Harlan, founder of Gold & Silver Traders, photographed in Indonesia

The Person Behind the Business

Built on decades of doing this for real.

Founder & Principal — Gold & Silver Traders

My name is Harlan. I've been buying gold — in the field, at scale, across three continents — for most of my career. Not as a broker or intermediary, but as the buyer. Directly. In places where the gold actually comes out of the ground.

I've operated in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I've worked the alluvial gold fields of the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific. I've run twelve gold buying locations across the Seattle area. And I've spent years understanding what it takes for a seller to trust someone with a significant transaction.

That's the experience I bring to every deal at Gold & Silver Traders. Not theory. Not a desk in a brokerage office. Actual years on the ground in some of the world's most active gold-producing regions.

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Career History

A path built on entrepreneurship.

Before gold, there were other businesses. Each one built the instincts that make for a trustworthy, decisive buyer today.

Early 2000s

Falcon Trading — Electronics

Founded and grew an electronics company during the dot-com era. Built it into a going concern significant enough to attract acquisition interest, then sold it to Ableauctions.com at the height of the boom.

Mid 2000s

Real Estate & Foreclosures

Pivoted into real estate, buying and selling foreclosure properties and launching a multiple listing service specifically for foreclosures — an early example of using technology to create market visibility in an opaque asset class.

Late 2000s

A Trip That Changed Everything

A nonprofit trip to Africa was supposed to be a short detour. Instead, it became a turning point. The continent — its energy, its people, its raw commerce — got under his skin. He sold the real estate business and didn't look back.

2000s – 2010s

Gold Buyer — Democratic Republic of Congo

Moved to the DRC and spent years as an on-the-ground gold buyer in one of the world's most active alluvial gold-producing regions. Developed deep knowledge of sourcing, valuation, logistics, and the realities of operating in frontier markets.

2010s

Gold Buyer — Solomon Islands

Relocated to the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific, continuing gold buying operations in another significant alluvial region. Built relationships with local producers and government stakeholders across several years of active operation.

Ongoing

Gold & Silver Traders — U.S. & International

Operated twelve gold buying locations across the Seattle metropolitan area while maintaining international gold trade operations. Today, Gold & Silver Traders serves sellers across the United States and internationally — bringing the same direct, knowledgeable approach to every transaction.

Why It Matters

Experience you can actually feel.

"I've sat across the table from miners, estate administrators, coin dealers, and government officials. I know what a fair deal looks like — and what it doesn't."

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Most gold buyers learned the business from a price sheet. I learned it in the field — negotiating directly with producers, assessing raw material, managing logistics across remote regions, and building the kind of reputation that keeps sellers coming back.

That background shapes how Gold & Silver Traders operates today. We move quickly because we've seen every delay tactic. We price fairly because we know what gold is actually worth at every step of the chain. And we protect confidentiality because in the markets I've worked in, discretion isn't a preference — it's a requirement.

Whether you're liquidating an estate collection in the Pacific Northwest, selling mine production from Africa, or handling a trust portfolio anywhere in between — you're dealing with someone who has been on both sides of that table, in conditions far more complex than most buyers ever encounter.

That's what Gold & Silver Traders brings to your transaction.