Coin and Gold Buyers Serving the Highlands in Denver

North Denver sits on the high ground across the South Platte and I-25 from downtown, and for most of its history it was a neighborhood of working families who stayed put. Italian immigrants settled near Navajo Street and built Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and Mexican American families have lived along Federal Boulevard and the blocks around it for generations. Houses changed hands slowly, so an estate here often holds coins gathered by more than one generation.

Those collections lean toward money from the old country. We see Italian lira, Mexican pesos of every size and now and then a Mexican 50 pesos gold coin, the Centenario, which holds 1.2057 troy oz of gold. Religious medals, saint pendants and crosses in 14K and 18K gold come out of the same jewelry boxes, along with wedding bands and chains. We buy that jewelry for its gold, though a signed or antique piece may be worth more as jewelry, and if we think so we will say it.

Old pennies are another regular. Indian Head cents ran from 1859 to 1909 and Lincoln wheat cents from 1909 to 1958, and families who saved change by the jar ended up with thousands. The 1943 cents are zinc-coated steel and look like silver at a glance. Most wheat cents are worth a little over face, but a scarce date or a D or S mint mark in good condition can be a different story, so we sort before we price.

The neighborhood itself has turned over fast. Pedestrian bridges carry LoHi residents over I-25 into downtown, Tennyson Street and 32nd Avenue are lined with shops and restaurants, and new rowhomes stand beside old brick houses near Sloan's Lake and Berkeley Lake. When a long-time owner sells, the children are often clearing the house on a deadline, and a jar of coins or a box of gold is one more thing to settle quickly.

We meet by appointment only, at a place agreed when you book, so there is no counter and no line. A large estate can ask about a home visit. Every coin is checked for date, mint mark and grade, metal is confirmed without acid or scratching, and you get a written offer you can hold up against anyone else's. Gold is sorted by karat and weighed on a calibrated scale at the same table.