Quick cash for old gold & silver: pawn shop or sale?

If you need money quickly and as easily as possible, but don't want to or can't take out a loan, you have the choice of selling valuable items or pledging them.

Pledge or sell?

When you sell a valuable item of property, you negotiate a price with the buyer and ownership of the item changes hands once the agreed price has been paid.

In a pawnshop, on the other hand, you basically get a loan. The pawnbroker pays you a sum in cash as a small loan, while the item you bring to the pawnshop remains in the possession of the pawnbroker as collateral ("pledge"). As soon as you pay back the borrowed amount plus interest and fees after an agreed term, you get your pawned item back.

While pawnshops lend all kinds of movable items, from electronic devices such as televisions or Playstations to bicycles, you can also pawn jewelry made of gold, silver and other precious metals or luxury watches.

What are the arguments against pawnbroking?

With a pawn loan, you have to take into account the pawnbroker's interest and fees and therefore receive a sum below the actual value. If you are unable to repay the money at the end of the term and after a grace period, your items will be auctioned off by the pawnbroker to the best bidder. Your jewelry, watch or whatever else you have pledged is then sold. However, upon presentation of the pawn ticket, you as the pawnbroker will still receive any surplus proceeds from the sale.

In addition to the interest on the pawn loan and handling fees, which are usually charged per half month, there are also issuing fees, processing fees, storage fees, etc., so that you always receive less money from a pawnbroker than from a seller

Sell or lend jewelry?

You should therefore consider whether you would like to pawn your jewelry, watches and similar items or sell them directly to a gold dealer. The prices that a reputable gold dealer pays for genuine pieces of gold, silver, platinum or palladium are always based on the current daily commodity prices. The amount paid out by a pawnbroker is also based on these factors.

What you can have valued & sold with us free of charge:

Our Gold&Co experts will be happy to advise you on which option is better suited to your pieces and individual situation.

As a rule, it makes sense to borrow money for items with a high emotional value in the short term if you are 100% sure that you will be able to repay the pawn loan. After all, memorabilia is only sold in an emergency - no price in the world can outweigh the beautiful memories. In many other cases, a direct sale makes more sense. Quite simply because you get more money for your gold.

What do I get for my jewelry?

If you would like to sell your gold jewelry with us, the price we pay you is based on 3 basic things:

• The current price of gold (or the price of silver, platinum or palladium),
• the weight of their pieces,
• the fineness of their pieces (carat)

You can check all of these points yourself - at least roughly. You can find the current precious metal prices on the Internet (at Gold & Co on our price page), you can determine the weight with a digital kitchen scale and the fineness of a piece of jewelry can usually be found directly on the piece in the form of a hallmark. For necklaces, this is usually on the clasp, for rings on the inside, etc.

If your jewelry contains gemstones, their type, size and condition - for example, whether they are damaged by scratches - will determine the valuation.

No matter whether you come to one of our branches in 1090, 1030 or 1220 Vienna with a single piece or an entire jewelry box: We will value all your pieces free of charge and without any obligation. If you wish to sell your valuables, you will receive the money in cash straight away.

Mortgage gold coins or bars?

If you own gold coins or gold bars and need money urgently, it almost always makes sense to sell your coins or bars to a reputable dealer instead of borrowing them!
Investment gold coins such as the Vienna Philharmonic, gold ducats, Maple Leaf or Krugerrand coins are traded close to the price of gold, just like bars, and are exchangeable. As soon as you have enough cash again, you can buy the same coin again at any time.