New York
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In San Francisco, Seth Chandler’s business has lines out the door. It’s not unusual for twenty-odd people to be penned in by a velvet rope, monitored by two security guards.
Chandler doesn’t own a hot new club or restaurant. He runs Witter Coin, which buys and sells precious metals — and people have been showing up in droves to sell their gold and silver.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s creating a lot of frenzy,” said Chandler who’s owned Witter Coin since 2016. “We’re buying and selling a lot.”
The price of both metals has never been so high. Gold has doubled over the last year, crossing a record $5,000 an ounce for the first time this week. The price of silver tripled in that time.
And as affordability remains challenging, everyday Americans, are cashing in where they can. Pawn and coin shop owners across the country tell CNN that more people than ever before are coming to sell gold or silver bars, bullions, silverware or broken jewelry.
“We’re getting four to five times more people in our showroom than two years ago. It’s probably doubled the last six months with precious metals prices going through the roof,” said Chandler, who has doubled his staff to accommodate the demand.
Gold and silver are considered “safe havens,” meaning assets where investors move their money when Wall Street gets nervous about the overall US economy — often because of macro issues and geopolitical tensions. So, when President Donald Trump threatens to acquire Greenland or raise tariffs on Canada or South Korea, the price of both metals rises.
It’s “the belief or the hope that if you have major correction in the stock market or if you have suddenly inflation reemerging or accelerating, that gold and silver will be able to maintain its value,” Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, told CNN.
High prices make selling gold or silver attractive, but it’s also good for the buyer. Goldman Sachs and Bank of America project gold could rise to $5,400 to $6,000 an ounce by the end of this year.
Witter Coin, which also buys collectible coins, watches and jewelry, has occasionally brought in $1 million worth of metal in a single transaction, Chandler said.
But with prices so high, it’s become more valuable for the shop to send the raw metal from those items to a refinery rather than resell it.
“It broke my heart that we had a fascinatingly beautiful 18-karat gold pocket watch that was handmade in the 1880s. You’re talking 145 years old, probably took a couple of people a few weeks to make it all by hand, 180 different parts,” said Chandler. “And guess what? We had to disassemble it and melt the gold.”
Kelly Swisher, the owner of Arlington Jewelry and Pawn in Arlington Heights, Illinois, said the current precious metal craze has him buying tens of thousands of dollars’ worth each week.
While gold has seen a steady rise for years, he’s surprised how much silver has caught fire.
“I just had a big set (of silverware) come in and I ended up giving them $6,000,” said Swisher, who opened his shop in 2002. “I’m like, this is just insanity. A year ago, it would’ve been $2,800 or $2,700.”
Silver prices surged 141% in 2025, the best performance since 1979, and they’re already up 32% this year. Beyond the metal’s safe haven status, prices are also being pushed higher because of strong industrial demand and lingering supply deficits.
“We would see a couple people a week come in with silver (a month ago), and right now we’re probably seeing a dozen or more people every day coming in with some sort of silver product,” said Seth Gold, vice president of American Jewelry and Loan in Detroit, Michigan.
Gold and silver are so hot that people aren’t just hauling in the family’s sterling silver set or gold bars from Costco. Customers are also digging through the drawers for scrap gold and unwanted or broken jewelry.
For Americans struggling for basic cost of living, the sale has proven both lucrative and life-changing.
“In this economy, if somebody’s coming in expecting to get a couple hundred dollars for this scrap gold and you tell them it’s $850, they all of a sudden just are overwhelmed,” said Swisher. “They can’t imagine that that little bag of junk that they had in their drawer is worth that much money. Some people start crying, they’re just so shocked. They feel like it’s a windfall.”
