Oct. 8--South Floridians reacting to a lousy economy aren't exactly swarming area pawn shops, desperate to sell fancy appliances, wide-screen TVs or other toys purchased in rosier times.

"We haven't really seen any big difference at all," said Jeff Sheets, whose family owns the Delray Pawn Shop in Delray Beach. "It stays pretty steady."

But when folks do visit their local pawnbroker these days, it's often to take advantage of record-high prices for gold. Granny's old jewelry is fetching top dollar, pawnbrokers say.

"We've seen an increase in the last six months," said Tim Mertens, manager of National Pawn & Jewelry in Fort Lauderdale. "It's a few things, actually, the economy, the way gold is fluctuating."

Mertens' 22,000-square-foot outlet, in operation since 1950, has seen a 15 to 20 percent jump in business in the past half-year, much of it from people eager to sell gold, which is commanding its highest price in 25 years. "It's the biggest bang for your dollar," he said.

Though prices can vary daily, gold this week was going for $873 an ounce, compared to $450 less than two years ago. Anthony Coppola, owner of Davie Pawn & Jewelry, said the cash bonanza from something that now may be languishing in an old jewelry box has savvy customers heading to pawn windows.

"Business has increased somewhat, but your business is going to increase because the price of gold is higher," he said. "People are selling their unwanted jewelry."

Those baubles can take the form of heirloom gold or more modern jewelry that has simply gone out of style. Red gold is all the rage these days, for example, and people can realize a gilded return from selling their out-of-fashion yellow gold.

Most of the out-of-style gold has scrap value only, Coppola said, and is sold to refineries. There, it's melted into bullion and put on the gold market to be bought and sold like stocks.

There may be no major gold rush at Brooks Pawn & Jewelry in Wilton Manors, owner David Brooks said, but he says a pawn shop will always serve a need in tough times.

"It's a good place to go," he said. "The banks are out of money."

Robert Nolin can be reached at rnolin@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4525.

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