Call it the gold rush of 2011.

Despite today’s high unemployment, Goldline International Inc. is on a hiring spree: The precious metals dealer is set to add 75 account executives to its Santa Monica headquarters this week – upping its work force by at least 20 percent. As more people are buying gold, Goldline needs more people to sell it to them.

And Goldline isn’t the only metal dealer that’s ramped up its hiring. Rosland Capital LLC, another Santa Monica firm, increased its head count by two-thirds to 55 last year.

With economic uncertainty driving demand for gold and other precious metals, dealers such as Rosland and Goldline, one of the largest in the United States, are expanding at a clip that even surprised them.

Goldline had planned to expand from its three-year-old space in the luxurious Water Garden office complex, but in 2012. As a result of its booming business – it was No. 6 on last year’s Business Journal list of fastest-growing private companies with two-year revenue growth of 270 percent – Goldline recently took over additional space and is hiring.

Mark Albarian, executive chairman at Goldline, said the company hit $825 million in sales in its last fiscal year thanks to advertising campaigns on cable networks such as CNN and CNBC, and national radio shows hosted by Glenn Beck and Laura Ingraham.

“Gold has become more popular and people are looking to diversify with gold,” Albarian said. “And our marketing outreach has been extensive.”

Buyers have bought precious metals because they think that prices will continue to rise due to the federal budget deficit and weakening U.S. dollar.

But is this phenomenon already peaking? The price of gold dropped three days in a row last week amid speculation that the improving economy will reduce demand for the metal.

Gold futures prices fell to $1,371 an ounce Jan. 6. That’s down from a peak of $1,432.50 on Dec. 7. But for all of 2010, gold prices increased 30 percent.

Thomas Imhof, a financial adviser in the Brentwood office of Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC, said that gold prices will stay high as long as people are concerned about the deficit, the weak dollar and risk of inflation.

“Gold prices might continue to rise if those fears continue to climb,” he said.

And as high prices fuel demand, it means gold dealers need more salespeople.

“These are the equivalent of stock brokers only for gold products,” said Nancy Sidhu, chief economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. “The same thing happens in the brokerage business when the stock market is riding a high. Now it’s the turn of commodities, and in particular gold.”

But the boom times have brought some problems.

The Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office is investigating Goldline’s sales practices. The office wants to determine if customers of Goldline and another dealer were “lied to and misled” about purchases of bullion and gold coins. The coins have higher markups.

Albarian said his company has reached out to the City Attorney’s Office and made executives available for questioning, but prosecutors haven’t contacted them.

“We do many things to protect the consumer,” he said. “Margins, costs and risks are outlined to the client and the client signs an agreement before any transactions are filed.”

What’s more, Albarian said Goldline receives very few complaints – not even one per 1,000 transactions.

Adam Radinsky, a deputy Santa Monica city attorney who heads the office’s consumer protection unit, declined to comment, citing the pending investigation.

Goldline, founded in 1960, moved into its current space at the Water Garden three years ago with about 60 account executives – the salespeople who walk customers through the process of acquiring precious metals, which are sold in coins, bars and other formats.

The company last year expanded to more than 300 employees, with about 200 of those account executives. Goldline is now boosting its total employees to about 400 and the number of account executives to about 275. Goldline received more than 1,000 applications for the 75 account executive spots it needed to fill.

The company avoids hiring from within the industry. Instead, Goldline wants former mortgage, insurance and stock brokers because of their expertise in selling investment-related products. New workers go through a four-month training program.

“We want them to learn to do it the way that Goldline has done it since 1960,” Albarian said. “So we spend a tremendous amount of time to be sure our account executives are in compliance with various rules.”

Albarian expects more growth, although the company currently only has enough space for an additional 25 account executives.

Meanwhile, Rosland added enough space last year to hire 22 employees for a total of 55. The company occupies three-quarters of a floor of a nondescript building on Santa Monica Boulevard but plans to take over the entire floor.

“Things have been good for us, and not just because of the gold market itself,” said Marin Aleksov, who founded Rosland in 2008. “We have done well because of our customer service and credibility and so far that has paid dividends for us.”

Rosland primarily hires people with experience in selling gold and other precious metals. Aleksov said he receives about 15 calls a month from qualified job candidates and can’t hire them all.

But Aleksov may hire more people if revenue increases by about 30 percent this year, which he expects. Last year’s revenue was about $135 million.

“We have room to grow for another year or two before we expand again,” Aleksov said. “But my goal is to end up with the whole floor.”