Copyright KRDO
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - The owner of Hallenbeck Coin Gallery says they've had a line out the door for weeks. It's not just sellers; people are buying gold and silver too, despite gold breaking the $4,000 mark for the first time ever. Today gold closed at $4,359.40 and silver at $51.38. Year-to-date, that's a more than 70% increase for silver and more than 60% increase for gold. That's been a big reason for the long lines seen at the Hallenbeck Coin Gallery along Nevada. Many customers in line told KRDO13 that they need the money, and what better time to sell than now? "The prices are higher than they have been for as long as I've known. If I had known what I know today, I would have saved it all for today," Desiree told KRDO13 while waiting in line to sell gold. "It's hard to feed the family. It's hard to do anything. Everything's very expensive." Others said they were selling precious metals to help a family member who's fallen on hard times or fix their car. "I just bought some silver from a guy that was, he was furloughed, and he needs to pay his rent. So he's come in and sell some of his silver. He hates to do it, but he's making good money at the same time," said Tom Hallenbeck, the owner of Hallenbeck Coin Gallery. Hallenbeck has been in the gold and silver business since 1984 and says the only time period to potentially rival what he's seen recently was the economic crisis of 2008. "I've not seen anything quite like this. The momentum is still building, and the volume is just going through the roof. Absolutely stratospheric, right now." But Hallenbeck said many are also coming to buy, despite the high prices.
