Calgary gold retailers see 'huge increase' in business as precious metal prices soar

Precious metal prices spiked this week, with gold valued at around $7,000 an ounce and silver worth about $150 an ounce, as of Tuesday afternoon.

Soaring prices have led to what Canada Gold founder Chris Pollock calls "a huge increase in customers looking to liquidate bullion they've collected over the years."

Canada Gold, which has 17 locations in Canada and the U.S., saw significant lineups at its two Calgary locations this week.

Pollock recalls when Canada Gold opened its first Calgary location, silver was worth about $15 per ounce, and gold prices had just crossed $1,000 per ounce.

That's a far cry from the latest numbers.

"We're seeing Canadians who just collected some silver dimes or silver quarters that they saw in their change in decades past ... now it's worth getting close to 100 times the face value on the coins," Pollock said.

"And so as we see the silver prices climbing, we're getting an absolute skyrocketing of the demand for customers who are looking for the service that we offer, to give them cash for their silver products."

But not everyone's looking to sell right now.

"I'm trying to buy gold, although there's a long lineup, so it probably won't be today," said Charles Richer, one of many people waiting at the northwest Calgary Gold location on Tuesday.

Experts have pointed to numerous factors influencing precious metal price increases, including rising demand, hedging against inflation, and government institutions investing in gold rather than the U.S. dollar due to geopolitical instability.

Tim Kiladze, a financial reporter for the Globe and Mail, calls the soaring prices and demand "investor pandemonium."

"In the last few years, gold has really started to take off," he told CBC Radio's Calgary Eyeopener.

"Now you have this crazy demand coming in, while supply is relatively fixed," Kiladze said. "It's kind of this perfect storm for gold prices to go up, because it's just classic business."

But he says it's unclear what demand for precious metals will look like in the near future.