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Many people, especially women, have a collection of gold, silver and platinum jewelry they just don’t wear.  Either the style is outdated or their lifestyle has changed or they were left the jewelry by a deceased relative or friend and never really liked it.

If this applies to you, now is the time to take advantage of skyrocketing gold prices to turn old bling into fast cash. The price of gold has skyrocketed in the last few months. The last time gold prices soared like this was 1980, when the annual average price was $612 an ounce, the equivalent of $1,660 in today’s dollars.

Gold refiners, wholesalers and jewelers say the number of people wanting to cash out their gold has picked up a great deal in the past year. People are cashing in not just their old or broken jewelry, but also gold bars and coins they bought for investment purposes. Jewelry stores, pinched by a softening economy, are selling their old inventory to refiners, too.

If you’re ready to cash in on this modern-day gold rush keep in mind that gold prices are quoted based on pure gold, or 24 karats. Most jewelry is 14-karat, though some better pieces are made from 18 karat, and cheaper jewelry is often 10 karats. So gold pieces are worth only a proportionate fraction of the 24-karat price. In other words, a 14-karat gold bracelet is valued at 58.5% of the 24-karat gold price.

The karat is usually stamped on the jewelry, but is sometimes too small to see with the naked eye, so you may have to rely on the dealers to tell you the exact composition of the jewelry.

Gold is most often measured in penny weights, with 20 penny weights equaling an ounce. Again, a dealer will determine the weight of the items you want to sell.

If you are lucky enough to have a metal refiner or indepedent precious metal buyer in your area, you can go direct to them to sell your valuables.  If not, there a number of internet sources available who make it easy for you to do business with them.

Usually after you contact the company, they will send you a mailing envelope to place your jewelry in.  Then you overnight it back to them at the company’s expense and a representative will give you a quote within the next day or two. If you decline the offer, the jewelry will be sent back at no charge to you. If you accept you can expect a payment to be processed within 24 hours. Usually you can choose a wire transfer, or have the money sent via PayPal or by postal mail.

So if need to make some fast cash to pay down debt, pay for the holidays or just make a nice addition to your bank account, go through you jewelry box and sell your unwanted or broken items.