Disclaimer: We are reader supported. We may be compensated from the links in this post, if you use products or services based on our expert recommendations. Please read our Advertising Disclosure.
South Florida Coins & Jewelry has operated out of downtown Lake Worth since 2007, buying rare coins, bullion, scrap gold, fine jewelry, watches and diamonds from both collectors and walk-in sellers.
The business sits at 515 Lucerne Avenue, a few miles from Palm Beach island, and is run by George Hornberger, who has worked in the coin and bullion trade for more than three decades.
This review looks at what the shop buys, how its pricing model works, and what the current metals market means for anyone in Palm Beach County thinking about selling.
Key Takeaways
- South Florida Coins & Jewelry buys rare coins, bullion, scrap gold, diamonds and watches from a single Lake Worth location that has been open since 2007.
- Gold traded near $4,050 per troy ounce and silver near $58 per ounce in early August 2026, both up sharply from a year earlier.
- Palm Beach County's senior population (25.4% of residents are 65 or older) makes local demand for coin and estate jewelry liquidation higher than the state average.
Before we get started with this review:
We understand how difficult it is to pick a company that you can trust with your hard earned savings. That's why we create informative and useful information to give you as much knowledge as possible to make the right decision.
We created a list of our highest recommended investment companies, to make comparing and choosing the company best suited to your needs as easy as possible.
Look to see if South Florida Coins & Jewelry was selected to our "highest recommendation" list this year!
Or...
Get a FREE Gold Investing Packet from our #1 recommendation:
Protect Your Wealth & Get Huge Tax Savings!
Who Runs It and What They Buy
George Hornberger has been a PCGS and NGC authorized dealer for years, which matters more than it might sound. Those two organizations grade and certify rare coins, and dealer authorization isn't handed out casually.
It requires a track record and industry references. The shop's buy list covers old and rare U.S. and foreign coins, gold and silver bullion in coins, rounds and bars, scrap gold and platinum (10K, 14K, 18K), sterling silver, loose diamonds, diamond jewelry, and designer watches including brands like Rolex and Patek Philippe.
That's a wide net. Some coin shops specialize narrowly in numismatics and treat gold buying as an afterthought.
This one runs bullion, scrap, and rare coins as parallel business lines, which is typical for shops that have survived multiple metals cycles rather than opening during a single price spike.
A previous North Palm Beach location has closed. House calls are still available in that area, and the Lake Worth store remains the only permanent physical location. Hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Metals Market Right Now
Anyone selling gold or silver in 2026 is selling into an unusually strong market. Gold hit an all-time high of $5,602.22 per troy ounce on January 28, 2026, before pulling back. As of early August, spot gold traded in the $4,040 to $4,100 range.
Silver set its own record on January 29, 2026, at $121.67 per ounce, and was trading near $58 in the first days of August, a level that would have sounded absurd five years ago.
| Metal | Early August 2026 Spot Price | 2026 Record High | Record Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | ~$4,050/oz | $5,602.22/oz | Jan 28, 2026 |
| Silver | ~$58/oz | $121.67/oz | Jan 29, 2026 |
Gold has appreciated roughly 123% over the past five years, according to Forbes Advisor. That kind of run changes the math for anyone holding old jewelry, flatware, or a coffee can of inherited coins.
A gold chain that would have fetched $200 in scrap value a decade ago is worth considerably more today at melt value alone, before any collector or design premium gets factored in.
Why does this matter for a shop review specifically? Because pricing transparency becomes more important as spot prices climb.
Dealers pay a percentage of spot, and that percentage (the "buy rate") varies by shop, by item condition, and sometimes by how busy the buyer is that week.
South Florida Coins states it keeps commissions low because of high trade volume, though it does not publish specific buy-rate percentages on its site, which is standard practice across the industry, not unique to this dealer.
Local Market Context
Palm Beach County's demographics shape demand for this kind of business more than people might assume. About 25.4% of county residents are 65 or older, compared with 21.8% statewide and 18% nationally.
That's roughly 400,000 people. Estate liquidation, inherited jewelry, and coin collections built up over decades tend to concentrate in areas with older populations, and Palm Beach County fits that profile closely.
The county's population sits around 1.58 million as of 2025, making it the third largest in Florida.
It's also a market with real income depth: the median household income in the town of Palm Beach itself runs well above six figures, and the broader county area near Lake Worth serves as a natural convergence point between working-class sellers and estate sales from wealthier coastal communities.
South Florida Coins lists its service area as Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens, North Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, Palm Beach, Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Lantana, Manalapan, Boynton Beach, Boca Raton, and Deerfield Beach.
That's a wide radius, and it makes sense given how few independent coin and bullion buyers with real numismatic credentials operate in this stretch of the coast.
Protect Your Wealth & Get Huge Tax Savings!
Reputation and Reviews
Public review volume for this business is modest but consistent. The Better Business Bureau lists the company as unaccredited but with no major complaint history flagged on its profile, and BBB records show the business has been operating since 2007. Yelp shows 15 reviews as of mid-2026.
That's a small sample compared to national pawn chains, but small numismatic and bullion shops rarely generate large review counts, since most of their customers are one-time sellers rather than repeat retail shoppers posting reviews after every visit.
What comes up repeatedly in third-party summaries of customer feedback is a pattern: sellers describe the staff as knowledgeable and the pricing process as transparent rather than pressured.
That tracks with the company's own stated philosophy of avoiding high-pressure sales tactics and giving no-obligation quotes.
Whether that holds up for every transaction is something only a seller can judge in person.
No online review count, however positive, substitutes for getting a second quote before selling anything of real value.
How It Compares
Lake Worth and the surrounding Palm Beach County market has other coin dealers, including shops with even longer track records. A useful practice for sellers: get at least two quotes before parting with anything, whether that's scrap gold, a coin collection, or a watch.
Price spreads between dealers on the same item can run 10 to 20 percentage points of spot value, particularly on scrap gold and silver where there's no collector premium to argue about.
South Florida Coins offers free appraisals, which removes the cost barrier to comparison shopping. There's no reason not to use it.
The Verdict
South Florida Coins & Jewelry is a long-running, credentialed buyer in a market where gold and silver prices are near historic highs and Palm Beach County's older population creates steady local demand for coin and jewelry liquidation.
Sellers should still get a second quote before any transaction, since that's true of every dealer in this industry, not just this one.