# What should I do with this ingot of gold? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 22, 2000, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-this-ingot-of-gold/46804 "2000-12-22T02:43:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-this-ingot-of-gold/46804/1 "2000-12-22T02:43:02Z")
The Gold Fairy left it on my doorstep. It weighs about a pound. I figure it’s worth between $3000 and $4000. I wanted to get a livingroom set, but the furniture store wouldn’t take it. The used car salesman wouldn’t take it either. The guy at the jewlery store offered me $1000 for it. The chiseler. Now I have this shiny lump of metal sitting on my kitchen floor. What should I do with it? ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-this-ingot-of-gold/46804/2 "2000-12-22T03:01:11Z")
Am I missing something here? ---
**Author:** ![red\_dragon60](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@red\_dragon60](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/red_dragon60)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-this-ingot-of-gold/46804/3 "2000-12-22T03:02:56Z")
Please say you aren’t joking! Please! Send it to me, I’ll give you ten bucks plus shipping. That sounds like quite a chunk. I’ll melt it down and make bullets out of it. No, I am thinking of silver. Well, give it to me, and I’ll make tha pimpinest gold chains you homes eva seen! ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-this-ingot-of-gold/46804/4 "2000-12-22T03:22:55Z")
You can give it to me. Hell, I’ll even come pick it up. (I don’t have an answer to your question, BTW.) ---
**Author:** ![peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peace)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-this-ingot-of-gold/46804/5 "2000-12-22T03:24:00Z")
## Keep it as a paperweght. If you want to sell it, try places that deal in gold ingots, do not waste your time in used car dealerships. Peace ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-this-ingot-of-gold/46804/6 "2000-12-22T03:25:17Z")
My question (since I my OP doesn’t seem to make sense) is: What is the best way to turn gold into cash? Take it to the bank? Give it to a broker? The U.S. Treasury? Melt it down into Biggirl coins? ---
**Author:** ![pantom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/34f0e0/32.png) [@pantom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pantom)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-this-ingot-of-gold/46804/7 "2000-12-22T03:27:04Z")
Keep it period. Last 3 months gold stocks have been moving up. The metal itself hasn’t yet, but given that we’re in something like the bazzilionth year of a bear market in gold, you just might be on the cusp of a new bull. 'Course you coulda said this at any time in the past twenty years or so… ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-this-ingot-of-gold/46804/8 "2000-12-22T03:27:19Z")
Naw, your OP made sense. Now that I think of it, I often hear ads for Empire Diamond and Gold Buying Service, located in the Empire State Building. Perhaps you could sell it to them. I wonder if you’d get a fair price. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-this-ingot-of-gold/46804/9 "2000-12-22T03:31:59Z")
AH. I get it now. This is actually a surprisingly difficult thing to do. Many large coin shops act as silver and gold bullion dealers, in that they will sell and buy small ingots of both materials, as well as coins intended for bullion use. But you will get a price significantly below the “market” price. And sometimes they will either refuse to take a large amount, or will actually try to charge you a “handling fee” for them doing the “service” of taking the gold or silver off of your hands. :eek: I recommend EBay. Seriously - you are likely to get a price closest to the market price on there, ahead of any other way I can discover. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Lao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dr.Lao](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Lao)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-this-ingot-of-gold/46804/10 "2000-12-22T03:37:08Z")
I always thought you could turn the gold over to the federal reserve and they would give you green-backs for it. After a cursory web search, however, I was unable to confirm this. I take it, **Anthracite** , this isn’t possible? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-this-ingot-of-gold/46804/11 "2000-12-22T03:46:03Z")
Look in the Yellow pages under **Gold silver and platinum buyers and dealers**. By the way one pound avoirdupois of pure gold should be worth about $3,934 by my calculation. You probably don’t have one pound avoirdupois. Avoirdupois weight is the sort used for measuring cucumbers, slabs of beef, and people. A troy ounce (used for measuring precious metals) weighs more than an ounce avoirdupois, but there are only 12 troy ounces in a troy pound. The ignot could be a one-troy pound ingot (rather unlikely, I think) or a half kilogram. A troy pound is worth $3,288 and a half-kilogram would be worth $4,405 at $274 per troy ounce. ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-this-ingot-of-gold/46804/12 "2000-12-22T04:09:18Z")
I’m curious – how did you get the Gold Fairy to visit you, and can I have her visit me, too? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-this-ingot-of-gold/46804/13 "2000-12-22T04:22:19Z")
[List of 16 gold buyers in Brooklyn](http://yp.infospace.com/info.go555/searchyp?srchyp=1&?QC=brooklyn&QS=ny&BP=1&QK=20&QB=a1329600&25112) [List of 22 gold buyers in Manhattan](http://yp.infospace.com/info.go555/searchyp?srchyp=1&?QC=New+York&QS=ny&BP=1&QK=20&QB=a1329600&03644) I have never bought or sold precious metals, but I know some people who have bought silver bars. I’m sure you won’t get quite as much per ounce as you will see listed in the financial section of your newspaper. I would guess you would get about 95% that price, maybe as much as 98%. This is assuming we’re talking about essentially pure gold (.999). Old ingots are not this pure and may be only about 90% gold. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-this-ingot-of-gold/46804/14 "2000-12-22T04:36:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Montfort \* > \*\*I’m curious – how did you get the Gold Fairy to visit you, and can I have her visit me, too? \*\* When you lose a limb you have to put it under your pillow before you go to sleep. Boy will the NY Dopers be surprised when the see me at the Fest! Anyways. . . There as got to be faster-easier-more profitable ways to turn gold into cash than Ebay and the telephone book. If I call a dealer, how much would his take be? If I sell it on Ebay, how likely would it be that someone would bid on it? Who would? Probably the dealers, right? On Ebay they’d have to bid against each other head-to-head. ---
**Author:** ![Gunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-this-ingot-of-gold/46804/15 "2000-12-22T04:39:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dr. Lao \* > \*\*I always thought you could turn the gold over to the federal reserve and they would give you green-backs for it. After a cursory web search, however, I was unable to confirm this. I take it, **Anthracite** , this isn’t possible? \*\* Maybe 60 years ago, but we’re not on the Gold Standard anymore. So that’s a negative, Doc. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-this-ingot-of-gold/46804/16 "2000-12-22T04:40:14Z")
I didn’t see the biblio’s post until after I posted mine. 98% of market value sounds good to me. Are they going to ask me where I got it from? ---
**Author:** ![Upham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Upham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Upham)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-this-ingot-of-gold/46804/17 "2000-12-22T04:44:55Z")
My advies, buy a WHOLE FRIGGIN MESS of what ever it was you were smokin’, and have a Merry Xmass ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-this-ingot-of-gold/46804/18 "2000-12-22T04:54:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Upham \* > \*\*My advies, buy a WHOLE FRIGGIN MESS of what ever it was you were smokin’, and have a Merry Xmass \*\* My dealer wont take the gold either. ---
**Author:** ![bagkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ab992/32.png) [@bagkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bagkitty)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-this-ingot-of-gold/46804/19 "2000-12-22T04:56:53Z")
Too bad it wasn’t silver… you could melt it down, cast bullets and the go werewolf hunting ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2000, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-this-ingot-of-gold/46804/20 "2000-12-22T04:57:32Z")
I do this for a living in Ohio. I am a coin dealer. A coin dealer is your best bet. Is the ingot marked as to who made it and how much it weighs? Assuming it is, and assuming spot gold is about $270/ounce when you take it in, a reputable dealer will pay you about $260/ounce. Sell the bar and buy something useful. They may take down info from your driving license, but are not required to forward info to IRS unless you sell 25 ounces of gold at one time. The info just protects the buyer in case of stolen property. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-do-with-this-ingot-of-gold/46804.md?page=2)