As Gold Prices Skyrocket, Americans Look to Cash In on Family Heirlooms

The price of gold has Americans rushing to their attics and closets in hopes of cashing in.

It’s a form of 21st Century Gold Rush, in which consumers rummage through their family heirlooms, pulling golden items out of boxes. More Americans have been trading gold for cash as the price of the precious metal has surged, according to managers of jewelry shops and refineries that purify and reformulate gold for reuse or sale on commodity markets.

“People are coming in that weren’t thinking about it before,” said David Iskhakov, who owns Exclusive Jewelers in downtown Manhattan with his brother. “They’re coming in with their grandparents’ stuff, with inherited stuff, with birthday stuff, ex-boyfriends’ stuff… odds and ends, broken jewelry.”

Exclusive Jewelers is buying twice the volume of gold it did a year earlier, said Iskhakov, whose business buys, sells, repairs and designs jewelry. Coin dealers and people with gold items are coming in more frequently at W.E. Mowrey Refining Co., a precious metal dealership and refinery in St. Paul, Minn., general manager Craig Hirschey said.

Some, according to Hirschey, are relatively recent customers selling a purchase back. “Everyone’s selling me more,” he said.

Gold prices, which shot past $4,000 an ounce last week, have hit a series of record highs recently and have risen about 55% since the start of 2025. Investors are pouring money into gold amid anxiety about a potential slump in the stock market, economic slowdown or renewed inflation.

Generations of investors have treated gold as a hedge against such circumstances, but the current enthusiasm may also reflect concerns about the stability of the U.S. dollar. The federal government shutdown, rising government debt and unease about how independent the Federal Reserve remains may be weighing on the dollar. Those questioning the stability of U.S. currency may be pivoting to crypto and precious metals.

It’s a particularly lucrative time to sell jewelry, but that’s not the only reason traffic has picked up at jewelry stores and pawn shops, said Chris Wright, vice president of Utah-based Cascade Refining. Some people, he said, seem to be parting with items earlier than planned because they need money in a tough job market.

Consumers are buying less gold jewelry in part because high prices are daunting, Iskhakov said. Exclusive Jewelers is selling about 20% fewer accessories than a year ago, he estimated.

Some shoppers are gravitating to smaller pieces or lower-carat items to stay within their budget, he said. Jewelers have been embracing more affordable designs, such as pieces that incorporate lower-cost materials, accessories that are hollow or thin, and chains with larger gaps between links. That trend is likely to accelerate, said Iskhakov.

Not all new designs are easy to sell. Thin or hollow hoop earrings may be more affordable, but they can tax wearers’ ears and are easier to dent or bend, said David’s brother, Eli, who spells the family surname “Itskhakov.” Older hoops, he said, aren’t flying out of the store either.

“You could try to sell little hoop earrings, and it was coming out to like $300, $400,” Itskhakov said. “Years ago, you would get that for $100, $150 … People, they’re like, ‘I’m not going to pay $400 for that.’”

Refiners say they’re pulling in more material from jewelers and other commercial operators, including dental labs. Exclusive Jewelers liquidated hoop earrings and other items that were challenging to sell because of their price point or older style, the brothers said. 

The amount of gold, silver and other precious metals brought into Cascade Refining is up about 25% to 30% this month compared to a year earlier, Wright said. That’s been the pattern for the past five or six months, he said.

W.E. Mowrey has spent 75% more on gold, silver, palladium and other precious metals in 2025 than at this point last year, Hirschey said, requiring the business to shift from its standard operating model. The refinery has more material ready for sale, but many of its regular customers don’t need supply, so W.E. Mowrey has been selling on the wholesale market, which is less lucrative, Hirschey said.

“My demand is gone,” Hirschey said. “I have to sell upstream to an even larger refiner that’s got overseas connections.”

UPDATE: This article has been updated to include additional information on the price of gold.