Gold Breaks $1,600 on Main Street Doylestown

On a walkabout along Main St. last week I was drawn into Donegal Jewelers by the billowing "Buying Gold" banner in front of the shop. I was curious about that ancient question, What’s the price of gold today?

Coincidentally, the Department of Weights & Measures also popped in to Donegal’s at the same time for a surprise inspection of the store’s scale.

Alexa Breslin, owner of the shop told me, on that day, an ounce of 24-karat gold was going for $1,615.70. That was significant because in February gold prices dropped to about $1,500, according to market data, so rising above $1,600 an ounce last week showed demand is still high.

An ounce is actually a lot of gold. In February, a 5 gram gold ingot was stolen from another shop, the Doylestown Gold Exchange, and it was worth, at the time, about $295.

There are 31.1034768 grams in a troy ounce.

That ".1034768" is important when gold prices are at $1,615.70 an ounce, so important, that a jeweler’s scales are tested each year by the Department of Weights & Measures.

Breslin’s scale was spot on perfect. John DeVito, deputy sealer for the Department, gave the scale its seal of approval.

There’s been a boom of shops buying gold recently, he said; there are 4 or 5 just in Doylestown.

Breslin said that since 2008, gold prices have risen so much that it created a new gold rush, luring people to dig through their jewelry boxes for mismatched earrings and broken necklaces to sell.

“It’s not just gold,” she said. “We also buy silver and platinum. People may inherit their grandmother’s sterling silver flatware and they don’t want to have to polish it.”

The rising price of gold has also created a bit of a niche market for jewelers, Breslin said. "To be in business, I have to look at all opportunities."

Donegal Jewelers also sells contemporary, antique and estate pieces and can custom make pieces based on a customers design or imagination, Breslin said.

In any case, if you've been wondering what to do with all those single earrings and tangles necklaces ... the scale is waiting.