Gold prices are soaring. And in these cash-strapped, credit tightened times, selling off your unwanted gold jewelry seems a logical, and golden, opportunity.

Frank Devlin, of Frank’s Jewelers (6725 Black Horse Pike, 609-641-4252) in Egg Harbor Township was busy until late Saturday night buying gold. Mike Schmidt, manager at one of the family-owned Braunschweiger Jewelry shops (www.braunschweiger.com/), said his Warren store was brimming with gold-bearing customers.

Barbara Sklar (www.bergencountycoin.com), a well known Bergen County jewelry dealer, says she’s getting more inquiries every day from people looking to sell their gold — everything from sentimental pieces to tooth fillings.

Any gold piece in bad condition is sold to be melted down, says Sklar. But if it’s “a beautiful piece,” she says, it may be purchased and re-sold. Emotions can run high when customers arrive with their jewelry.

“If they have something that’s an emotional thing, I take the pressure off, and say hold onto it — take it home, bring it back to me if you ever want to sell it,” she says.

Schmidt advises you let the entire family see what you are planning to sell. Some items nobody will mind selling. “The best things to bring in are broken — half pairs of earrings and broken chains.”

Braunschweiger has held several events, inviting the public to bring in gold, but the business has been fueled by word of mouth. “Everybody’s talking about it,” Mike Schmidt says. “You go in the store and come out with a couple hundred dollars, instead of spending that.”

Frank Devlin says the tough South Jersey economy has hurt many. “There was an older lady coming in, she couldn’t make her oil bill. The money she got paid for her oil for a month.”Others just clean out unwanted stuff: “I had one couple [selling gold] the other day, going to Disney World!”

During this gold rush, you’ll want to stick to reputable jewelers like Frank, Barbara and Mike… and make sure you ask them to salvage precious stones from your gold jewelry. Who knows? You might create something of even more value — while you spend the windfall from your unwanted gold.