MITCHELL — As owner of Palace City Pawn in Mitchell for the past 13 years, Austin McPeek often weighs the resale value of whatever items people bring through the door. Customers present new and vintage guns, electronics and even guitars to trade for some extra cash.
But perhaps no trade-in brings more interest than gold – jewelry, bars or bullion – and current prices for precious metals have many approaching McPeek with the same question.
“What are you paying?” McPeek told the Mitchell Republic recently. “That’s the question. There’s only one. What are you paying?”
Several factors have the price of gold, and its sister precious metal silver, at unprecedented levels. A combination of economic uncertainty, geopolitical instability, a high rate of central bank purchases of the metal and expected interest rate cuts have all contributed to the price of gold jumping roughly 55% in the past year. That comes to roughly $4,200 an ounce.
The same can be said for silver, the price of which has risen as much as 75% since 2024, which is now trading at about $53 an ounce.
It’s an upward trend that has some dusting off their old jewelry boxes or coin collections looking for examples they can part with in order to pocket some extra cash or to trade for other needed purchases. Others see the prices and tighten their grip, hoping the price continues to climb.
McPeek has seen both types recently, but his customers seem to be standing pat with what they have, at least for now.
“Even with the price as high as it is, it doesn’t necessarily mean there’s been a huge influx of it coming in. People are still holding steady,” McPeek said. “The reason the price is getting so high is because it is kind of a limited supply of what’s out there and people aren’t moving it. If you want it, you got to pay for it.”
People may in general be holding gold and silver, but there are also those interested in buying as an investment. That’s a prudent move, McPeek said, as gold and silver are often coveted for their steady value and their worth as a hedge against inflation.
But it’s not necessarily an investment for a short turnaround, he said. Patience pays off when investing in precious metals, and people will find more success treating their purchase like a Roth 401k and continuing to add to it.
“I always tell people, it’s not a short-term investment. You have a little discretionary income laying around and you pick up what you can afford and put away. And in 10, 20 years, you’re hoping it does what it did in the last 10, 20 years and goes up,” McPeek said.
Over at Palace City Coins, on Main Street in Mitchell, owner Will DeLine has also kept a close eye on gold and silver prices. Like McPeek, he deals in both gold and silver, with an emphasis on coins.
DeLine has been approached by customers interested in both buying and selling.
“Both ways. Because there’s a group of people that bought it at a lower price for investment and now are cashing out. And there are a number of other people that, regardless of the price, they’re just going to dollar-cost average and keep buying and store it up for themselves,” DeLine said.
Gold often gets the headlines for value, but traders like DeLine say there are good investment opportunities in silver. With gold prices as high as they are, investors can be priced out of the market. Silver is more affordable and generally holds its value well due to its wide range of industrial uses.
That opens a doorway for investors to build a portfolio without emptying their wallet.
“People are going to a safe haven in times of uncertainty, and silver has a lot of industrial uses right now. It’s amazing the amount of things that silver actually goes into. Silver is being used in more things (than gold), and there’s room to go higher,” DeLine said.
Interest in both metals is fairly strong, and DeLine said he has seen customers of different generations and income brackets all take an interest in buying and selling. The appeal of gold and silver is widespread, almost universal, and the potential for high return is likely to keep it that way.
The stability of gold and silver in an uncertain economic climate should only enhance that appeal.
“I expect it to climb. It’s hard to tell because there are so many factors that go into it. There are just so many economic things,” DeLine said. “But the more economic uncertainty there is, whether it’s tariffs or taxes or anything like that, the more of that there is, the more interest there is in what I do.”
Bryan Rickel, who owns The Diamond Store in Mitchell with his wife April, has worked at the store since 1994. The business specializes in custom jewelry design, engagement ring creation and in-house jewelry and watch repair and has been a downtown Mitchell staple for decades.
They also buy used gold and silver jewelry, and the recent spike in prices is something that he has not seen before. During his career, the price of gold has jumped roughly 400%.
“When I started here in 1994, in this store, gold was $370 an ounce. And right now, I just checked, we’re almost at $4,300. It went up $85 today,” Rickel said. “If I would have known back then I would have invested heavily. Who would have thought it would get this high?”
Luke Hagen / Mitchell Republic
Rickel said he has seen increased interest as prices have climbed. He will buy gold, trade it for new or melt it down and make something custom or unique, either to resell or for the customer themselves. Necklaces, earrings and rings are all common items that end up on his counter.
When it comes to selling family jewelry, Rickel said he is always interested in buying, but he urges people to make sure they want to part with it. If someone comes in to sell grandma’s gold ring, he suggests they wear it first for a time before selling. He has had several customers do just that, eventually decide they can’t part with it, and later come back thanking him for the advice.
It’s also important to not be dismissive of what you have. Rickel recalled a customer who was going to take some old jewelry to Goodwill, but he suggested they bring it into the store first to see if there was anything of particular value.
There was.
“I ended up writing him a check for $4,000,” Rickel said.
He also takes a moment to warn buyers to be wary of scams. When prices climb as high as they have, unscrupulous actors come out of the woodwork, trying to take advantage.
One scam he sees comes from travelers who set up in a business parking lot. They approach other customers claiming they’re short on cash and need to sell their personal gold items to continue on their journey across the country. They will offer their gold at a drastically reduced price, an offer that seems too good to refuse.
People who have bought those items end up bringing them to his store to see what they have purchased, and Rickel has to break the bad news. It’s virtually worthless. Gold-plated, maybe, but not worth the cash they handed over for it.
“They know exactly what they’re doing. They have a wife there, and they’re staying at the Walmart parking lot, or by a gas station, and they have a kid and it would be a real sad story. It’s always the same necklace, too,” Rickel said. “(The victim) walks in and they show it to me, and I don’t even look. I say it’s not real. They ask how I know, and I say because I’ve seen it 100 times already.”
Rickel has invested in equipment that helps him tell the real stuff from the fake, and he keeps in contact with fellow dealers in Mitchell like McPeek and DeLine. They tip each other off when they see scammers at work so the others know right away when one is making the rounds in town.
The Diamond Store has a
That’s one place customers can start to learn the basics of the gold and silver trade.
But for the curious, the door to the shop is open, Rickel said. And he and other local reputable traders are always good for free advice.
“If they don’t know what they have, you know, bring it in. We’ll go through it and say ok, this is not real, or this is real,” Rickel said. “I’ll tell them exactly what they have, and they can make their decision.”