Would You Cash In, Or Save Your Gold?

Some say it's a virtually fail safe investment, and some say it's an economic bubble.

The price of gold—and more importantly the future price of gold—has gotten a lot of important folks talking.

Forbes reported last month that China's Central bank is hoarding it.  “No asset is safe now,” PBOC’s Zhang Jianhua told the magazine in December.  “The only choice to hedge risks is to hold hard currency—gold.”

According to analyists quoted in the article, China bought twice as much gold in 2011 as they did in 2010.

Warren Buffet in a piece he authored for CNN Money, sees stocks as a better bet.

Buffet says he believes investors have flocked to gold in the hopes that even more investors will purchase gold after them, and drive the price up higher. "During the past decade that belief has proved correct," the magnate said, adding, "Beyond that, the rising price has on its own generated additional buying enthusiasm, attracting purchasers who see the rise as validating an investment thesis. As 'bandwagon' investors join any party, they create their own truth...but bubbles blown large enough inevitably pop."

An economic expert residing in Bayside, Steve Behar, who used to be an attorney for the Securities and Exchange Commission, emphatically answered "Sell!" when we asked him what his gold investment strategy would be at the moment.

The price of an ounce of gold is is at $1775, according to Monex, as of publication. That's a very useful number for traders and investors, but perhaps less useful if you're simply looking to buy or sell gold jewelry for profit. You're not gauranteed the same price as futures investors are getting when you're dealing with jewelry. In fact, you probably won't fetch the market price of the day when you trade in personal gold.

I wanted to know if a lot of Bayside families had been swapping in their old jewelry for cash. Little Neck Gold & Silver has been buying metals since 1988, and now advertises that they offer cash for gold.

When I stopped into BFJ yesterday, I asked one of the managers if that area of their business was popular within the local market. They were reticent to tell me; we'd only just met.

But Patch readers are more familiar with me, so maybe you'll share. Have any of you sold your jewelry for cash? Who do you think is getting the better end of the deal?