(EDITOR’S NOTE: After several WSB’ers e-mailed – thank you! – to point out the daily lines outside West Seattle Coins in The Junction, we asked Keri to check out the story.)
Story and photo by Keri DeTore
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
There’s gold in them thar garages! And in drawers and old boxes, and … With gold prices at their highest point in years, people are cashing in at West Seattle Coins, leading to frequent lines outside their California/Oregon storefront.
The shop doesn’t open until 10 am, but the first customer in line was there at 8:30 this morning, and had brought a book to read while he waited. As of 9:30, four more people were in line and explained they came early in order to avoid the wait once inside the shop.
Manager Jason Dankworth explains that West Seattle Coins has a number system—once inside, the customer takes a number and waits his/her turn. Depending on what the people in front of them are offering for sale, the wait can be up to an hour. The line was twenty people deep at one point yesterday, and the shop kept their doors open until 6:30 to serve all the folks who had gotten numbers until closing time — 5:00.
Asked what people are selling, store employee Phil describes old jewelry and family coin collections. Jason adds that the most unique item they’ve seen recently is an 1895 Morgan Silver Dollar worth $35,000. Equally fascinating (at least to this reporter) was the baggie full of gold fillings that a woman had in her garage worth $1,300.
Gold prices have risen more than $100 just in the last two weeks. As of this writing, the value for an ounce of gold was hovering around $1,780. “When the economy goes down, precious metal (prices) go up” says Jason, as does West Seattle Coins’ advertising campaign. Some customers in line were from Olympia and Pacific, WA and heard the shop’s ad on the radio, indicating they pay more than most for gold. This is true, according to Jason. “We pay 80% (of the daily value) compared to some places that only give 40-60%. What we lose in margin, we make up in volume.” He adds that they focus on being “fair to customers” looking at the total value of something (such as the gem in a piece of jewelry and the artist who created it) to give the customer the best price for their item.
Their volume has been increasing. So much so, Jason said, that yesterday, “We ran out of cash at noon.” Because of the volume, the shop is limiting their cash payouts to under $500 — everything else is purchased with a check. Asked about the risk of buying stolen goods Jason explains, “We have to use our judgment. If a young kid is selling an old brooch, we won’t take it. We take down people’s information including their driver’s licenses, we have a list provided by the Seattle Police Department of people we’re not supposed to buy from, and we upload all of our purchases to the SPD to check against their database.” Also, all purchased items are kept for 30 days in order to clear the search. At that point, depending on the item, it’s either sold to a “melt company” or turned around for resale. Recently, four items have turned up stolen: “We become victims because we’re out that money.”
Needless to say, security has been increased in and around the coin shop, and Jason cautions his customers to be careful and aware when they leave.
They will occasionally make special appointments with folks who have large amounts to sell, or they’re directed to West Seattle’s sister shop Bellevue Rare Coins, which has a larger space to accommodate more people.
The shop is currently buying gold, silver, platinum and palladium and is open Monday through Friday from 10 am-5 pm, and Saturday from 10 am-4 pm.
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