Record Gold Prices Help Change Way Pawn Shops Do Business

The rising price of gold against the dollar is changing how pawn shops in Smyrna do business. It’s also changing how people view their most sentimental pieces of jewelry.

Beginning May 16, all city pawn shops will be required to upload photographs and fingerprints of sellers into an electronic database that can be viewed by law enforcement officials at the state and local level.

The Smyrna City Council recently amended the pawnbrokers’ ordinance in an attempt to limit the accidental sale of stolen property at pawn shops.

“Pawns go way up with the economy the way it is,” said Chris Singleton, a detective with the . “Of course with the rising cost of gold, people want to steal gold to take it to the pawn shop to get more money.’’

The price of gold rose to a record-breaking $1,500 an ounce this week. A tough economy coupled with gold’s rising value makes for an increase in thefts according to police.

Jason Wallace, a pawnbroker at on Windy Hill Road, explained.

“Well, whenever something goes up in price people steal it more often,” he said. “That’s like when platinum went up in price, people would go to the mall and start cutting catalytic converters out of cars and start scrapping them for stuff. At all the scrap metal places when metal was really high, they started taking pictures of licenses and all this kind of stuff because people were bringing 'hot' stuff in.”

It is especially hard to determine if jewelry has been stolen because it isn’t marked with a serial number.

“If you don’t know who took it, or have a sneaking suspicion, it would be very hard to find it,” Wallace said.

Wallace has to use good judgment when purchasing jewelry. He also works closely with local law enforcement officials.

“When I have an 18-year-old kid bring in a $3,000 chain or something, it kind of sets off a light,” he said. “And I’ll call Chris; I’m proactive. A thief is no friend of mine.”

The amended ordinance requires that pawnbrokers take photos of both the item and the seller and upload them to a database called Business Watch International. The Business Watch International software is free for police departments to access. This measure will possibly help law enforcement officials identify stolen property sooner.

Singleton explained that Smyrna’s old ordinance was no longer current.

“We’re sending it electronically now,'' he said. "Nothing was in the ordinance before that said they had to do it electronically; it was all hand-written. We also had to add where they have to take an ID-quality photo of the person and a fingerprint of the person.’’

Smyrna’s amended ordinance is part of a wider trend across Georgia. Gwinnett and Cherokee counties, as well as the cities of Rome and Douglasville have all recently updated their pawnbroker ordinances.

Singleton hopes that the entire state will start using Business Watch International.

“That would help us all,” he said. “We could go on the software and find if our property being pawned in any city that has this same software.”

Wallace sees between five and 10 customers selling gold each day. The decade-long rise of the gold price against the dollar has led to the proliferation of cash-for-gold businesses and offers and prompted some people to dig through jewelry boxes and drawers to cash in their old gold. One such person is Travis Edwards, who stopped by Smyrna Pawn Brokers on Wednesday to sell a gold chain that was given to him by his estranged wife.

Wallace weighed the necklace to determine its weight, and then treated it with acid to determine how much gold it contained. It is $10 a gram for 10 karat gold, while 14 karat gold is worth $15 a gram.

Once Wallace and Edwards agreed on the price, Edwards signed a form and rolled his right index finger across an inkpad to leave his print next to his signature. He then received $200 for the chain.

“It was a little less than 14 karat,” he said. “It would have been worth a lot more if it was 14. I don’t know anything about it. I’ve had the thing for years and years and years.”

At first, Edwards wasn’t too sentimental about selling the necklace, explaining he “needed the money.’’ But then while touching his collarbone where the necklace used to rest, he added, “I’ll miss it hanging on my neck because it’s been there so long.''

Pawnbrokers in Smyrna will begin using the new software on a trial basis next week. The new ordinance won’t be formally enforced until mid-May to give employees time to learn the new software.

Once the ordinance officially takes effect, pawnbrokers will be guilty of a misdemeanor if they fail to comply.

“A citation is written for each violation,” Singleton said. “Whether it be the wrong serial number put in the computer or it’s them not reporting as they’re supposed to. The new ordinance spells that out where we can write citations for any and all violations if we chose to do so.”