Three Gold Counters in Mesa: Alma School, Main Street and Broadway

Mesa is the only city where the network runs three counters, and the reason is simple geometry: the city is wide, the freeway runs across its middle, and a single location would leave half of it driving past a competitor. So there are three, each inside a different pawnshop, and the right one depends on which side of Mesa you are starting from.

| Counter | Address | Phone | |---|---|---| | Alma School Pawn and Gold | 752 S Alma School Rd, Mesa, AZ 85210 | (480) 985-2866 | | B & B Pawn and Gold | 1107 E Main St, Mesa, AZ 85203 | (480) 914-4434 | | Oro Express Mesa Pawn & Gold | 421 E Broadway Rd, Mesa, AZ 85204 | (480) 933-7044 |

Which one to choose

Start from where you are. The Alma School counter sits south of the Superstition Freeway, which makes it the natural stop for anyone coming down from the US-60 or across from Tempe and Chandler. The Main Street counter is in the Sherwood Mesa Plaza at Stapley and Main, on the north side of the city, and it is the largest of the three partner locations — the practical choice if you are hauling in a box of flatware rather than a handful of rings. The Broadway Road counter sits in the Temple Historical District and handles a steady trade in jewelry, bullion and coins.

Driving between them is not a project. Broadway to Main Street is under two miles. Alma School to Broadway is roughly two and a half. Whichever one you pick, the other two are a few minutes away, so a wasted trip is unlikely.

What the counters buy

All three work to the same standard, because they are staffed and equipped to the same spec.

Jewelry is the bulk of the traffic — rings, chains, bracelets, earrings, pendants, with or without stones. Condition is close to irrelevant; a chain in three pieces weighs what it weighs. Scrap from hobbyists and small shops comes through as well, along with dental gold, which is priced on contained metal and can include palladium as well as gold.

Silver shows up in two very different forms. There is investment silver, meaning coins and bars with known fineness, and there is household silver — flatware, serving pieces, trays — which is usually sterling and priced accordingly. Both are welcome, and both are weighed rather than estimated.

Coins get split into two piles at the counter. Bullion coins move on metal value. Collectible coins, including pre-1933 United States gold, get looked at as objects first, because a better date in original condition is not a melt proposition.

Testing, weighing, pricing

The procedure is the same at all three counters. An x-ray fluorescence tester reads the metal content of each piece, which is how plated and filled items get filtered out before they waste anyone's afternoon. Weight is taken on a certified scale in front of the customer. The offer is calculated from fine metal content multiplied by the spot price at the moment of the visit.

Spot moves during trading hours. A quote is therefore a snapshot, and the counter will not pretend a number from last week still applies.

If the piece is not something you want to sell once the number is on the table, you take it home. There is no obligation attached to asking.

The East Valley reach of a Mesa counter

These three locations carry most of the East Valley's traffic. Tempe is nine minutes west of the Alma School counter, and Apache Junction residents come in on the US-60 to Broadway. Gold buyers in Gilbert and Queen Creek usually find the Chandler or Mesa counters equally convenient, depending on which freeway they are nearer.

For anyone south of the city, the Broadway counter is the shortest run. For anyone working in north Mesa, Stapley and Main saves the crossing.

Paperwork and policy

Bring a photo ID. Cash purchases of precious metal require a record of the seller, and that applies at all three counters without exception. Sales of bullion bars and certain coins above set thresholds trigger 1099-B reporting, described on our reporting requirements page.

The locations page gives the full network with phone numbers so you can call ahead and confirm what is in the case. The general process is covered on cash for gold. Stones are appraised under a separate service — see selling your diamonds to a trusted buyer. If you are buying to hold rather than to trade, read bullion storage for the opposite of what the phrase suggests: a straight statement that no segregated option exists here. Terms, identification requirements and transaction rules sit in policies.