An older fellow saw that we collected eyeglasses at our facility and chuckled, noting that the manufacturers once solicited for eyeglasses to be returned to them for gold recovery. I can't seem to verify this memory but it doesn't seem farfetched. Can anyone here attest to the accuracy of it? Is there still gold worth harvesting in even new eyewear? We get in quite a few vintage/antique frames but I can't acid test anything at work.

I just want to know if I'm sending away money to the Lions' Club which might be otherwise be made into valuable revenue for our facility. I can't see us refining it or breaking frames apart but if there are buyer for "eyeglass scrap," I've never heard of them.

Thanks!