A loan is a financial instrument used to borrow money and then pay it back over time. There are two major types of loans – secured and unsecured.

An unsecured loan is the typical line of credit obtained through a credit card or a personal loan from a bank. It is unsecured because it is not taken out against any property or asset. Interest rates are typically higher on these types of loans because they are not secured against property, which the borrower could seize if the loan were not repaid.

Loans secured against property are called secured loans–in which the borrower pledges an asset as collateral.

A mortgage loan is a type of secured loan. In a mortgage loan, someone borrows money to purchase property, such as a house or condo. A bank holds the lien on the title to the property until the mortgage is fully repaid. This is called a secured loan, because it is obtained using something of value.

Another type of secured loan is a collateral loan. A collateral loan is a loan secured against an item you own, such as a valuable piece of jewelry or musical instrument. They can be obtained more quickly than loans through financial institutions, and they do not affect your credit. Business owners have often used collateral loans to meet payroll demands and consumers have increasingly found them a good option in an era of tightened credit from banks.

Best Collateral offers collateral loans. We have 8 locations in the San Francisco area that offer these types of loans. Come visit us to ask about collateral loans today.

If you are considering selling gold, consider these five steps:

1. Check current gold prices to estimate an approximate price for your gold items before you sell.

Gold prices are currently high. Check a gold calculator to get an estimate before walking into your appraisal. The calculator should take into account the carat and weight of the item, as well as the current market price of gold.

2. Consider the characteristics of your gold item.

The offer will be made based on carat and weight of gold in your items, the current international gold price at the time, and the quality and origin of the item. Know the characteristics of your gold item.

Carat is a measure of the purity of the gold. The higher the purity, the higher the item’s value. So the higher the carat, the more the item is worth.

Check to see if your item is hallmarked. A hallmark is small series of stamps often located on the inside of a piece of jewelry or a non-obvious place. It often states the purity and carat of the item, the date it was made, and the manufacturer.

Know the weight of the item. A precise, digital kitchen scale will give you the item’s weight in grams.

Know the origin of your item.

3. Remember that you are under no obligation to sell.

Once you receive your quote from the buyer, you are not obligated to sell. The buyer should be happy to provide you a complimentary, no obligation quote. You can always return another time to sell your item.

4. Don’t forget your ID.

The buyer will likely require photo identification, so do not neglect to bring a valid ID to your appraisal. Make sure you have allotted enough time to complete any paperwork that may be associated with the sale of your item.

5. Research the buyer.

Ensure that the buyer is a member of the National Pawnbrokers Association. The National Pawnbrokers Association is a group of responsible pawnbrokers in the United States. It is the pawnbroker industry’s only national trade association, and offers compliance training related to the federal, state and local laws as well as guidance on best business practices.
Check online reviews to see how the buyer is rated by past customers. Check to see if the buyer has been reviewed by the Better Business Bureau. The Better Business Bureau offers ratings of business, monitors business for compliance with good business standards, and fords and helps resolve consumer complaints.

The professional staff at Best Collateral is expertly trained to carefully assess gold items and offer fair, competitive prices.

Our customers agree. We have a long reputation of providing fair quotes to consumers selling gold items. Visit one of our 8 locations in the San Francisco area for personal, attentive service to selling your gold jewelry, watches, or other items.

Best Collateral is a member of the National Pawnbrokers Association, and has decades of expertise in buying and selling gold.

Check out one of our 8 locations today.

The founder of Rolex, Hans Wilsdorf, helped transition the world of watches from the pocket watch to the wristwatch in the early 20th century. Wristwatches were not very precise at the time, and Wilsdorf helped usher in the era of elegant and precise wristwatches. In 1910, a Rolex watch became the first wristwatch to receive a certificate of precision by the official watch rating organization in Bienne, Switzerland. Rolex is currently headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Rolex watches use small, precise movements to meet their reputation as the world’s most elegant and precise watches. Rolex engineered and developed the world’s first self-winding mechanism with a perpetual rotor, which was patented in 1931. This system has inspired the movement mechanism for every modern automatic watch.
Rolex also developed a unique watch bezel that resists deterioration from exposure to sunlight or scratches. The bezel is made from extremely hard ceramic material and resists corrosion, ultraviolet rays, and scratches.
If you are shopping for a Rolex in the San Francisco area, come visit one of our 8 locations.

Best Collateral also had a vast collection of other high-end watches. All of our watches are carefully examined for authenticity by professional appraisers and are expertly cleaned and stored.

Click here for store locations and hours.

The winners, who are referring to themselves as “The Three Amigos,” are a woman in her 20s, a woman in her 50s, and a man in his 40s. One of the winners is an elementary school teacher, one is a special education teacher, and the third is an administrative assistant, but they all hold down multiple jobs. Each contributed $20 to purchase a total of 60 tickets.
The three Maryland winners said they will keep working, citing a commitment to their students.

“If it can’t be you, these are precisely the people that you would want to see win the lottery,” said Stephen Martino, director of the Maryland Lottery, said at an April 10 news conference.

The winning Maryland ticket was one of three winning tickets selected March 30. The Maryland ticket was purchased at a 7-Eleven in the Baltimore area. The retailer gets $100,000 for selling the ticket.

The other two winning tickets were sold in Kansas and Illinois. The Kansas winner came forward last week, but chose to remain anonymous. No winner has come forward yet in Illinois. The winner has a year to claim the winnings.
The announcement of the Maryland winners means that Maryland resident Mirlande Wilson, the McDonald’s employee who said she had lost her winning ticket, is not the winner. Wilson held a news briefing announcing her win, but later said she had lost the ticket.

Wilson told The New York Post, “I’m still looking for it. I haven’t even looked in my uniform pants yet,” she said. “I’m still looking everywhere to find it, in my purse, everywhere.”

So you didn’t win the Mega Millions? Come into Best Collateral for a sure win. Our collateral loans are quick, easy, and they never impact your credit. Learn more about our collateral loans.

Tsar Alexander III first commissioned the House of Fabergé to make an Easter egg as a gift for his wife, the Empress Maria Fedorovna, in 1885. The egg had a gold-enameled “shell” representing a normal hen’s egg. It pulled apart to reveal a gold yolk, which in turn opened to reveal a gold chicken. The chicken also opened to show a replica of the Imperial Crown, which had a miniature ruby egg suspended from it. Though the crown and miniature egg have been lost, the rest of the Hen Egg remains in a private collection.

Of the 50 imperial eggs made, 42 have survived. Ten are on display at the Kremlin Armory Museum in Moscow. After the Russian Revolution, the House of Fabergé was taken under government ownership by the Bolsheviks, and the Fabergé family fled to Switzerland, where Peter Carl Fabergé, the designer of the original Fabergé egg, died in 1920. The Romanov palaces were ransacked and their treasures moved on order of Vladimir Lenin to the Kremlin Armory.

Two more imperial eggs, the Constellation and Karelian Birch eggs, were planned to be delivered in 1918 but never were, because Nicholas II and his family were assassinated that year and Nicholas had abdicated the crown the year before.

Of the total 65 known large Fabergé eggs, 57 have survived. The rest were miniature ones that were popular gifts during Easter season. They would be worn on a neck chain either singly or in groups.

A Winter Fabergé egg sold for $9.6 million in 2002, and a Fabergé clock, named by Christie’s auction house the Rothschild egg, sold at auction for more than $15 million in 2007. It was the most expensive timepiece, Russian object, and Fabergé object ever sold at auction.

Don’t have a Fabergé egg collection? Don’t worry, we take other items. Visit one of our 8 Best Collateral locations in the San Francisco area.

LDS Diamond Wedding Bands 40% OFF

LDS Stone Rings 35% OFF

Gentlemen’s Fashion Rings 25% OFF

New Citizen Watches 40% OFF

Google 7” Tablets $149.99

Pre-owned Cameras 35% OFF

32” Flat Screen TV from $239.99

47” Flat Screen TV from $499.99

Crate & Marshal Amps Final Closeout 60% OFF

Guitar Accessories 40% OFF

Layaway discounts reduced by 12.5%. Discount not available on previously sold items. Excludes all 3rd Party Appraised/Certified Jewelry. Rolex and Gold Watches excluded.

And Facebook also made it easier to scroll through and see posts, photos, and life events over time. Instead of losing previous posts and photos, you can scroll down and quickly see your favorites. And if big events aren’t included on your timeline, you can go back to when they occurred and add them.

We are all sharing more. So share with us. And earn 1,000 extra customer rewards points. If you’ve had a great experience with the new Best Collateral Rewards program, send us a photo and submit a short story about how you’ve enjoyed using this service. For more information, click here.

Here’s a checklist for a perfect Mad Men premiere party.

__Cocktails
Stock your bar with ingredients for Old Fashioneds, Dirty Martinis, Manhattans, Vodka Gimlets, and Whiskey Sours.

Old Fashioned recipe (courtesy of drinksmixer.com)
2 oz bourbon whiskey
2 dashes bitters
1 splash water
1 tsp sugar
1 maraschino cherry
1 orange wedge

Mix sugar, water and angostura bitters in an old-fashioned glass. Drop in a cherry and an orange wedge. Muddle into a paste using a muddler or the back end of a spoon. Pour in bourbon, fill with ice cubes, and stir.

__Snacks
Chips and dip, salted nuts, bar snacks, pimiento cheese on crackers, deviled eggs, or pigs in a blanket.

__Attire
If you are a hostess, wear a flower or polka dot hostess apron over a 50s-inspired flared dress.
For female party-goers, wear a pencil skirt with a matching cardigan, or find a shirtwaist dress, belted ruffle dress, or polka dot swing dress.
For guys, wear a white dinner jacket and bowtie, or a double-breasted suit.

__Accessories
Don a fedora or a fascinator.
Get a pair of classic eyewear from the era, such as wayfarer sunglasses or eyeglasses with browline frames.

__Shoes
For guys, think black-laced, wing-tipped oxfords.
For girls, think saddle shoes, solid pumps, or ballet flats.

__Affordable Jewelry
For girls, find a pearl strand, long pendant necklace or a vintage brooch. Look for matching earring and necklace sets
For guys, find tie bars, cuff links, and signet rings

Need help with finding jewelry to complete your outfit. Shop any of our 8 locations. Hours and store addresses for any of our 8 locations available.