High gold price leads people to 'cash in' jewellery

Surging gold prices during 2024 have led to an increasing number of people selling and buying gold according to jewellers and the Royal Mint.

Just before Christmas Linda Emery from Neath got £345 for "some earrings, broken chains and old bracelets" as well as some rings she no longer wears.

She is one of a number of customers who have visited Gold Reserves Ltd in Swansea market to cash in on the year's high gold prices. They have seen a 25 per cent increase in people wanting to sell gold.

The Royal Mint, which sells and buys back gold bullion bars and coins, said they had a "record year" for customers getting involved in their precious metals business.

Mrs Emery, 71, has sold jewellery before and said it was all about picking the right time.

"Gold prices are high at the moment and it's just sitting in a draw, so why waste broken jewellery?"

Alyson from Swansea said she likes to buy batches of jewellery from car boot sales and auctions, which she then sells on.

She said she had made about £500 this year. Her best haul included two bracelets which she bought for £35 and sold for £185.

"I don't keep an eye on gold prices," she said.

"I just think I've got a few bits together so I'll fetch them down and see if I can get anything for them."

The gold price hit record highs in October and has fallen back since then, but overall the price remained considerably higher at the end of 2024 than it was at the beginning.

The Royal Mint, in Llantrisant in Rhondda Cynon Taf, has been making the UK's coins for more than a thousand years, but as the use of cash reduces it is branching out into making gold and silver bullion coins and bars for investors, as well as offering digital price tracker options.

Andrew Dickey, the divisional director of precious metals, said the business had seen an increase of nearly ten percent in people buying gold and other precious metals in 2024, along with a six percent increase in those looking to "cash in" on higher prices by selling back bullion bars and coins.

Mr Dickey said global political uncertainty and conflict as well as central banks' appetite for buying more gold has helped to push up prices.

Peter Middleton, Director of Gold Reserves Ltd, said "people are definitely aware of the gold price".

His business, based in Llanelli, Swansea and Cardiff, has seen a 30 percent increase in people buying gold in 2024 as well as a 25 percent increase in customers selling their gold.

Gold prices can go down as well as up, and a strong performance in one year does not guarantee high prices in the future.

Russ Mould, Investment Director at stockbroker AJ Bell, said some people regard gold as "a place of safety" for their money and while it may have a place in some investors' portfolios, "it has had some very fallow periods and there are lots of people out there who will have nothing to do with gold at all".

Gold investments do not provide any additional income like interest payments on cash savings or dividends on some equity investments.

But Mr Middleton said his business holds steady whatever prices are doing because "there's something special about gold".

"Since Cleopatra's time it's been revered as a store of wealth and everyone likes to wear jewellery so I don't see that changing any time soon."