Anthem to 19th Avenue: Thirty Minutes South on I-17

Anthem is the last exit before the interstate starts climbing toward Black Canyon City, which makes it the northern edge of the valley rather than a suburb of it. There is no bullion counter up here. The nearest Gold King Bullion location is twenty-two miles south on I-17, inside North Phoenix Pawn on North 19th Avenue above Peoria — about thirty minutes at freeway speed.

It is a single-road trip. South on the I-17, off at Peoria Avenue, and the counter is just north of that crossing on 19th Avenue.

The drive, described plainly

Daisy Mountain Drive gets you onto the interstate, and the I-17 does the rest. The Black Canyon Freeway stretch between Anthem and Peoria is one of the steeper grades in the valley, so the return trip north takes slightly longer than the trip south.

Traffic runs toward Phoenix in the morning and away from it in the afternoon. A midday run in either direction is the least frustrating option.

What the north valley brings

Anthem and the communities around it — New River, Desert Hills, the neighborhoods off Carefree Highway — are newer than most of Phoenix, and the metal that arrives at the counter tends to reflect a mixed pattern: jewelry bought in the last two decades, coins accumulated as savings, and the occasional inheritance from a family member who lived somewhere else entirely.

Two things come up often enough to be worth explaining before the drive.

The first is that retail jewelry does not hold its retail value. A ring bought for several thousand dollars contains a fraction of an ounce of gold, and it is the fraction that gets priced. Brand, design and markup do not survive resale anywhere.

The second is that a coin collection is rarely uniform in value. A tube of common silver and a single key date in the same box can differ enormously, which is why coins are looked at individually rather than weighed as a lot.

What the counter does

Reading the alloy is the first step, and it is done with a gun that measures elemental composition at the surface. It answers the only question that matters before pricing: is this solid, filled, or plated?

Then the scale, with the piece where its owner can watch the number settle. Fine weight is what the trade prices, so the purity result and the gram weight are combined.

Everything after that is arithmetic against the market quote of the minute. Metal does not pause while you drive home and think about it, so no offer can be held overnight.

Coins that might be worth more intact — pre-1933 United States gold, better dates, graded pieces — are examined as objects before metal value applies.

Selling a household's worth

If the visit is a clearance rather than a single item, the preparation is the same as anywhere: gold in one bag, sterling in another, coins separated from currency, paperwork kept with the paperwork.

Nothing needs cleaning. Polishing removes metal and, on coins, removes the surface a collector is paying for.

Call ahead if the load is large enough to need a table rather than a counter. A thirty-minute drive is worth a two-minute phone call.

Buying bullion at the north counter

The North Phoenix counter sells as well as buys. The case carries sovereign gold coins — Eagles, Maples, Krugerrands, Philharmonics — in full-ounce and fractional sizes, along with silver coins and bars and whatever numismatic material has come in over the counter.

Inventory is shared across ten partner locations, so what is in the case on a Saturday may not be there on Tuesday. If a specific piece matters, call first.

For purchases, ask for the premium over spot as a number separate from the metal value, and ask what the same piece would bring on resale. Those two figures are the actual cost of holding metal, and they are rarely written on a price tag.

Nearby alternatives

For most of Anthem, the North Phoenix counter is the obvious choice. Someone already driving to Scottsdale or the East Valley has other options along the way — the Shea Boulevard location, or the Tempe counter on South Rural Road — but neither is closer for a dedicated trip.

Practical notes

Photo identification is required for cash purchases of precious metal. Bullion sales above set thresholds may generate a 1099-B, described on our reporting requirements page.

The locations page lists every counter with its phone number. The selling process is covered on cash for gold. Diamonds follow a separate assessment under selling your diamonds to a trusted buyer. If you were hoping to leave metal with us, the bullion storage page explains why that is the one thing this counter cannot do. Identification rules and terms are in policies.