Gold Cigarette Cases

[bodmino]

Need some advice.

I have several old gold cigarettes cases - family heirloom from way back when.

They are all 9 carat gold - total weight almost 1 kg.

I would like to ‘cash them in’. I don’t think they’re worth much as antiques - who wants a cigarette case these days?

I would like them melted into ingots, but have no idea where to start. The ‘we buy any gold’ sites put me right off, although I’m sure some are reputable.

High Street jeweller perhaps?

[Simpo Two]

You could take them to an auction house for a free valuation before cashing them in at a trade price.

Personally I'd never melt down family heirlooms unless I was desperate for money.

[55palfers]

There are a few places in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham that will "weigh them in"

Get a few quotes

[bodmino]

Thanks Simpo.

Family heirlooms was probably not the correct term. Bought by my old man about 50 years ago as a hedge against inflation. Never used by him for anything other than storing in a drawer.

[Simpo Two]

bodmino said:

Thanks Simpo.

Family heirlooms was probably not the correct term. Bought by my old man about 50 years ago as a hedge against inflation. Never used by him for anything other than storing in a drawer.

Well, I guess you could hang on to them until the price of gold is high

[thebraketester]

I am sure ecain63 on here could help you out

[anonymous-user]

Worth phoning and checking the actual spot rates being offered before you take the trouble to visit anywhere - you will find the range of prices varies significantly and, for the quantity of gold you have, it will make a big difference to the final total you receive.

Personally I wouldn't recommend to using an auction service - you would be able to negotiate their seller fee down to zero, but once you take into account the buyers fee, you won't achieve the maximum possible.

You do need to be a little careful when scrapping gold if you want to achieve the full value - there are quite a few scoundrels and a fair bit of sharp practise in that side of the market.

As a reference point of what you should be aiming for, I have a trade account with these guys for the precious metals we need to melt down - this is their current spot prices.

https://www.mastermeltgroup.com/presman/prices/scr...

I'm not really looking to solicit business on the forum, but as a favour for a PH member, I could arrange for it to be melted down via our account which means you would achieve the prevailing spot rate listed above.

If that would help you out or if you need any advice feel free to send me a PM.

[anonymous-user]

Don’t immediately conclude the best value comes from scrapping them

Have a glance on eBay for similar things and, as others say, speak to an auctioneer or two

You might end up weighing them in, but someone might want them as they are

[ar-em-en]

JPJPJP said:

Don’t immediately conclude the best value comes from scrapping them

Have a glance on eBay for similar things and, as others say, speak to an auctioneer or two

You might end up weighing them in, but someone might want them as they are

Surely this, they've got to be worth more as a collectors item than just as scrap metal

[55palfers]

ar-em-en said:

Surely this, they've got to be worth more as a collectors item than just as scrap metal

Quite.

If I still smoked, given the gruesome nature of fag packets these days, I'd be using a nice case.

[bodmino]

EddieSteadyGo said:

https://www.mastermeltgroup.com/presman/prices/scr...

I'm not really looking to solicit business on the forum, but as a favour for a PH member, I could arrange for it to be melted down via our account which means you would achieve the prevailing spot rate listed above.

If that would help you out or if you need any advice feel free to send me a PM.

Thank you for that very kind offer, and I may well take you up on it.

In the meantime I’m going to have a valuation from a reputable auction house in central Edinburgh (including 19 fob watches also in my possession).

[anonymous-user]

bodmino said:

Thank you for that very kind offer, and I may well take you up on it.

In the meantime I’m going to have a valuation from a reputable auction house in central Edinburgh (including 19 fob watches also in my possession).

No worries. If you do ultimately go down the auction route they will normally ask for a sellers fee. With an item like this, you should ask them to drop their sellers fee - it shouldn't be a difficult negotiation as they will be keen to include the items in their catalogue. Good luck!

[So]

55palfers said:

Quite.

If I still smoked, given the gruesome nature of fag packets these days, I'd be using a nice case.

I've just Googled "antique gold cigarette case" and am going to start smoking just so I can carry one.

[nikaiyo2]

I have used https://www.birminghamgoldcompany.co.uk/ in the past with no issues at all, this was only to sell scrap gold.

[Oakey]

Best be sure though, eh?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03dx2ky

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00pffzx

Edited by Oakey on Wednesday 29th January 17:04

[Brads67]

bodmino said:

Thank you for that very kind offer, and I may well take you up on it.

In the meantime I’m going to have a valuation from a reputable auction house in central Edinburgh (including 19 fob watches also in my possession).

Stick pictures up, especially the fob watches.
I'm after a pocket watch and live local to Edinburgh.

[So]

Brads67 said:

Stick pictures up, especially the fob watches.
I'm after a pocket watch and live local to Edinburgh.

Are you a hipster?

[Brads67]

No just a middle aged fashion trend setter.

You ?

[So]

Brads67 said:

No just a middle aged fashion trend setter.

You ?

Brads, "middle aged" and "trend setter" shouldn't appear in the same sentence.

The young will look at you and think you're an eccentric old man. the middle-aged will be too preoccupied with trying to regain their youth by aping the young and the elderly don't care.

Am I a hipster? No, but I stole the hair and beard from one whilst he was making my coffee at Starbucks.

[DonkeyApple]

bodmino said:

Thanks Simpo.

Family heirlooms was probably not the correct term. Bought by my old man about 50 years ago as a hedge against inflation. Never used by him for anything other than storing in a drawer.

Step one is to establish fair value. As already suggested you need to talk to a couple of auction houses to establish whether that market is likely to pay you more than melt after all the costs are taken into account. To establish a fair melt value you need to take them to at least a few outlets who will give you their price.

At a wild guess, unless there is a booming market for old cases then I suspect melt from a reputable operator is going to be the best price.

Assuming all hallmarked at 9ct and weighing 1kg then you have 375g of gold. So at roughly £45/g you have in the region of £16k of gold. From that you need to deduct the cost of it being melted and the shop’s profit margin.

Having it actually converted into an ingot is pretty difficult as the shops that buy it in don’t themselves do this but rather sell on the scrap to agents who in turn sell it on to the institutions that do create official ingots. Probably the best you could do is haggle over the price of ingots that the shop has on their shelves but it’s worth considering that bullion falls in value the second you walk out of the shop with it so as it has no sentimental value at that point it is also not the best financial transaction.

If you don’t need the money and want to keep the gold then I would think the most logical thing to do would be to find a jeweller who is licensed to hallmark and who can manufacture and pay them to convert your cigarette cases into an object that you can use or get pleasure from like a phone stand or paperweight etc?