Minnesota Gold And Silver Exchange Review

At Gold Investor Research, people ask us about Minnesota Gold and Silver Exchange more than almost any other Twin Cities area dealer.

The shop runs two locations, one in St. Louis Park and one in St. Cloud, and has built a following among local collectors and first time sellers since 2018.

We looked past the marketing copy to find out what the public record actually shows: who owns the company, what it sells, how it prices, and what its regulatory standing looks like.

This review pulls from the company's own website, its Better Business Bureau file, and third party listing sites, so you can decide for yourself whether it belongs on your shortlist.

Key Points

• Minnesota Gold and Silver Exchange has operated two locations, St. Louis Park and St. Cloud, since William E. Zastrow founded the company on April 30, 2018.
• The business is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau, and the BBB currently lists its rating as "Not Rated" because it lacks sufficient information to issue one, so shoppers should compare offers before selling.

Company Background

William E. Zastrow started Minnesota Gold and Silver Exchange on April 30, 2018. The BBB of Minnesota and North Dakota opened a file on the company in May 2022 and currently lists it at eight years in business.

That's a shorter track record than some regional competitors that have operated for four decades or more, though age by itself doesn't tell you much about how a shop treats customers today.

One detail is worth flagging. The company's Yelp listing describes "nearly 50 years of experience," a figure that doesn't match the BBB's recorded start date of 2018.

 It's possible this number reflects combined staff experience rather than the age of the company, but the listing doesn't say so.

If you're comparing dealers by tenure, ask the staff directly how long the business itself has operated, not just how long any individual employee has worked with precious metals.

Locations and Hours

The two storefronts sit roughly 70 miles apart, one serving the Twin Cities and the other Central Minnesota.

Both locations close on Sundays. St. Cloud closes an hour earlier on Saturdays than St. Louis Park does. Call ahead if you're planning a Saturday visit, especially near closing time, since precious metal counters sometimes wrap up early when foot traffic is light.

What They Buy and Sell

According to the company's product page, Minnesota Gold and Silver Exchange deals in four categories:

This is a fairly standard lineup for a regional coin shop. It's narrower than what you'd find at a large bullion dealer that also trades platinum or palladium bars, but it covers what most everyday sellers actually bring in. Grandma's jewelry box. An old coin collection someone inherited.

Bullion purchased a few years back that needs cashing out.

Pricing and the "Smallest Markup" Claim

The company advertises itself as offering the smallest markup in the industry. That claim shows up on both its own site and its Yelp profile, and it's a common line among coin shops.

We can't verify it from the outside, since markups shift daily with spot prices and vary by item, condition, and precious metal content.

Minnesota law gives sellers some built in protection here. Under state statute, precious metal dealers licensed in Minnesota must post their current minimum prices per ounce in letters over one inch tall, and they must weigh items in plain sight on approved scales rather than out of view.

Scrap metal dealers are also required to record a seller's government issued ID at the time of purchase. None of this guarantees a specific dealer offers top dollar, but it does mean the pricing process itself is supposed to happen where you can watch it.

Our advice for anyone selling to a shop like this: check spot prices the morning you plan to sell, bring the item to at least two dealers, and compare the actual cash offer rather than the advertised markup percentage.

A shop that quotes tight markups on bullion coins can still pay less once you factor in how it prices scrap jewelry or older currency notes.

Reputation and Customer Feedback

Minnesota Gold and Silver Exchange is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau. Accreditation is voluntary and requires a business to apply and meet BBB standards, so the absence of accreditation isn't automatically a red flag.

The BBB's current rating for the company reads "Not Rated," and the stated reason is that BBB does not have sufficient information to issue one.

Third party listing sites report over 100 combined customer reviews across Google and Yelp. Recurring themes include fair pricing and staff willingness to walk first time sellers through the appraisal process.

One aggregator named a staff member, Shawn, at the St. Cloud location specifically for taking time to explain investment basics to customers.

We can't verify individual review authenticity, and star averages can lag behind current staff or ownership practices.

Read a handful of the most recent reviews yourself rather than trusting an aggregate score.

How It Compares

Minnesota Gold and Silver Exchange isn't the only option in the market. Twin Cities Gold & Silver has drawn praise for informative and honest staff with strong knowledge of rare coins.

St. Louis Park Gold & Silver, a separate business despite the similar name, is a member of PCGS and tests metals with a Sigma verifier before making offers.

Gold Guys Woodbury runs group buying events and a mail in service with a bonus for hosts. None of this makes Minnesota Gold and Silver Exchange a worse choice.

It just means the Twin Cities market has enough competition that a five minute phone call to a second shop costs you nothing and might net you more cash.

Our Take

For a Minnesota resident who wants to sell an inherited coin collection or a drawer of old jewelry without shipping it out of state, Minnesota Gold and Silver Exchange is a reasonable name to include in your comparison shopping.

The two locations cover both the Twin Cities and Central Minnesota, the hours are consistent across both shops, and the product range matches what a typical seller brings through the door.

What no online review can tell you is what your specific offer will look like on a given day. Spot prices move by the hour. Staff discretion on jewelry condition varies from person to person.

Call ahead, ask what documentation you'll need to bring, and get a second quote before you commit to a sale.