Gardens Gold & Loan "Cash for Gold" — Local services in Hawaiian Gardens

So, here’s a little adventure for anyone considering selling gold dental crowns (yes, you read that right—dental crowns). I recently accompanied my father to a tooth extraction, and as a parting gift, he let me take his gold crown home. A family keepsake? Nah, I saw gold and thought, “Cha-ching!”

I called Gardens Gold & Loan to see if they dealt with dental gold, and they said yes but were mysterious about how much they’d pay—probably trying to maintain the element of surprise. When I finally went in, they used an XRF Gold Tester (sounds fancy, right?) to check the fineness. Turns out it was about 14K, or 53%-58% pure gold. Not the treasure chest I imagined, but hey, it’s still gold!

Then came the “pennyweight plot twist.” I asked for the weight in grams, and the guy pointed at the scale, which showed about 1.8. I quickly noticed it was measured in pennyweight (pwt), not grams, so I pressed him, and he explained. For anyone not familiar, 1 pwt equals about 1.555 grams. I’m still not sure why they use pennyweight—most scales show grams, ounces, and even troy ounces—but hey, you live and learn.

After doing a little math based on the current gold price of $85.40 per gram, I calculated the melt value to be around $127 at 53% purity. Here's where it got interesting. The offer? $80 cash, all in. That's about 63% of the melt value, which is a little lower than the 70-80% I expected but still within reason for dental gold (apparently, it’s a niche market). Plus, they gave me a few complimentary mini bottles of water—hydration = gold, right? So, I accepted the offer to save myself from making the rounds for an extra $10.

The whole process took less than five minutes, and while there were a couple of small hiccups—like the shifting fineness estimate (from 57%-58% to 53% when I started crunching numbers) and the pennyweight-to-gram confusion—I left mostly satisfied. They didn’t lowball too hard, and although the transparency could’ve been better, the deal was quick, friendly, and hassle-free. No receipt was offered, but I wasn’t too concerned, given the hydration bonus!

Here’s a little inside scoop the guy shared: they get a lot of dental workers bringing in gold crowns. Turns out, many patients don’t know their crowns are worth decent money, and dental practices don’t always inform them. So, the dental staff collects the “scrap” gold and sells it—sometimes walking away with thousands of dollars from a week or two of patient extractions. Wild, right?

Bottom line: If you’ve got some dental gold lying around and don’t feel like making the rounds for a slightly better offer, this place will do the job. Just keep an eye on those units of measurement and be ready for some impromptu math. And don’t forget to grab your complimentary water on...

I went to Gardens two separate times in April. Shaun and David both give outstanding customer service. They both are friendly, knowledgable and take their time to check and explain what they are doing. I even learned some history about gold and silver. I did not feel cheated leaving Gardens, I felt they were fair and cared about the customer and their situation. Definitely refer...

I highly recommend this place for any sale gold needs. The man offered me a statisfication offer. They have lots of snacks and are very designed to avoid any Covid-19 interaction so need to worry about hand to hand transaction. It is very safe and professional. I'm glad I stopped by and sold my unwanted gold jewelry. Their ratings are the truth of the...