Gold is a precious metal, and it has been used for centuries as a form of payment for goods and services. Many investors buy gold as an “insurance policy” against economic downturns due to stock market fluctuations, currency devaluation, war, or other national crises. It generally holds its value against other traded commodities because of its scarceness, but also because it never corrodes or decays.

In the past few years, gold has again become a popular investment with record-setting gold prices. If you have old jewelry you don’t wear, you can trade it for quick cash. But be careful! Unscrupulous buyers are ready to cheat you out of the true value of your gold.

Mail-in gold-exchange services are among the worst because the gold owner has no opportunity to negotiate a better price. If you send them your gold, you are stuck accepting whatever price they choose to give you for it. If you want to sell gold for cash, it’s better to contact a local gold merchant at a jewelry store, goldsmith, or pawn shop.

You can get a rough idea of what your gold is worth so that you’ll know whether you’re being offered a fair price:

• First, separate your gold according to purity. Gold is classified by how much gold is in the metal. Pure gold is 24-karat gold. Most jewelry is 10K, 14K, or 18K gold (look for a karat stamp on each piece). Prices are quoted on pure gold. So, 14K gold is 58.5% gold by weight (14/24) and sells for 58.5% of the 24K price.
• Weigh each purity group on a kitchen scale to obtain the weight in ounces. If your scale measures in grams, then convert the grams to ounces, one gram equals 0.0353 ounce.
• Multiply the number of ounces by the current price of gold. To find the current prices, visit
  www.cnn.com/data/commodities.
• Then, depending on purity, divide by the appropriate number: 10K gold, divide by 74.8; 14K, 53.2; 18K, 41.5; and 24K, 31.1.
• Multiply the resulting numbers twice: first by 0.5 and then by 0.8. The price that a fair dealer will give you should fall somewhere
  between these two numbers (50 to 80% of the full market value).