Unless you never turn on the TV, you will be aware that the entire UK seems to be talking about selling gold at the moment.  There are numerous advertisements from the many companies who want you to sell them your scrap gold, broken gold jewellery, and any other unwanted gold you may happen to have lying around your home.

This is a consequence of the state of the economy.  In a recession gold prices always rise and now prices are at an all time high.  The companies who want to buy your gold are gambling that there are still more price rises to come.

There is also the added factor of the recent distrust in banks as safe places to put your savings.  Add to that the pathetically low rates of interest being paid by the banks and building societies and putting money into gold seems like a better idea than ever.

Of course, this does also make it a good time to sell gold.  The price you can get now is far higher than you could have expected a year or even just a few months ago.  Gold prices hit a high of $1,000 per ounce earlier this year and have now gone well over that.  The scrap price of 9 carat gold (most commonly used for jewellery in the UK) is over £7 per gramme when it was less than £5 only months ago.

Now £7 per gramme may not seem very much when you look at the prices of gold jewellery in your local jeweller’s window.  You may find that a plain 9 carat yellow gold wedding band which probably weighs around 3 or 4 grammes is priced at £50, £100 or even more depending on the shop.  However, look in your local pawn shop window and you will see much more reasonable prices on second hand and used gold.

If you own any vintage or antique gold jewellery; sovereigns or any other gold coins then selling to one of the companies that buy scrap gold is not your best outlet.  Antique gold and gold coins are usually worth far more than their scrap value.  Rings or other pieces of gold jewellery containing precious stones are also worth more than their scrap price.

Take your more valuable items in to your local jewellers for a valuation.  But do shop around as some places will charge you £50 for a valuation and others will charge £5.  They may even offer to buy your better pieces from you but be aware that there is no way to do this anonymously as they will require sight of your passport or driving licence before they give you the money.

If the gold that you want to sell is mainly broken pieces of gold jewellery, snapped chains or odd earrings, then one of the big companies that will send you an envelope so you can just pop in your gold and send it back to them, are probably your best bet.  They give a good price for gold scrap and some even send you cash by return.  Ideal if you are in a hurry for money.

Selling gold can be a nice boost to your finances when you need it the most.