Where to Sell (or Buy) Gold, Silver & Platinum in Alabama

Alabama's precious items law, Ala. Code 8-34, defines a dealer as anyone "that engages in the business of purchasing precious items for the purpose of reselling such items in any form," with no words limiting that to Alabama, and says "No dealer shall operate in the State of Alabama" without its state and county licenses. The rest of the chapter is written around a shop inside the state: a dealer "may only operate from the permanent place of business listed on the business license," defined as "a fixed premises either owned by the dealer or leased by the dealer for at least one year"; it buys a county license in each county where it does business and reports to the police chief or sheriff where that business is located. Nothing in the chapter addresses buying by mail or says whether a buyer outside the state is operating in Alabama. We have no Alabama premises; your items travel to our refinery in Oregon and the purchase happens there.

After you accept, you complete a simple online verification before we pay. Send only items that are yours to sell.

You get an itemized offer listing each piece with its weight and purity. Turn it down and we mail everything back with free return postage.* Accept and payment goes out the same day.**

Alabama regulates anyone in the business of buying "precious items" to resell them, meaning any article made in whole or in part of gold, silver or platinum, plus loose or mounted stones and pearls (Ala. Code 8-34-1). Each dealer needs a state license and a county license, and may only operate from the fixed premises listed on that license. Before buying, the dealer must see a driver's license, state ID, military ID or other photo ID with a traceable serial number, and record your name, address, date of birth, signature and a physical description. Those records are kept six months, and a list of every purchase goes to the local police chief or sheriff at least once a week.

Each item then stays at the shop, unaltered, for 15 business days after that report. Payment "shall be by check only," made out to the actual seller, so an Alabama gold buyer cannot pay you cash. Dealers may not buy from anyone under 18 unless a parent or guardian comes along and shows ID, and a violation is a Class B misdemeanor.

The definition has no carve-out for coins or bullion, so a coin sale at a licensed dealer runs through the same steps. Retail merchants, manufacturers, wholesalers and licensed pawnbrokers are excluded from the chapter's definition of dealer; a pawnshop that buys outright has you sign a statement that you own the goods and keeps them 15 business days before resale (Ala. Code 5-19A-5).

Ala. Code 40-23-4(a)(52) exempts the sale of "bullion or money" from Alabama's 4% state sales tax. To count as bullion an item must be refined, contain at least 80% gold, silver, platinum or palladium, and carry a price that moves with the metal market rather than with rarity, condition or age. Bars, rounds and bullion coins qualify; jewelry and works of art are written out, and a collector coin sold for its numismatic value does not meet the test. The exemption began June 1, 2018, and runs 10 years unless extended.

None of this applies when you sell. Sales tax is a buyer's cost on a retail purchase, so nothing is taken out of what a dealer pays you for your gold, silver or platinum, whether you sell in Birmingham or to us by mail.

The Sound Money Tax Neutrality Act (Act 2024-437), in effect since January 1, 2025, added a line to Ala. Code 40-18-14 excluding from gross income "any net capital gain derived from the exchange of precious metal bullion." The statute defines that as coins, bars or rounds containing primarily refined gold, silver, platinum or palladium that are marked and valued primarily by weight, purity and content. Jewelry, dental gold and scrap are not coins, bars or rounds, so a gain on them stays taxable in Alabama, and a coin valued mainly as a collectible may not fit the definition.

Federal rules do not change: the IRS taxes physical precious metals as collectibles, with gains on metal held over a year capped at 28% and metal held a year or less taxed as ordinary income. Inherited metal generally uses its date-of-death value as its cost basis. We are not tax advisers, so check with yours before you file.

The Alabama Legal Tender Act (Ala. Code 1-3-10), in effect since October 1, 2025, says refined gold or silver bullion, specie or coin "stamped, marked, or imprinted with its weight and purity" is recognized as legal tender in the State of Alabama. The same section says no person is required to offer or accept it for debts or any other purpose unless a contract or other law says so. It does not set a face value or exchange rate, so buyers still price your metal off the live spot market.