Coin and Gold Buyers Serving Arvada, CO

Arvada likes to point out that its gold came first. In 1850, years before the Pikes Peak rush, Lewis Ralston panned gold from the creek that now carries his name while his party was bound for California, and Gold Strike Park marks the area near where Ralston Creek meets Clear Creek. The party moved on, and the larger rush came to the region in 1858 and 1859.

Olde Town Arvada still has its old brick storefronts along Grandview Avenue, and the G Line now runs commuter trains to a station at its edge. Around it spread postwar ranch houses and newer subdivisions reaching toward the foothills. Many Arvada families have been here three or four generations, which means a parent's estate can include things a grandparent saved. The Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities on Wadsworth Boulevard draws visitors from across the metro.

Many Arvada sellers start with a jewelry box. Class rings from Arvada High and the other local schools, wedding bands, chains, a grandmother's brooch and a few broken earrings all count. We read the karat stamps (10K, 14K and 18K, or 417, 585 and 750), test the metal without acid or scratching and weigh it in grams or pennyweights. Twenty pennyweights make a troy ounce, so you can check the math yourself. Gold-filled and plated pieces, marked GF, GP, HGE or RGP, hold very little gold, and we point them out so they do not muddy the count.

Paper money and proof sets turn up in the same estates. National Bank Notes, issued from 1863 to 1935, carry the name of the local bank that issued them, and notes from Colorado banks draw regional collectors. Silver certificates, red seal notes and large-size notes from before 1929 come out of old books and desk drawers too. Proof sets and mint sets from the U.S. Mint, many with Denver coins inside, are priced set by set, since silver proof sets from many years hold 90% silver coins. Keep paper money flat and out of tape, because folds and repairs lower what collectors pay.

We see Arvada sellers by appointment only, at a meeting place set when you book, with no counter or line. If you are clearing a whole house, ask about a home visit. Accept the offer and you are paid the same visit. Turn it down and you keep your things and the written list.