Sell Class Rings for Top Cash in Los Angeles
Bring your ring to our Lawndale counter and we test the metal, weigh it, and explain the offer while you watch. A class ring buyer near you with 45 years behind the counter.
The Best Place to Sell a Class Ring in Los Angeles
Most people who want to sell class rings are asking one question first: is this thing gold at all? It is a fair question, because class ring makers spent decades selling alloys under invented names, and the ring in your drawer may be marked with a word instead of a number. South Bay Coin has been settling that question across the counter in Lawndale since 1980, for graduates from Torrance, Redondo Beach, Hawthorne, Inglewood and across Los Angeles County.
The answer online is usually a chart sorting rings into gold and worthless. That chart is wrong often enough to cost people money, because a trade name on the shank does not mean there is no precious metal in the ring. Some of those trademarked alloys were built on stainless steel. Others were built on silver, palladium or gold. A chart cannot tell them apart. A test can, and ours is free whether you sell or not.
We are a licensed, bonded and insured California precious metals dealer with our own refinery, so a gold class ring does not pass through a middleman before it is melted. That is the difference between a resale offer and a refining offer, and it lands in your payment.
Rings rarely arrive alone. If yours sits in a box with other pieces, bring the box. We buy the full range of gold jewelry in Los Angeles, along with sterling silver, and one visit covers all of it.
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What the Stamp Inside a Class Ring Actually Says
Look at the inside of the band. Class ring makers marked almost everything they produced, and what you find falls into three groups rather than two.
Karat gold. A number and a K, so 10K, 14K or 18K. Ten karat is ten parts gold in twenty-four and is by far the most common class ring metal, in yellow and in white. Purity and weight decide the offer.
Trade names built on stainless. Lustrium, Siladium, Celestrium, Ultrium, Valadium and White Lazon are trademarks, not metals. They describe stainless alloys of nickel and chromium, chosen because they hold a bright white finish for a fraction of the price of white gold. Golden Siladium and Yellow Lazon are the same family under a gold-toned coating, which is why a ring can look like gold and hold none. Rings marked this way have no melt value, and we tell you so rather than making a token offer.
The group the charts miss. Between those two sits a set of names introduced later: Extreme Silver Alloy, Extreme Aurista, Silver Elite, Silver Select, Imperium, Argentium and Silver Plus. The makers' own material descriptions put silver, palladium or gold in these alloys, in amounts that vary by name and year. No lookup table settles them. A reading from our testing equipment does, in under a minute, at no charge.
What Sets the Offer on a Gold Class Ring
Once the metal is confirmed, the karat sets the share of pure gold and the weight sets everything else. Weight is where class rings surprise people. They were sold in dozens of styles across a wide range of sizes, so two ten karat rings from one catalog year can differ several times over in the gold they contain. A heavy men's signet with a wide shank is a different item on the scale from a slim women's ring in the same metal.
The stone comes out of the arithmetic. School color stones are lab created, carry no resale market, and occupy space that would otherwise be metal, so we account for the setting rather than weighing glass as gold. Two-tone rings get the same separation, since a ring can pair a karat gold top with a stainless base, and only one of those is bought.
A shank cut down during sizing is missing metal, and a repair may have added a lower purity to the join. Wear, scratches and a dulled finish change nothing at all, so there is no reason to polish anything first. Every ring in a mixed lot is weighed and quoted on its own, then totaled, so you can see what each piece contributed instead of getting one flat number for a whole box.
Class Rings and Graduation Jewelry We Buy for Cash
High school, college, military and fraternal rings from every maker, in any condition, worn or broken or missing the stone.
Gold Class Rings
10K, 14K and 18K high school and college rings, yellow and white, from Jostens, Balfour, Herff Jones, ArtCarved and Gold Lance.
Silver and Precious Alloy Rings
Sterling and coin silver rings, plus maker alloys carrying silver, palladium or platinum. Tested before we quote, never guessed from the name.
Academy and Championship Rings
Service academy, championship, award, Masonic and fraternal rings. Looked at as objects first, not sent straight to the melt.
Everything Else in the Box
The wedding bands, broken chains, odd earrings, dental gold and coins that turn up alongside the ring. All priced in one visit.
Sell Your Class Ring in Three Steps
Walk In or Text a Photo
Come to 16916 Hawthorne Blvd in Lawndale during business hours, no appointment. Or text a photo of the marks inside the shank: (310) 363-2697.
Free Testing and Weighing
We identify the alloy, weigh the ring on a certified scale in front of you, and explain how the number was reached. No charge, no pressure.
Take the Cash or Take It Home
Accept and you are paid on the spot in cash or by check. Decline and you leave with the ring and the information. Bring a valid photo ID.
Where to Sell a Class Ring in the South Bay
Four kinds of buyer come up in this search. They differ less on price than on whether anyone tells you what your ring is made of.
| South Bay Coin | Pawn Shops | Ring Makers | Mail-In Buyers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests the alloy in front of you | Sometimes | |||
| Prices palladium and silver alloys | Rarely | Not offered | Varies | |
| Pays cash, not credit toward a new ring | ||||
| Quotes each ring separately in a lot | Always | Rarely | Not offered | Rarely |
| Owns the refinery | Varies | Varies | ||
| Sends you a prepaid mailer | ||||
| 45+ year track record | Varies | Varies | Varies |
What Our Customers Say
Common Questions About Selling Class Rings
Three things set the number: what the ring is made of, what it weighs once the stone is accounted for, and the gold market on the day you come in. A heavy men's ring in ten karat gold carries far more metal than a slim women's ring in the same karat, so the range is wide.
Look inside the shank. Karat gold rings carry a number and a letter: 10K, 14K or 18K. A word rather than a number, such as Siladium or Celestrium, is a maker's trade name for a different alloy. Marks wear down and get misread, so we test every ring before quoting it.
They are trademarked names, not metals. Class ring makers used them for stainless alloys built on nickel and chromium, chosen to hold a bright white finish at a lower price than gold. Rings marked this way carry no gold, silver or platinum, so there is no metal value to pay on.
Some of them, yes. Between karat gold and plain stainless sits a middle group sold as Extreme Silver Alloy, Silver Elite, Imperium and similar names, which the makers describe as carrying silver, palladium or gold. Those are worth testing. Plain stainless trade alloys are not, and we say so plainly.
Almost never. School color stones are lab created, usually synthetic spinel, corundum or cubic zirconia, with no resale market of their own. The stone also occupies space that would otherwise hold metal, so it is accounted for rather than weighed as gold. Ask and we will return it.
All of them, plus Gold Lance and the smaller regional makers. The maker's name tells us which trade alloys to expect, but it does not set the offer. Two rings out of one catalog can be karat gold and stainless steel, so each is tested on its own merits.
No. Initials, a graduation year, a school crest, a worn finish or a bent shank make no difference to the metal, and nothing is discounted for them. The only condition issues that matter are the ones that change weight or purity, such as a shank cut short during sizing.
Sometimes. Service academy rings, championship rings and rings tied to a documented person or team can draw collector interest beyond their metal, which is why we look at those as objects before anything else. Bring the box or any paperwork you still have with the ring.
Yes. Sterling rings are marked STER or 925 and are bought by weight against the silver market, as are the makers' premium silver options once tested. A silver class ring is lighter money than a gold one, but it is still metal, and it is priced while you wait.
No appointment is needed. Walk into our Lawndale store on Hawthorne Blvd during business hours with the ring and a valid photo ID. When you sell a class ring here, testing, weighing and the offer take a few minutes. Bring any other gold or silver and it is priced in the same visit.
Find Out What Your Class Ring Is Made Of
Walk in with the ring, or text a photo of the marks inside the shank. Free testing, free appraisal, cash on the spot if you accept the offer.
