Get the most cash for your gold

NEW YORK (WABC) -- You may have hidden treasure in your jewelry box.

With gold glittering, earlier this week it hit an all time high.

So now many people are selling their keepsakes for cash.

That's why 7 On Your Side went undercover and found if you don't know what you're doing, you can get taken.

"Gold is worth $1,540, .20 cents per ounce," said Angelo Palmieri, a jewelry expert.

You can't know if something's worth its weight in gold, until it is analyzed, so Eyewitness News started our quest for the best gold prices with a an expert in Manhattan's Diamond District.

"This piece is 58.86% gold," Palmieri said.

At GCAL the Palmieri's family's Gem Certification and Assurance Lab, all they do is appraise.

They use old and new methods including a state of the art machine.

The machine gives an exact cash value, after breaking down real gold content.

Palmieri tested an old school rope chain for Eyewitness News.

"Value is $1,777.44," Palmieri said.

The chain and five other baubles Eyewitness News wanted to try to sell are worth $5,292.

"In New York City, what we found, is a very good offer is about 85%," Palmieri said.

Which means Eyewitness News was looking for an offer just under $4,500.

Experts tell you the further away you get from a city center, the less you're going to get for your gold.

So Eyewitness News began in Midtown, Manhattan in the Diamond District, and put that theory to the test.

After a quick test of the gold content, the first offer was $4,390.

That's 83% of the total value and not too bad.

Next, it was down to Canal Street, where gold buyers are on every block.

"You've got $3,560," the clerk said.

But after a bit of haggling, the offer increased by hundreds, not just once, but twice.

They raised their offer to $4,000.

The last stop was a mall in New Jersey where the price at a "Gold Rush" kiosks plummeted and haggling didn't help.

"About $2,400. That's the top price," the clerk said.

Eyewitness News was told that there was no place around that would give a better offer, yet a trip up the escalator, to a jewelry store and 7 On Your Side got an offer of $800 more, just by going upstairs!

After getting eight offers, Eyewitness News found the best prices are in the places where competition's fierce.

In the Diamond District Eyewitness News was golden, they had the highest offer for the day.

To drive a deal like that, knowing the value of your old jewelry is key.

Get it appraised first and then get ready to bargain!

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midtown, manhattan, new jersey, gold, money, 7 on your side, nina pineda

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