An ailing economy in recent months has stifled business at the Alpha and Omega Antique Mall in Staunton, but owner Bobby Martin said certain customers still turn up in droves. 

"As soon as they come in the door, they ask, 'Do you have any gold,' " Martin said Thursday. "We point them to it — what we've got left — and it goes quick."

An unstable dollar has caused many area investors to turn to gold, a traditional hedge against inflation and a safe alternative to stocks or bonds, said Gene Straley, an investment consultant at Community Bank in Waynesboro. Straley said interest in the precious metal, the value of which hit a historic peak in mid-March before leveling off in recent weeks, is the highest he has seen in a 21-year career.

"More people are asking, 'How can I get in on the gold rally,' " Straley said. "I think people are just looking for other ways to invest."

Transfering assests from bank accounts to bullion or coins brings risk of all sorts. A 77-year-old woman discovered $27,000-worth of gold coins missing from her Verona property Wednesday, according to a police report. Further details on the incident were unavailable.

Citing the recent collapse of investment bank behemouth Bear Stearns, Verona coin dealer Franklin Cacciapaglia said that in the current economic climate, many people fear burglars less than the more subtle theives of net worth.

"That's what good safes and lock boxes are for," he said.

For many investors, other concerns override the threat of a heist of their coins.

"It's fear of the future," Cacciapaglia said. "A lot of people are losing faith in the stock market, and with the dollar at an all-time low, they need something to assure themselves that the money will be there when they need it. Gold has always done that." 

While Straley's clients generally buy gold in the abstract, through index shares or other kinds of equity, local antique and jewlery dealers said the appetite for more concrete forms of the glittering commodity has been equally intense.      

"If you're dealing in futures, all you have is a piece of paper," said Cacciapaglia, who sells five to 10 times as many gold coins now as he did five years ago. In the last few months, business has spiked even more dramatically, he said.

Members of the Shenandoah Valley Coin Club expect the growing interest in gold to help fuel a high turnout at their annual coin show, said Thomas Ginise one of the organizers of the event. Sponsored by the Weyer's Cave Lion's Club, the three-day event starts Saturday at the Weyer's Cave Community Center. Thirty dealers will present 54 tables of coins and stamps, including a wide assortment of gold coins, Ginise said.

Gold may have fallen from its dizzying high last month, but the bull market is not over yet, Ginise said.  

"Right now we're having a little correction, but the long-term picture is really strong," he said. "I would definitely encourage people to come out here and put a little bit of their money into gold coins."