The bluff that gave Island Heights its name
In 1877 a Methodist elder named Jacob Graw looked across the river at a bluff about 60 feet high and decided it would make a camp-meeting ground. The Island Heights Association formed the next year, and in 1887 the grounds broke away from Dover Township, today Toms River Township, to become a borough of their own. For a time the peninsula was nearly ringed by water and was called Toms River Island, until the channel behind it filled in to become Dillon's Creek.
The streets still read like that history. Central Avenue brings you in from Route 37, River Avenue runs along the water below the bluff, and the blocks between them are packed with Queen Anne and Shingle Style cottages, enough of them that the Island Heights Historic District was listed on the state and national registers in 1981. The painter John F. Peto lived and worked here from 1889 until his death in 1907, and his house and studio are now a museum. Directly across the river are Ocean Gate and Pine Beach; downstream the river opens into Barnegat Bay. About 1,650 people live here year round.
Lockets, watch chains and the gold-filled question
Houses this old hold jewelry from several generations at once. An Island Heights drawer might have a great-grandmother's locket, a watch chain with a fob, a hunting-case pocket watch, a cameo in a gold frame, stickpins and a wedding band worn thin. A lot of that era's jewelry is solid 10K or 14K, which is 41.7 and 58.5 percent gold. A lot of it is also gold-filled or rolled gold plate, a thin layer bonded over base metal, and the marks can look similar: 1/20 12K GF or RGP stamped where you would expect a karat.
That is why nothing here is priced from the stamp. The XRF analyzer reads the surface metal, a gold-filled chain is identified as such rather than bought as solid, and a solid piece hiding behind a worn mark is paid as solid. Pocket watches are opened before anything is said, because a gold case and a named movement are judged separately. The watch buying page explains cases and movements, and the antiques page covers pieces whose age matters more than their metal.
From the attic, in a customer's own words
“Brought some old stuff I found in my attic and they gave me a great price for all of it”
Jordan, five-star Google review of Cash 4 Gold Trading Post in Brick
Clearing a house that has been in the family since the camp meetings
Many Island Heights cottages have passed down inside one family for most of a century, and when one is finally sold the contents come out all at once: sterling flatware from the dining room, a sewing basket with thimbles and hatpins, jewelry boxes from three bedrooms. Sterling is 92.5 percent silver and is weighed apart from silver plate, which looks the same on a sideboard and carries almost no metal. Coins are pulled aside and checked for date and mint mark before any melt figure is mentioned.
If the collection is too large to carry up to Brick, the estate buyers service can look at it in the house, and the New Jersey estate jewelry guide covers what executors need before anything is sold.
Out Central Avenue, then north on Hooper Avenue to Brick
Leave the borough on Central Avenue and pick up Route 37, then head north on Hooper Avenue into Brick and on to Cedar Bridge Avenue, where the store is at 921 Cedar Bridge Ave. It is about 9.5 miles, usually 20 to 25 minutes. Parking is right out front.
Which parts of Island Heights and the river do we hear from?
The whole borough, from the cottages along River Avenue and the bluff blocks off Central Avenue to the streets near the yacht club. Across the water, Ocean Gate, Pine Beach and Beachwood sellers make the same trip, and so do families from the Toms River Township side of Route 37.
What do Island Heights sellers bring up to Brick?
Old family pieces lead the list. Pick a category to read how it is tested.
What an Island Heights visit looks like
Set the pieces down and hand over your ID. Each item is tested by XRF, gold-filled and plated pieces are set aside and named, sterling is split from plate, and watches and coins get their own look. Everything is weighed on a certified scale you can read yourself and priced at that day's live market, with any diamond, maker or collector value called out on its own line. Take the offer and you are paid in cash on the spot; decline and nothing is charged.
A locket from the cottage, a pocket watch from the attic, a box of sterling from the sideboard? Bring it up from Island Heights and watch it tested, free.
📞 Get a Free Appraisal: (732) 444-2094Island Heights cash for gold: frequently asked questions
How do I get from Island Heights to the Brick store?
Take Central Avenue out of the borough to Route 37, then Hooper Avenue north into Brick and on to Cedar Bridge Avenue. The store is at 921 Cedar Bridge Ave, about 9.5 miles and 20 to 25 minutes away. Phone (732) 444-2094.
My grandmother's chain is stamped 1/20 12K GF. Is it gold?
It is gold-filled: a thin layer of 12K gold bonded over a base metal core. It is not bought as solid gold. The XRF test shows exactly what the surface is, and a solid piece with a worn or missing stamp is paid as solid.
Do you buy antique pocket watches?
Yes. The case is tested for karat and the movement is looked at on its own, since a named maker can be worth more than the gold. Bring the watch with any chain, fob, box or papers.
Is the Brick store open on weekends?
No. Brick is open Monday through Friday from 10 to 6 and closed Saturday and Sunday. No appointment is needed; bring a valid government photo ID.
Can you look at a whole cottage's worth of jewelry and silver?
Yes. Small collections can come to the Brick counter, and larger ones can be reviewed at the house through the estate buyers service. Every category is sorted and priced on its own, so sterling, gold-filled and solid gold never share one rate.
Do you also buy from Ocean Gate, Pine Beach and Toms River?
Yes. Sellers from across the river in Ocean Gate, Pine Beach and Beachwood, and from Toms River Township, use the same Brick counter.
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