Very often when the phone rings these days it is someone asking “What do you pay for gold?” The way we answer this question reminds me of a routine done by a couple of Vaudeville comedians by the names of Bud Abbot and Lou Costello. They did a routine that came to be known as “Who’s on First?” Our version goes something like this:
“Hello, Piper’s Jewelry.”
“What do you pay for gold?”
“Is the gold 10, 14, or 18 karat?
Caller; “well I see that gold is over $1600.00 per ounce, and I am just curious what you are paying per ounce.”
“Are you asking about the gram price or the pennyweight price?”
“The what?”
“The weight of the gold?”
“How should I know?”
“He’s on third base.”
“What kind of gold?”
“What’s on second, Who’s on first.”
“Absolutely!”
The problem is that a simple question often has a complicated answer. Where do I start to answer this question? The short answer is…there is no short answer. Absolutely!
