The price of gold has never been higher.
At over $3,000 per ounce, experts say it's up 18% since January. In the last year the price of gold rose over 30%, and in the last three years it's up over 50%.
But what does this mean for jewelers and consumers? The Scripps News Group in Detroit stopped by a pawn shop and a jewelry store and spoke to a financial advisor to better understand what this means for shoppers.
“It’s really amazing watching the price of gold fluctuate so much," said Les Gold, president of American Jewelry and Loan.
His name might sound familiar. That's because Gold and his family starred in the reality TV show “Hardcore Pawn" from 2010 to 2015.
“When I got into the business, gold was $36 an ounce," he said.
Today, it's at an all-time high. Jordan Rosenberg, partner at The Rosenberg Group and financial advisor at Bair, said market uncertainty is just one reason why we're seeing a spike.
“Gold is historically viewed as a good hedge against inflation, hedge meaning a place of safety to offset some of the volatility in the traditional financial markets, or the stock market," said Rosenberg.
He added that central banks are also increasing their holdings in gold.
“What that is doing is it is having an upward pressure on the price of gold. When there is a greater demand for something and the supply is fixed, that’s going to lead to higher prices," said Rosenberg.
It could mean more money in your wallet if you like to trade in your gold.
“It’s like a wearable investment," said Gold.
The Scripps News Group spoke to one of Gold's regular customers, who saw the price jump on the gold chain he recently sold.
“I want to say about eight months ago, I paid roughly six, seven hundred dollars for it, and Les offered me $1,300 for it," said Derek Attard.
Jewelers are seeing substantial price hikes in gold as well.
“We’ve noticed dramatic increases from just a year ago when it was in the $2,200 range per ounce to over $3,000 now," said Mike Schowalter, co-owner of Miner's Den Jewelers.
But he says he doesn't think this price increase is that noticeable to his customers.
“Remember, a pair of earrings might just be a fraction of an ounce of gold, so they don’t perceive that the price is any higher," said Schowalter.
Those we spoke to say it’s possible the price of gold per ounce could keep climbing. But Schowalter was skeptical about how much more the price can go up.
"I can’t see it going too much higher," he said. "Again, I can’t see it going down much either."
“It could be four, five thousand dollars an ounce," Gold added.
This story was originally published by Jolie Sherman with the Scripps News Group.
