As precious metals bring high prices, many are cashing in

NORFOLK

There's gold - and silver - in them thar homes. More than 2,000 pounds of it has been mined so far by an outfit that opened shop four months ago to tap the treasures of Hampton Roads.

The trove has surfaced in many forms - jewelry, coins, plates, bars, sterling flatware, tea sets, candlesticks, gifts from ex-husbands, grandpa's watch, even his teeth.

"Oh yes," said a buyer named Bruce, "we've gotten quite a bit of dental gold - with the teeth still attached."

Bruce works for National Redemption, a company that cranked up in response to this year's record-high gold prices. For security reasons, Bruce doesn't want his last name used. He's one of a handful of locals hired by National Redemption to turn gold into green at tables in Norfolk, Suffolk and Hampton.

Bruce oversees an operation set up at the Lake Wright conference center. More than 3,000 people have trekked in with bits of metal they hoped to sell.

Not all of it turned out to be precious. Plenty of silver-plate and gold-filled items have been politely rejected - along with a batch of fake gold from China.

"They bring it in thinking it's real," Bruce said. "A lot of them have been surprised at our answer."

The latest gold rush started when prices spiked to $850 per ounce in January, then soared to $1,000 in March. The price has fallen a bit since, settling at $885 on Friday. Just six years ago, gold went for $300.

But don't expect top dollar from buyers like National Redemption. Those prices are for pure gold, which is 24-karat.

So an 18-karat gold necklace, for example, is only about 75 percent gold, and much of its value is in the workmanship. Second hand gold bound for refineries - like the items bought by National Redemption - usually fetches about half the market rate. The company will only say that its price fluctuates daily.

But it's enough to send some people back to their jewelry boxes looking for more. Last week, Carole Clarke, 65, was on her third visit to Lake Wright. Clark lives in Bay View and has no children.

"There's no one to pass things down to," she explained as she headed out the door with $74 she'd made on a bracelet. "And I want the money. Times are hard."

National Redemption also runs operations in Philadelphia, Delaware and North Carolina. The Norfolk location, one of five in Virginia, has been especially fruitful.

"Here, it just keeps coming," Bruce said.

Part of that is due to the military. Servicemen and women tend to pick up nice souvenirs, like buttery 22-karat gold from the Middle East or thick silver from Mexico. Heavy rings from the Naval Academy can fetch upward of $300.

And then, there are the teeth.

"Navy dentists used to use a lot of gold," Bruce said.

Each piece that comes in is tested by Bruce or one of a half-dozen other buyers who line one side of a long table at Lake Wright. The first check is the simple pass of a magnet. Gold will not stick. Electronic and acid tests might follow.

"This is one way to find out just how cheap your husband was," said Susan Brown as she waited for a decision on a tangle of chains and rings she'd rounded up at home.

Brown, 48, was on a lunch break from her job loading ships at Norfolk Naval Station. She was disappointed when the bulk of her jewelry got the thumbs-down.

"Oh, well," she said of her $181 payout. "It's lunch money."

Bruce said others have left with thousands of dollars. One man handed over a bar of pure silver that weighed in at 1,000 ounces; silver, worth about $4 an ounce in 2002, closed at almost $17 Friday.

An elderly Vietnamese couple brought in a stack of 24-karat gold plates they'd secreted out of their homeland decades ago, just as the communists were closing in.

"They were worth a good deal of money," Bruce said.

Every deal is reported to the police. Sellers must fill out forms and produce an ID. Items are held for 10 days to give police time to make sure they're not stolen.

The haul from Hampton Roads will eventually be melted down and formed into bars. About 25 percent of the gold will find its way to the electronics market, where it will wind up in circuitry. The rest will be purchased by jewelers.

Gold fever is expected to continue in these parts. The company plans to keep buying through the fall.

Joanne Kimberlin, (757) 446-2338, joanne.kimberlin@pilotonline.com