Many people ask me how the jewelry business is doing following a recession and during this weak recovery and I tell them honestly: "Great!"

Then I go on to tell them, if they are interested, there really are 4 areas that have been bright spots for us. And this tells you what the public really wants versus what jewelers and other businesses would like to see happen.

Number one by far in the customers's interest is the cashing in of precious metals and coins. Every day 6-20 people come through our door to sell or call to inquire about selling their old gold, silver, and coins. Interestingly these same customers, mostly 45 years old and up, talk casually about their desire to rid themselves of all kinds of unnecessary possessions. I think there's a real movement going on to reduce the stuff in our lives.

The advice to these customers is always the same...that is, educate yourself a little and you can understand the value of your asset. We show customers how to identify and separate their gold and coins. We'll explain the gold and silver contents of their possessions...

14 k contains 58.5% gold,10k contains 41.9% gold and so on. We show them, in a book that can be purchased at the bookstore, what the collectible value of their silver dollars, half dollars, quarters, and dimes are.

Mostly their coins are now valued higher for their silver content (most are 90% silver) than for their collectible value because silver is so high in value now.

And finally we tell them how easy it is to inspect a silver colored object like a candlestick or a silverware set simply by looking for the word "sterling" or "ster" or the numbers 925.

Of course for more difficult to identify items, research and experience are necessary but some commonly known identifers can help customers to help themselves and at least feel more comfortable with the dealer they are talking to.

There're three other areas of the jewelry business that are doing very well and I'll cover some of those in my next short blog.