Friendship, Precious Metals, and What Really Matters

A Family-Owned Precious Metals Dealer Since 1973

At CMI Gold & Silver, we’ve been a family-owned precious metals dealer since 1973. We’ve seen a lot of markets, a lot of prices, and a lot of “deals.” But at the end of the day, what matters most to us isn’t just ounces and premiums—it’s relationships.

Reconnecting With an Old Friend: Rusty Bosworth

Last night I reconnected with an old friend I hadn’t seen in a long time—my childhood best friend, Rusty Bosworth.
Growing up, Rusty was probably one of the most influential people in my life. The stories I could tell would fill a book. He loved me, I loved him, and that hasn’t changed one bit. Life, of course, took us down different paths. We raised families, built careers, and like so many good friendships, we simply didn’t see each other much over the last 20 years.
But here’s the thing: the distance didn’t change the relationship.
Both of us know that if either one of us made a single phone call, the other would be on the way—no questions asked. That kind of friendship transcends time and space. You don’t measure it in how often you talk. You measure it in trust.
Rusty—now Russ to most people, but he’ll always be Rusty to me—is the kind of guy who is kind to a fault. His personality is infectious. I honestly don’t know a single person who isn’t his “best friend” after five minutes of talking with him. He makes people feel seen, heard, and safe.
And that’s where this ties into precious metals.

Relationships Matter More Than the Deal

In business, especially in precious metals, it’s easy to focus on one thing: price.
We certainly care about price at CMI. Our goal has always been to put the most metal into the hands of Americans for the least amount of dollars. That’s been our mission since 1973.
But here’s a truth that doesn’t get talked about enough:

• The cheapest price is not always the best deal.
• There are times when a competitor’s premiums are slightly lower than ours.

When that happens, and we know the competitor is reputable and we haven’t heard anything negative about them, we will often encourage our clients to buy from them if it truly gets them a better deal.
Yes, you read that right: we sometimes tell people to buy from someone else.
Why? Because relationships and trust matter more than squeezing every last penny out of a transaction.
Is a Few Pennies Worth the Risk?
Before you chase a slightly lower price with an unknown dealer, it’s worth asking yourself a few questions:
Is saving a few pennies per ounce worth the risk of dealing with someone you don’t know?
In a precious metals transaction, what is really most important?
Is it only the final price on the invoice?
Or is it the assurance that you’ll actually receive what you paid for, in a timely manner, without games or pressure?
To me, and to our team at CMI, the real value is:

• Knowing your metals will show up as promised
• Knowing you can pick up the phone and get a real person who cares
• Knowing you can ask “dumb” questions without being made to feel dumb
• Knowing that if something goes wrong, someone will stand behind the transaction

Personally, I would rather pay a little more for safety and security than roll the dice on a “too good to be true” deal.

How We Think About Competitors

We know we’re not the only precious metals dealer out there. Some of our competitors are good, honest people. If you call us and tell us that another dealer—one we know and haven’t heard anything bad about—has a better price and we truly can’t match it, we will often encourage you to buy from them instead of us.
That might sound strange in today’s world, but it’s how we’ve always done business as a family-owned firm.
We’re not here to “win” every transaction. We’re here to help people make wise decisions, sleep well at night, and feel confident about who they’re dealing with—whether that’s us or another reputable firm.

The Rusty Test

When I think about Rusty, I think about someone I can trust with anything. Time and distance don’t change that. One phone call, and he’s there.
That’s the kind of relationship we strive to have with our clients at CMI Gold & Silver.
You may not talk to us every week. You may only buy metals a few times in your life. But when you do, I want you to feel the same way I feel about Rusty:

• “If I call, they’ll be there.”
• “They know me, they care, and they’ll shoot straight with me.”
• “I’m not just a transaction—I’m a relationship.”

In the end, precious metals are about protecting what matters most: your family, your savings, your peace of mind. And those things are far too important to entrust to the lowest bidder with the flashiest ad.
So yes, we’ll always work hard to give you a fair price and put as much metal in your hands as we can.
But more than that, as a family-owned precious metals dealer that’s been serving Americans since 1973, we want to be the trusted friend you can call—whether it’s been 20 days or 20 years.

The post Friendship, Precious Metals, and What Really Matters first appeared on CMI Gold & Silver.