“It’s skyrocketing right now”: gold prices higher than ever

SALISBURY, Md – The price of gold has nearly doubled over the past 5 years and has been spiking since February.

Susan Purnell, owner of Kuhn’s Jewelers in Salisbury, said she has spent the past 30 years of her career adjusting to constantly rising gold prices. It never ceases to amaze her: “I always think each year, how can there be more out there? But there is. People are hoarders and they’ve got their gold somewhere.”

But why exactly has there been such a jump recently? Purnell says there’s many factors, but it boils down to some pretty fundamental principles: “I think whenever there’s geopolitical tension, people get that feeling of uncertainty about life. And gold has always been sort of a safe haven for people. It’s also a supply and demand thing. Once people start to want gold and they start to buy gold, the price goes up because demand becomes greater than supply. Pretty simple economics.”

John Robinson, COO of Robinson’s Family of Businesses, has spent years closely watching the price of gold. He said the past few months have been unlike anything he’s seen before, and he doesn’t expect it to stop anytime soon. “You know, you had about $1200 an ounce back then. For gold now, it’s $2400 an ounce. Every day, it seems to be setting a record high over and over.” Robinson said that he has been inundated with people coming in both to buy and sell gold. Especially with the increased volume, when Robinson’s business is buying gold, they perform x-rays and a number of other tests to verify its purity.

Robinson isn’t alone in expecting gold to continue to climb, but does that mean you should keep holding onto your precious metals? Ultimately, the answer comes down to your specific situation.

Susan Purnell’s advice to those wondering if they should sell: “If you need the money, now’s a good time because it’s as high as it’s ever been.”