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

Wyoming has no statewide secondhand or precious-metal dealer act. Its pawnbroker record rule, W.S. 33-6-106, applies to "every pawnbroker engaged in the business of accepting pawns or pledges." Its junk dealer act covers anyone in the business of buying or selling "second hand, or broken metals, such as copper, brass, lead, zinc, tin, steel, cast iron" (W.S. 33-18-101), a list that does not name gold or silver but is not limited to the metals it names, and its record book is open to police "in the county in which said junk dealers do business." Licensing of pawnbrokers and secondhand dealers is left to cities (W.S. 15-1-103). No Wyoming statute addresses a buyer outside the state. We have no Wyoming 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. Wyoming makes a knowingly false written statement to a pawnbroker about who owns property a misdemeanor (W.S. 6-3-612).

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.**

Wyoming has no statewide secondhand-dealer or precious-metal dealer law. The state rule most clearly aimed at gold buyers is W.S. 33-6-106: every pawnbroker must record a full description of each article pawned or purchased, the date, the seller's name and address and the amount paid, and keep that record open at all times to any city, county or state peace officer. Breaking it is a misdemeanor (W.S. 33-6-107). The statute sets no holding period, no ID requirement, no age limit and no payment rule.

Wyoming's junk dealer act (W.S. 33-18-101 to 33-18-106) covers anyone in the business of buying or selling secondhand or broken metals, "such as" copper, brass, lead, zinc, tin, steel and cast iron, plus rags, rubber and paper. Gold and silver are not named, but the list is open-ended, so it may reach a buyer of broken gold or silver. A junk dealer records each purchase with the seller's name and residence, checks a federal or state photo ID or notes a license plate number (optional for household items worth under fifty dollars), and keeps the book open to the sheriff and police.

Everything else is local. State law lets cities and towns license and regulate pawnbrokers and junk or secondhand dealers and inspect their premises for stolen property (W.S. 15-1-103), so whether a Cheyenne or Casper shop holds your jewelry before resale depends on city rules, not a Wyoming statute.

Wyoming's 4% sales tax applies to retail sales of tangible personal property. State law lists gold, silver and other coin, specie and specie legal tender as intangible personal property (W.S. 39-15-101), and the Wyoming Legal Tender Act says the purchase, sale or exchange of specie gives rise to no tax liability of any kind (W.S. 9-4-1304). Specie means coin with gold or silver content, or refined gold or silver bullion stamped with its weight and purity and valued on its metal.

Jewelry is still taxed at the 4% state rate plus local sales taxes, which vary by county and can include city and resort district taxes. Platinum and palladium bars are not named in either statute. Selling to a dealer is never a retail sale for you, so no sales tax applies when you sell.

Wyoming does not levy a personal income tax, so there is no state return on which to report a profit from gold, silver or platinum you sell. Separately, the Wyoming Legal Tender Act says the sale or exchange of gold and silver specie gives rise to no tax liability of any kind (W.S. 9-4-1304).

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

Under the Wyoming Legal Tender Act (W.S. 9-4-1301 to 9-4-1306), gold and silver coin issued by the United States or any foreign government is legal tender in Wyoming. No one can be compelled to pay or accept it unless a law or contract says so (W.S. 9-4-1305). Specie is not treated as personal property for property tax, and buying, selling or exchanging it creates no Wyoming tax liability (W.S. 9-4-1304). The act also has the state treasurer hold at least ten million dollars of specie in the permanent Wyoming mineral trust fund (W.S. 9-4-1306). None of this changes how buyers price metal: offers follow the live spot market, not face value.