Solano Coin, Gold & Silver

We will be OPEN on FRIDAY, July 3rd, and will be CLOSED on SATURDAY, July 4th. Please join friends and family to celebrate the wonder that is The United States of America.

What is spot price? Bid price? Ask price? Market price? We get these questions all of the time, and here's what you need to know. Spot price, technically, is the price at which the larger precious metals markets will pay or sell an ounce of precious metals, FOR IMMEDIATE DELIVERY. It could be gold, silver, platiunum, paladium, etc. This pricing moves up and down throughout the day as market conditions fluctuate. The BID price is what they'll pay per ounce. The ASK pric...e is what they'll sell at per ounce. The ASK price is always higher than the BID price, as that's the profit that the large industrial market makers earn. To you, as an individual buyer or seller, the spot price is almost irrelevant. What you care about is the MARKET price - how much per ounce will you receive from a sale, or have to pay for a purchase. The reason we say spot is almost irrelevant is because it can be set differently by each wholesale or retail establishment. During this COVID mess, at the exact same moment, we have seen spot prices as much as 4% different depending upon the source you're using. We see one price from Kitco, a different one from APMEX, a different one from our primary wholesaler, and yet another one from the Wall Street Journal. And the prices you see on the TV business channels are the futures pricing for investors! What matters to you as an individual is what is your net out-of-pocket cost going to be, or what is the net amount you will be putting in your pocket from a sale. Important consideration for all of these is: >>What will be your shipping and insurance costs (from zero dollars to hundreds)? >>How long before you will receive your metals or payment (we're seeing online shipping times of 4 to 6 weeks right now)? >>And perhaps most importantly, how is the privacy of your transaction maintained (every online sale must be reported to the IRS when a credit card is used)? Key Take-Away: When buying or selling, don't ask the dealer how much above or below spot they're charging/paying, but what the actual out-the-door dollar amount will be per ounce. **WE'RE OPEN AS USUAL, EVEN DURING THE COVID CRISIS** We have a good amount of silver on-hand at this moment, at prices well below online prices - all for immediate delivery. Sell us your old, broken or unwanted jewelry, and buy gold or silver bullion! Call the store Tuesday thru Saturday, 10am to 6pm for pricing and availability. 707-447-4700.

We've been hearing from customers and media reports of people not getting their unemployment payments or stimulus checks. We can help out. Mention COVID RELIEF when selling us your scrap jewelry, and we'll add an additional 10% to your payout. This offer is valid until SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2020. When selling us gold and silver coins or bullion, also mention COVID RELIEF, and we will add $1 per ounce of silver, and $20 per ounce of gold (prorated for fractional gold). This off...er is valid for the first 1000 ounces of silver, or 10 ounces of gold we buy under this offer. Please call first to check on availability. >>>>5/20/20 - We've filled our limit for the gold and silver bullion bonus. The bonus for the scrap gold and silver is still in effect until May 30, 2020.<<<< **We're still operating under our Covid program in the store. Please follow the seating and NO WANDERING instructions of our employees. Thank you!**

We got in another shipment of 1 ounce silver rounds. Our pricing is still well below most online stores, and you don't have to wait 2 to 6 weeks to get them delivered! We are almost out of 90% Constitutional (aka "Junk") silver, also at great pricing. We also got in some gold - from 1 oz to 1/10 oz.... On all products, please call first to check on availability. **We have our Covid practices still in place. Please follow the seating and NO WANDERING instructions of our employees. Thank you!**

Here’s an interesting article on silver prices written by an investor who’s NOT in the precious metals business. As he notes and as we noted in a post on January 13 the price of silver seems to be way UNDER priced, based on the ratio of silver to gold spot prices. We’ve seen in the store that demand has driven that gap to SERIOUSLY narrow. It’s amazing to see.... We just got in another shipment of .999 fine silver rounds and 90% constitutional (aka junk) silver, and we are STILL selling it well below online sites that won’t make deliver for weeks. We are still limiting quantities sold to 100 ounces of .999 fine silver, or $140 face amount of 90% silver (which is equal to 100 ounces) so that more of our customers can take advantage of acquiring some precious metals. ***Covid-19 Update*** We’ve been visited by both city and county officials who have seen our social distancing practices. We remain open and serving our customers to get needed funds for essential expenses during this crisis. The monies we receive from the sale of bullion allow us to continue to help our community to stay safe and healthy! https://www.sovereignman.com//why-the-price-of-silver-co/

TOP 10 CURES FOR CORONA BOREDOM Need a cure for boredom during the Corona Virus Shut Down? If you’ve already re-arranged all of your closets, cleaned the garage and watched every movie you ever wanted to see, here are some of the best medicines we’ve found: 1. TEACH YOUR DOG A TRICK. It’ll be the gift that keeps on giving!... 2. BIRTHDAY PARTIES Can’t really do them now. What about Birthday Parades? I saw a great piece on TV where a little girl’s birthday party had been canceled. Her very resourceful mother sent out a message on social media, and asked her friends to drive by the house staying in their cars and honking and yelling well wishes to the little girl. The parade drove by with signs, balloons and banners as the little girl stayed away on the driveway of their home. A brass quartet even showed and played Happy Birthday for her! 3. LEARN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE. There are a number of free apps you can use (I like duolingo.com), as well as the paid-for versions. 4. TRY ON EVERY PIECE OF CLOTHING YOU OWN. Anything that still fits and you haven’t worn in the last 18 months goes into a box and is donated to a local charity. Everything that doesn’t fit goes into the box as well. 5. WRITE that business plan, screen play, book/short story, etc., that you’ve been putting off because you didn’t have the time. 6. MAKE A LIST of things for which you’re grateful. 7. WRITE A BOOK WITH YOUR FRIENDS. Or a short story. You, as the ring leader, give a general overview of the story, a list of characters and their attributes/personality and chapter titles. Recruit friends/family, and assign each of them a chapter to write in order after the preceding chapter has been written and published on social media. Set a time limit (24 hours?) for the chapter to be written (and think of limiting the word count as well). 8. CORONA EXERCISE, SQUARED. Pick 3 body weight exercises (no bands, dumbbells, or other equipment) and for each day during the lock down, DOUBLE the number you did the day before. (Of course, only do this if you’re healthy enough to do so). For instance, Day 1, do 1 push up, 1 squat, 1 crunch. On Day two, do 2 of each. On Day 3, do FOUR of each. Day 4, EIGHT of each, etc., etc. When the count starts getting ugly, cut yourself some slack and complete the assigned numbers in a single day, not in a single stage. Getting you ready for the summer swimsuit season! 9. STRETCH. Doing yoga or other methods for making you limber. Youtube is chock full of practices for every fitness level. Focus, breath, relax, de-stress. 10. PHONE A FRIEND. Re-connect with distant friends or family. Give them a call, video chat, etc. Emails and texts don’t count! Hear each other’s voices, see each other’s faces. BONUS ITEM. Stop the whining. We’re going to get through this. You’ll feel better, and so will everyone around you. Glass half-full versus half-empty attitude.

Covid-19/Corona Virus Update As a business regulated by California Financial Services laws, WE REMAIN OPEN to serve our customers that need to buy or sell precious metals including scrap jewelry, bullion and collectible coins to meet their financial needs for essential goods and services. We are maintaining Social Distancing practices which may limit the number of customers in the store at any given time. While we do not require that you set an appointment, it may be pru...dent to do so. WE STRONGLY SUGGEST that customers wishing to purchase gold or silver bullion CALL FIRST to check on availability. We ask all of our customers to FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS of our employees regarding lobby waits, metals testing and transaction processing. We’re going to get through this difficult time. Stay strong, and follow CDC guidelines when outside of your home. Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 10am to 6pm 707-447-4700 767 E. Monte Vista Avenue, Vacaville (in the Lucky’s shopping center)

WHY ARE SMALL GOLD COINS more expensive per ounce than large gold coins? It's a question we get a lot. Here's the answer: Let's say the spot price of gold is $1674 per ounce. Based on the pricing of one of the biggest national coin dealers, a one ounce American Gold Eagle will cost you $1743. That's the spot price plus a 4% premium that a coin dealer uses to pay its bills.... That same dealer sells 1/2 ounce American Gold Eagles for $904 each - which equals $1804 per ounce, or an 8% premium. The most expensive American Gold Eagles are the 1/10 ounce coins (this applies to all countries that sell gold bullion). The dealer sells those for $191 each - or $1910 per ounce which is a hefty 14% premium! Why is that? Why would the same amount of gold have wildly different pricing? Supply and demand, the heart of commodity pricing. If you think about it, it makes a great deal of sense. More people can afford to spend $191 on a 1/10th ounce of gold than can afford to spend $1743 on a full ounce. Because there is higher demand, there are higher prices per unit. It's really that simple! Before you start buying any kinds of precious metals - gold silver or platinum - come in and talk with us. We can discuss the pros and cons of different buying strategies to ensure you get exactly what you're looking for at the best value of price, convenience and purchase privacy.

Thank you for making us Ten For Ten! We just started our tenth year in business, and we were again voted Best Of Solano. We're humbled, and look forward to continuing to serve all of our customers! https://www.dailyrepublic.com//best-coin-gold-silver-stor/

Karat vs Carat There is a lot of confusion between these two words. One has to do with the purity of gold, and one has to do with the weight of precious stones, such as diamonds. We have some information on silver purity, too. KARAT... This is used to determine the purity of gold. It’s really a pretty simply math exercise. 24 karat is pure gold. Any number below that (for instance 12k or 14k) is a percentage of that purity. 14 karat gold is very commonly used in jewelry, here’s how you determine its purity: 14 divided by 24 = 0.5833 or 58.33% pure. The other (roughly) 42% of the metal is usually copper (giving you rose gold) or silver (giving you white gold), or various other metals to give a distinct color hue. CARAT This is used to determine the weight of many precious stones and pearls. Many people are surprised at how little a 1 carat diamond, for instance, actually weighs. A 1 carat diamond weighs 0.2 grams. So that means it takes 5 carats of diamonds to equal 1 gram! To put that into perspective, a 1 troy ounce gold coins weighs 31.1 grams. That means it would take 155.5 carats of diamonds to equal the same weight! SILVER Silver is done a bit differently. It generally comes in 3 different designations: Fine Silver is at least 99.9% pure. It’s used mostly for silver bullion coins and bars. Sterling Silver is 92.5% pure and is used for jewelry, place settings, figurines, collectibles, etc. Coin Silver is 90% pure and was used in the US for silver dollars, halves, quarters and dimes before 1965, and for recent-mintage US Mint collectible coins (starting in 2019, the Mint began using Fine Silver in its collectible coins). Be careful of German Silver. It’s not silver at all. It’s a term used to describe an alloy made of copper, nickel and zinc!

YOU CAN BUY A GALLON OF GAS FOR $0.25. If it's the right quarter, that is. One of the silver bullion products with the best pricing is pre-1965 dimes, quarters and half dollars. They are commonly called "junk silver" because the collectible coins have been removed from circulation. Their value is in their silver content (in 1965, the mint went to the current "sandwich" coins made of nickel on the outsides, with a copper center) $1 of face amount of pre-1965 silver coins ha...s 0.715 of an ounce of pure silver. Let's say you have 4 pre-1965 quarters . With the spot price of silver being around $18 per ounce, if we multiply that by the silver purity - 0.715 - we see that the VALUE OF $1 of face amount of pre-1965 quarters is $12.87. If we divide that by 4 to get the value of a single quarter, we see that the quarter has a value of $3.21 - WHICH IS VERY CLOSE TO WHAT A GALLON OF GAS WILL COST YOU! This is a great example of the benefits of owning some silver or gold bullion. It is a GREAT way to protect the buying power of your money.

DIAMOND PRICES HAVE BEEN TUMBLING. The primary reason is this: "...the Federal Trade Commission revised its definition of a ‘diamond’ and removed the word ‘natural’ out of it. Stating that a diamond is a diamond whether it has been cultured in a lab or dug from beneath the earth." This is great news if you're looking to buy a diamond, as prices for ALL diamonds have dropped over 30% since they made this pronouncement about a year ago.... It's not great news if you're looking to sell a diamond you've owned for years. When either type of diamond comes into stores such as our, the equipment we use to authenticate the stone is unable to differentiate between lab-made and out-of-the-dirt. Take a look at the article for some of the benefits of the lab-made diamonds. They're here to stay, folks... https://newsaffinity.com/man-made-diamonds-are-the-future-/