Record Gold Price Has Local Impact

The gold market in Pinellas County is hot.

“It’s almost fever pitch,” said John Cline, owner of . 

Nationally, demand has driven the price of the commodity to record-breaking highs. Gold reached more than $1,890 per ounce last week, compared to summer 2008, when it traded for $900 per ounce, according to The Associated Press. Gold dipped slightly this week to about $1,750 per ounce, but some analysts believe it could still reach as high as $1,900 to $2,000 per ounce.

Historically, if a country’s economy crashes and its currency loses value, gold is the next likely medium for bartering. Although the U.S. economy is nowhere near that point, gold and silver are reassurance for people who would rather not invest in stocks or U.S. dollars.

“This is indicating that other sectors are failing or are so volatile that people don’t want to invest there,” Cline said. "It seems like the canary in the coal mine, to some degree."

Art Huprich, technical analyst at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, said a number of factors have caused the spike in price.

Those factors include: fear of a global slowdown or financial crisis like the one in 2008, devaluation of the dollar and the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates low.

“Gold is a safe haven,” Huprich said. “Gold has outperformed stocks for the last 10 years.”

But choosing to buy gold right now presents a timing issue.

“At this point, it would have to pull back in price before I believe our strategist would say to buy it,” Huprich said. It’s more profitable to buy low and sell high.

Nationally, interest in gold has been increasing. The trend has been so strong that eBay now has a separate section on its site for buyers and sellers of gold and silver bullion. At the Bullion Center, users can choose between bars, rounds and coins of gold and silver.

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Sgt. Tom Nestor, spokesman for the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, said he has not noticed spike in gold theft.

Although local law enforcement are not seeing an increase in gold related thefts, one victim in Gulfport is coming forward to help others who may have been victimized.

Janet Schaffer says thousands of dollars in gold jewelry and sterling silverware were taken from her home.

John Balogh Jr., 21, known as Jack, is in Pinellas County Jail on 15 felony changes of grand theft, dealing in stolen property and fraud after he admitted to stealing from Schaffer. 

Schaffer has located some of her stolen items at local pawn shops, but she says at least one pawn broker melted a 14K gold herringbone chain necklace before the 30-day waiting period.

"I said, 'You melted it? You have all these things for sale. Why did you melt it?'," Schaffer said.

Schaffer urges those who think they have been victimized to reach out before it's too late to recover stolen items.

According to The Florida Pawnbroking Act (Florida Statute 539.001), pawn shops may not immediately offer items for sale, "so that the prior owner and law enforcement has some window to search out property stolen from them," according to attorney Charles Gallagher III.

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Sgt. Tom Nester offers advice for gold owners.

“I wouldn’t advise people to be hoarding large amounts of gold in their houses unless they have security systems in place,” Nestor said.

He said gold owners should probably get a safe deposit box at a bank, especially if they spend a lot of time away from home.

Local merchants' tips for selling gold:

• Watch out for scams; don’t mail gold in an envelope to someone you haven’t met.
• Try to figure out what you have before you sell it; that way you know you’re getting a fair deal.
• Know the purity and the mass of the gold you’re selling.
• Shop around to different dealers for a good price.

You can track the price of gold here.

Phone messages left for Cash American Pawn were not returned.