Fort Knox of Alameda

When buying or selling gold there is only one place I trust. Fort Knox. There are lots of other shops like it throughout oakland (im sure you’ve seen there commercials) but they seem untrustworthy.

Update :
So here I am a month after the pickled proprietor of this establishment had me cuffed up in front of my 6 year old son. The day I walked in the Internet and phone service was disconnected et this shop and the pen tester that they use to test gold had a dead battery. So the owners decide that they should accuse me of selling fake gold and try to get me arrested. After 2 hrs of being cuffed in the back of a police car while my son looks through the window crying my coins were seized for investigation.
Well… a month has gone by and low and behold I’m spending more of my time waiting in the alameda pd waiting for my property (that’s all been tested by the secret service).
This is a terrible place. This man is visibly drunk and has no right to abuse his public trust.
Before you wave the fickle finger of pledgurism make sure you have evidence to back up you opinion.

I was recommended to Fort Knox on the advice of another coin dealer to inquire about whether a few rarer coins that I had were cleaned. The owner of Fort Knox was very helpful and knowledgable, willing to help even if you want him to grade a coin that wasn’t bought from him.
I went on to buy a few other coins, which were at an excellent price. Several other customers came in, who were served by the lady at the shop, who I later learned was the owner’s wife. They were all respectfully greeted and serviced. From what I see, this is one of the fairest coin dealers in the Bay Area.

I’ve been a regular customer at Fort Knox of Alameda for a solid decade. Over the years I’ve learned this family owned and operated shop provides a personal buying experience that can only be offered by individuals with a lengthy tenure in the precious metals business. A majority of the «Cash For Gold» shops have no idea what they’re doing. Many are operated by folks who are borderline criminals. I base that on personal experiences not hearsay.
Weather I’m in the market for bullion, a particular rare coin, or even a uniquely cut diamond, Fort Knox always manages to produce exactly what I’m looking for. They often have additional options that end up exceeding my initial expectations. On top of that I always leave knowing I’ve received the best possible price. This is very important to me when spending sizable amounts of money.
With that said, its pretty obvious to anyone who has legitimately visited Fort Knox that the negative reviews were composed by individuals allowing their personal issues to exhaust via fraudulent feedback. The details, grammar and overall scenarios are ridiculous. I’ve referred countless friends and family members here and received nothing but positive feedback.
If you’re considering investing in precious metals or want to generate some extra cash by selling your unwanted jewelry give this place a try. I’m confident you will experience the same level of customer care that has retained me as a customer over the past ten years.

If I could give zero stars I would. Went in there the other day and watched the male owner berate an older African American woman with her grandbaby and then ask her to leave! Myself, my daughter and another customer all left. I told him I would never be back. The woman was near tears. I did my best to comfort her but it was sad and disheartening.

These guys are so wonderful. I have sold scrap gold for years, and recently found this place while in alameda. I was surprised at the cash offered for the small amount of gold i brought to them. Not to mention, both men behind the counter were engaging and fun to talk to — and were incredibly nice. I even was given a lesson on gold coloring. Awesome.

I’ve come here multiple times and each time I’ve received great customer service. Ive sold my gold, as well as friends’ and Mike has given me a great deal every time. i never feel taken advantage of and they’re so welcoming every time any one walks through the door. Ive checked out other pawn shops before when i was looking to sell the old jewelry an ex gave me and Fort Knox definitely proven to be the most reliable and convenient.

We had been looking for a specific kind of diamond earrings since November. We had been to a bunch of places but nothing seemed quite right — or if it seemed right, it wasn’t the right price. We stopped into Fort Knox on a whim. Like others have said — they don’t have a lot of stuff in their cases, so I was skeptical at first. But we told Mike what we were looking for and he said they would look around. Mike Jr. knew exactly what we were describing and I felt confident he would find something for us to at least look at.
We got a call the next day from Linda saying she had found some things for us to view. We went in and the earrings were huge! Not what I planned on but they began to grow on me even because the quality and the price were definitely on point! Now that they are in my ears, I love them. We will certainly be back.
They are not pushy, and all bring something different to the sale, which I appreciate. Oh, and they even fed the meter for us! Sweet. :-)

I have had such a fantastic experience with Mike and Linda. I knew I wanted a vintage wedding band not something super common. I got told by numerous people to go check out Fort Knox and so I did. They were so friendly and so helpful. They answered all my questions and just were overall amazing. Super warm and friendly. They were so knowledgable and just a great family to work with. I ended up getting a really fantastic wedding band, with a fantastic price. They had trouble getting it sized but they did not give up on me! Now I have a perfect wedding ring!
I also bought vintage diamond cuff links for my husband as a wedding gift and they worked with me on pricing and design. Shane Co. or large jewry companies, no thanks! I’ll stick to an amazing family that took wonderful care of me and my husband. They have gained a lifer customer!

I have bought and sold gold and silver here for over a decade and Mike Sr., Jr., and Linda have always been very helpful and knowledgeable about precious metals, antiques, and collectibles. This is the go to place in the Bay Area!:)

Fort Knox is always a good place to go to for business. They are always professional and it is a great place to turn in items that are no longer needed to make some good money. This is a great place to turn to when you need to stay ahead in the game.

I’ve known Mike sr/​jr and Linda for years have not had nothing but great turnouts every time I went to them to buy or sell gold or other precious gems they take very good time in making sure you are takin care of and they also do a great job of give me a high payout on the gold selling. even when they’re busy they never make you feel as if you don’t have time to take your business and are always interested in how my days going Askari. there now good friends of mine and also my only go to for gold business

It was the day after 4^th of July and I needed to check if my broken necklaces and such were worth any money.
When I arrived I saw a note on the door saying they were closed, but an employee that happened to be outside told me they were there, and then I heard a buzz that ushered me into the locked premises. Immediately I realized that they were particular about who they sold to.
A few moments later the man I dealt with gave me a good price on my jewelry and I was out the door 100 dollars richer than before.
I was surprised at how much money broken jewelry was worth. He even took out the diamonds for me since they didn’t have any value and gave them back to me. I can now pay for a background check and get fingerprinted for a new job, with money to spare. I highly recommend Fort Knox when you need to pawn some scrap gold!

…This review is for Fort Knox, Alameda, CA. About 2 years ago, I went in to buy some silver dollars as gifts and Linda and Mike (her son???) were very helpful, patient, and professional.
…Now that I want to invest in silver bullion coins, I remembered their superb service and went in on May 7, 2013 to buy some. I was very happy to see that Linda and Mike were the same patient, well-​spoken and courteous professionals as they were two years ago.
…There was a customer ahead of me, selling about 10 pieces of jewelry and Linda treated her very well. I asked Linda if I should wait outside, and she said to stay, so I looked around for about 10 minutes. The customer left with an overflow of «thank you» and smiling.
…Then Linda patiently showed me several silver bullion coins and let me pick through her huge stock, while explaining their selling and buying policies. By the way, another coin shop in Alameda charges more for coins and adds sales tax !
…Quality Of Life is much more important than matters of money, and if you want to maintain your Quality Of Life by doing business with patient, respectful professionals, I want you to know that my Quality Of Life was enhanced by my buying experience with Linda and Mike.

Cool place to bring down old jewelry you don’t want any more or stuff grandma gave you. They will tell you if it’s junk or not and give you a fair price. Fast, friendly service and you can also purchase treasure here as well. I’ve gone twice and walked away with cash in my pocket, of course Starbucks took that cash!

These folks are super rude and disrespectful. When you go in there’s absolutely nothing. It’s dead. It looks like a front for a drug operation. Empty display case. I bought silver coins in to sell it and there was this young woman working that treated me like a criminal. I was shocked. Very belligerent with me. What’s more crazy is she offered me a super low amount for my silver coins. Super below spot approximately 60% below spot. She was super dismissive toward me. She treating me like a junkie. I just declined it and left and she seemed to not care either.

Really impressed by this shop.
It looks bigger from the outside since it’s on a downtown corner.
Stopped by to say hello and check out the goods, I picked up some coins elsewhere early in the morning from a private individual and wanted to see if I could get some airtight coin cases. Was in the area on business and saw it before.
I dreaded driving across the bay to Coin Broker in Palo Alto to get airtight cases and giving the pitiful proprietor make a dollop of profit off me. Couldn’t find them online.
Linda helped me and gave me free used ones, I was like holy cow! You sure I can’t pay for these? «Oh, they’re used.»
Wow, customer service man. I’m impressed. Alameda has some pleasant surprises.
Would do business again.
Asked about going rates for 10 ounce bars of Ag as well, $ 2 over spot. Not too high, not low either, but somewhat reasonable.
I appreciated the kind gesture either way and look forward to buy/​sell in the future here.

My husbands co-​worker told him about this place and said this was the place to go when selling jewelry. They pay much better that the kiosk at the mall or the one through the mail. I had some items that I hadn’t used in a long time and we decided to give it a shot.
I brought 5 pieces of jewelry that was sitting in my jewelry box for years and to my surprise the amount they offered was much more than we expected. Needless to say we were very SATISFIED!
BTW: The whole transaction took less than 10 minutes and they gave cash in hand.

So there I was at the beginning of the holiday season last year, all bummed out because once again I had very little money with which to buy gifts for those I love. I had some scrap gold that I had been meaning to sell for quite a long time, but I kept talking myself out of it because I’ve had mostly bad experiences trying to sell that kind of thing; plus things hadn’t been going too well for me, and I was sure that this too wouldn’t work out.
But a friend of mine had told me that I would get a square deal at Fort Knox; and one day I was so completely broke that I finally decided to try anyway.
It was so cool! The gentleman and his son were very kind and courteous to me. Generally, people who buy gold have been almost insulting in my experience; I was really surprised how nice these guys were.
And when he handed me the money, I almost fell over! Safe to say, it was waaay more than I ever thought I would get.
The rest of my holiday season was very merry indeed.
I will always remember how stoked I felt walking out of there that day.

This place has been in Alameda as long as i can remember! Ever since i was a kid I can remember Fort Knox being here on the corner of Park & Lincoln…
When i was younger my Dad would take me here. We’d look at some of the jewelery they had in the cases and he would sometimes sell back old rings and such…
One personal experience I had here didn’t go so well… The sign in the window says «WE BUY GOLD», So I brought in some old gold I had laying around that is apparently considered «Scrap». I don’t know much about trading in gold for cash, but the lady behind the counter seemed disgusted with me that i would even consider bringing in «scrap» gold to sell her… A simple, «Oh i’m sorry, we don’t accept that kind of gold here…» would have been nice, but it was more like *takes a look at my gold* «We don’t want your SCRAP» *turns around and ignores me*
I’ll give it 3 stars because this place is A-​OK. I have fonder memories of this place from when i was younger, so i won’t let the scrap lady bring the star rating down too hard…