CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It's the ultimate proof that one person's trash is somebody else's treasure, and it's showing up at Ernie Perry's SouthPark store every day.

"Everybody had a rope chain of some sort," Perry said. "Everybody had the gold beads, you know, that was the fad."

With gold at near-record prices, Perry said more and more people are bringing in the stuff they never wear anymore.

Broken chains, loose or mismatched pieces - it doesn't matter. It'll all be melted down and sold.

"Just for cleaning out the jewelry box they do pretty well sometimes," Perry said.

Perry said the reason for the gold rush is a strong economy in several countries, sending demand sky-high.

The Chinese are one of the big factors. read more