karat.’ We unfortunately do not buy ‘gold plated’ items, which often times have a very thin layer of gold. We do buy Gold Filled (GF, 1/10 14K, etc.) at generally the price of sterling silver due to the very low gold content of the pieces. We do buy gold “crown” teeth and palladium “crown” teeth though they are not marked and need to be tested.

Karate	Gold Content
8K	33%
10K	41%
12K	50%
14K	58%
18K	75%
22K	91%
24K	100%

The ‘Karat’ marking on the inside of a wedding band for example determines the purity of the gold in the item.
Pure gold is 24K, however due to its softness, most jewelry is hardened with a foreign metal allowing it to withstand use.
Above is a chart of all of the percentages of gold based on the karat.

To determine these percentages, divide the karat number by 24.
i.e. 14K would be “14 divided by 24″
or .585 which means the gold is 58.5% pure.
We separate your jewelry based on its karat

Step 4: Some items, such as custom-made items, resized rings, items from other countries, or antique items older than 1910, may not have a marking. Oceanside Coin and Currency will use electronic gold testers that use electronic resistance to determine the karat value of any items in question. This machine can also determine if an item is gold plated. We also use heavy industrial magnets to help find plated or mis-marked items. We can also use acids to help determine the carat of your precious metals.

Step 5: We use current New York precious metals Buy prices through Kitco that are calculated every second. Gold, silver, platinum, and palladium are traded in a similar fashion to tradition stocks.

Step 6: Based on the current precious metal Buy prices, the purity or ‘karat’ the items, and the weight of your items, we determine the value of your jewelry. We pay at least 75% of ‘melt value’ (calculated using the price of gold, karat & weight) of your items. We make you an offer for each piece you are interested in selling. Why do we pay only 75%? We have to hold the items for 30-days which is California State Law in case the items are stolen.  You get paid immediately but we have to wait 30-days before we can do anything with your jewelry and run the risk of an item being potentially stolen and thus having to forfeit the item to the police.  We also run the risk of the metals market going up and down and we have lost the utility of the money we paid you.

Step 7: You decide what items you would like to sell. We are not on commission. We will never pressure you to sell your items as we have plenty of business.

Step 8: After filling out state forms that get reported to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office, you get paid for your items RIGHT AWAY!

Please note: You MUST have a valid state issued ID, Driver’s License, Military ID or Passport. Our store policies do NOT allow us to purchase items from anyone under the age of 18 years old and/or without a valid government issued ID.