Gold rush in Summerside

SUMMERSIDE - Philip Sullivan, owner of Jewellery Plus on Water Street, has seen it all during gold's impressive run to the magical $1,000 an ounce threshold.
"I had a client who had a tooth pulled and he said after he got the bill (from his dentist), 'give me that tooth back. I want to get some money out of this.'"
A female client brought in a partial bridge.
"She bought it at a flea market or a yard sale."
What items does he buy?
"Everything from broken chains, to single earrings, to gold coins, to gold engagement rings and wedding bands, stuff (customers) inherited, stuff with stones missing."
About 30 to 40 per cent of customers are interested in trade-ins.
Sullivan keeps a close eye on market prices every day, which determines his payments to customers.
When will it end?
"Most bull runs in gold last about 10 years and we're only about four and a half years into it," said Sullivan.
He added there's another metal for investors to keep an eye on.
"I personally think silver's got a bigger percentage growth ahead of it than gold right now," said Sullivan.
"If we look at the historical ratio between gold and silver, it's typically about 27 to 1 and it's currently at (about) 50 to 1.
"So either gold's way too high, or silver's way too low and my bet is silver is low."
Many horde the metal in coin collections.
"Anything pre-1967 in Canadian coins has 80 per cent silver," said Sullivan.
Silver recently hit $20 an ounce before retreating to just over $18.
"I feel silver could hit $50 an ounce before gold hits $2,000," said Sullivan.
These days you never know what customers will bring through the door with them.
"One day it's a gold coin, the next day it's a $5,000 strand of pearls and the next day it's a $10,000 pocket watch collection and (then) it's a two carat emerald cut diamond."
Sullivan keeps a digital scale on hand to measure the weight of gold objects to determine payment.
Sullivan, into the trading of used jewelry and other valuable items for more than two years, says the scrap market has taken off.
In the past three months, he's made more on scrap items later sold to a refiner and melted down than for all of last year.
The mounting demand for gold and other commodities has been fuelled by a constant stream of stories in the national media.
"It gets people thinking, 'maybe I should look through my old jewel box to see what's in there,'" said Sullivan.