Signs around Cherokee County advertising businesses that buy gold may not pop up so fast in the future.
Like counties around metro Atlanta, Cherokee adopted rules Tuesday that may discourage some from getting into the business.
Cherokee's rules will make gold buyers take fingerprints and check personal identification of sellers, photograph the items sold and register them electronically so the sheriff's office can, for instance, check them against reports of stolen items. Buyers will have to purchase fingerprinting machines, which cost about $200 each, and there are other expenses that probably won't be apparent until the system is up and running.
"We are just looking for a better investigative tool to help us monitor the scrap gold that goes through the different businesses here in Cherokee County to hopefully improve our success rate in locating victims' jewelry and arresting those responsible," said Lt. Thomas Pinyan of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office.
Gold buyers have sprung in the county as prices have risen from about $900 per ounce two year ago to near $1,500. The county is unable to track the number of people in the business because they need only a standard business license, but County Chairman Buzz Ahrens estimated there are about 10 buyers.
Pinyan said sheriff's investigators began to get concerned that the rising prices would encourage break-ins and thefts, with the thieves dumping the goods on gold sellers.
The new regulations will take effect over time, perhaps as companies come into renew business licenses, said County Commissioner Jim Hubbard.
"Fingerprinting. I am not sure how my customers will feel about that," said Kelly Young at Atlanta Jewelry in Canton.
She has been buying gold for about two years. Some people come in to sell old or broken jewelry or because they have hit hard times in this economic crisis, she said. Buyers already had to fill out state mandated paperwork, which includes identification from sellers and written descriptions of the items.
If the cost is only $200, that would be affordable, she said.
Metro counties from Cobb to Gwinnett have put regulations in place, with Gwinnett having one of the toughest ordinances. It mirrors all the same things pawn brokers have to do, including taking photographs of the sellers, and requires a meticulous accounting of the items sold. Plus buyers have to hold the items for 30 days before they are sold to wholesalers.
Their system was phased into full operation in 2010, said Corporal Jake Smith with the Gwinnett Police Department.
"There was a little resistance from precious metal dealers. But I think, for the most part, citizens understand why it's done," he said.
Ahrens expects the same from dealers in Cherokee County in coming months.
"We will get some noise on it," he said.
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