ANDERSON — Frankton resident Kathryn Hobbs sat waiting for her coins to be assessed by evaluators at the Treasure Hunters Roadshow on Monday.

Armed with a bag of old coins she found, Hobbs was looking to make some money from the coins.

Coins, while still popular collection items, are worth more for the metal than the historical value, said Archie Davis, roadshow representative.

“A gentleman will come in with a stack of coins, and could leave with $20,000,” Davis said.

While the roadshow constantly moves from place to place, businesses in the area say they are seeing effects of rising metal prices.

“We know that the amount of business, our loan business and things bringing in to sell us have gone up,” said Jerry Rubenstein, general manager of Allan’s Jewelry and Loan. “Once gas went over three dollars a gallon, we have a seen a large increase.”

During the past few years, gold, silver and platinum prices have doubled. In July 2005, the price of gold was near $425 per ounce. On Wednesday, gold was selling around $925 per ounce.

“It’s amazing how much it’s gone up,” said Steve Quirk, co-owner of Standt’s Fine Jewelry. “It’s made pricing in catalogs absolutely obsolete. We have to call manufacturers to find out the correct pricing now.”

Once Allan’s collects enough gold, silver and platinum, the business sends the metal to a refinery in Illinois. After the metal is refined, the business gets a percentage of the worth back. Rubenstein did not comment on how much the business collects before it sends the metal to the refinery.

For the customer who is looking to make some money, the high prices mean more cash in his pocket. However, the high prices will eventually be passed on to the consumer who wishes to purchase jewelry and other metal items, Quirk said.

“I would say, it hasn’t yet had much of an effect on our business, but it’s had a big effect on the people we buy off of, our vendors or wholesalers, the manufacturers,” he said. “They’re the ones who have to pay the high price of metal, and it’s passed on to us.”

However, Standt’s has enough in stock at old prices to delay the price increase, Quirk said.

Rubenstein said he believed the price jump was related to a weak dollar and more demand for the metal.

“The U.S. dollar isn’t worth a lot, and countries other than the United States who purchase gold are pushing up the price,” he said. “The other part is that the economy of India and the economy of China have gotten to the point where people who couldn’t buy it before can and want to.”