You can sell gold to a bank in theory, but almost no retail bank in the United States will actually buy it from a walk-in customer. Federal law gives national banks the power to deal in coin and bullion,1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 US Code 24 – Corporate Powers of Associations yet the branch where you keep your checking account almost certainly isn’t set up to appraise, test, or pay you for a gold coin or bar. For most sellers, the realistic buyer is a licensed precious metals dealer, a refinery, or an online bullion marketplace, and the federal reporting and tax rules travel with the gold regardless of who writes the check.
Why Banks Don’t Actually Buy Gold
The authority is there. National banks can buy and sell coin and bullion under the same statute that lets them accept deposits and make loans. Federal thrifts gained similar permission in 1993.2Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Legal Opinion P-2006-1 – Permissibility of a Federal Savings Association Engaging in Precious Metal Transactions The barrier is operational. Handling physical gold takes secure vault storage, certified assay equipment, specialized insurance, and staff trained to evaluate precious metals. Those costs are hard to justify at an institution built around deposits, loans, and digital payments.
When a bank does participate, the service typically sits inside a private wealth or institutional division serving high-net-worth clients, not retail customers at the teller line. If you call your bank and ask, expect to be referred to an outside dealer or refinery.
Where to Sell Instead
Licensed precious metals dealers are the most common buyers, and many will quote you a live price based on the current spot. Online bullion platforms let you ship insured gold and receive payment after the buyer verifies what arrived, which helps if no reputable storefront operates nearby. Refineries will buy gold in nearly any form, including scrap and broken jewelry, because they have the equipment to melt and reprocess it; their offers reflect that refining cost.
Whichever route you choose, compare offers from more than one buyer before you commit. And walk away from anyone who hints at splitting your sale into smaller payments to stay under reporting thresholds. That’s structuring, it’s a federal crime, and you’d share the exposure.
What Buyers Will Actually Accept
Buyers set strict standards for purity, form, and condition. Two categories move easily.
Sovereign Bullion Coins
Government-minted coins are the most liquid form of physical gold because a national government guarantees weight and authenticity. The American Gold Eagle is 22-karat (91.67% gold, with the balance in silver and copper for durability). The American Buffalo is 24-karat, .9999 fine. Both are legal tender, though the face values are symbolic and the real worth tracks the spot price.3United States Mint. Bullion Coin Programs The Canadian Gold Maple Leaf and other widely recognized sovereign coins sell without difficulty.
U.S. commemorative gold coins are also legal tender, but their collector premiums and limited mintages complicate pricing, and not every buyer handles them the same way as standard bullion.
Refinery Bars
Bars from accredited refineries meeting the London Bullion Market Association’s Good Delivery standard of at least .995 fineness are widely accepted when they carry recognized hallmarks and remain in their original assay packaging. Bars without verifiable hallmarks, or ones broken out of sealed assay cards, get discounted or refused.
What Gets Rejected
Institutional buyers generally will not purchase scrap gold, broken jewelry, or dental gold. These items need extensive refining before they reach a tradable purity, and most banks and major dealers don’t have the setup or interest to handle that. For those forms, a dedicated refinery or a jeweler who buys scrap is the right buyer.
What You’ll Need to Bring
Any institution buying gold must verify your identity under federal anti-money-laundering rules. Banks maintain a written Customer Identification Program that collects your name, date of birth, address, and a taxpayer identification number such as your Social Security number.4eCFR. 31 CFR 1020.220 – Customer Identification Program Requirements for Banks Bring a valid government-issued photo ID.
Buyers also want proof that you legally own the gold. The strongest evidence is an original purchase receipt or invoice showing when and where you bought it. If you don’t have one, which is common for gold held for years or received as a gift, the buyer may ask you to sign a sworn affidavit of ownership describing the piece (weight, form, purity) and stating that you acquired it lawfully. Some affidavits require notarization. Notary fees run $2 to $25 per signature in most states, and a handful of states have no statutory cap.
Hold onto your purchase records for tax purposes too. The price you originally paid and the date you acquired the gold determine how much of your sale proceeds is a taxable gain.
Federal Reporting Rules
Several overlapping rules apply to gold sales depending on how much you sell and how you’re paid.
Cash Over $10,000
When a sale generates more than $10,000 in physical currency (not a check or wire), the financial institution files a Currency Transaction Report with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.5FinCEN. A CTR Reference Guide Multiple cash transactions in a single day totaling more than $10,000 are aggregated and reported the same way.
Separately, any trade or business (including a precious metals dealer) that receives more than $10,000 in cash in one transaction or in related transactions must file IRS/FinCEN Form 8300.6Internal Revenue Service. IRS Form 8300 Reference Guide Precious metals are specifically listed as a designated reporting transaction.
Deliberately breaking a sale into smaller amounts to stay under $10,000 is structuring. A conviction carries up to five years in prison, and up to ten years if the structuring is part of a pattern of illegal activity involving more than $100,000 in a 12-month period.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 US Code 5324 – Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirement The underlying gold sale can be perfectly legal and the structuring still a standalone crime.
Form 1099-B
Dealers must file IRS Form 1099-B on certain precious metals sales, but the trigger is narrower than many sellers assume. A sale generates a 1099-B only if the gold is in a form the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has approved for regulated futures trading, and the quantity meets or exceeds the minimum delivery amount for that contract.8Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1099-B (2026) Selling a single American Gold Eagle, for example, doesn’t produce a 1099-B if the applicable contract requires at least 25 coins.
No 1099-B does not mean no tax. You still report capital gains from the sale on your return. If you refuse to provide your taxpayer identification number when required, the buyer must withhold 24 percent of your gross proceeds as backup withholding and remit it to the IRS.9Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Publication 15
How the Sale Gets Taxed
The IRS treats physical gold as a collectible, which carries a different (and often higher) rate than stocks or bonds. How long you held it matters.
Long-Term vs. Short-Term
Held more than one year, your profit is a long-term capital gain taxed at a maximum of 28 percent, higher than the 15 or 20 percent that applies to most long-term investments like stocks.10Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 409, Capital Gains and Losses If your ordinary bracket is below 28 percent, you pay at your regular rate. Held one year or less, the gain is short-term and taxed as ordinary income.
Your taxable gain is the sale proceeds minus your cost basis, which is generally the price you originally paid plus transaction costs like dealer premiums or shipping. Without those records, proving a lower gain gets difficult.
Inherited Gold
If you inherited the gold, your cost basis is generally stepped up to the fair market value on the date of the original owner’s death, not what they paid for it.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 US Code 1014 – Basis of Property Acquired From a Decedent If a relative bought gold at $400 an ounce and it was worth $2,000 an ounce when they died, your basis starts at $2,000. Sell at $2,500 and you owe tax on $500 per ounce, not $2,100.
Gold received as a gift during the giver’s lifetime works differently: you generally take over the giver’s original basis, so the full appreciation may be taxable when you sell.
What the Transaction Looks Like
Authentication
Before any price gets agreed, the buyer verifies that your gold is genuine and matches its stated purity. The most common method is X-ray fluorescence analysis, a non-destructive test that reads the exact percentage of gold and other metals present without damaging the piece. Some buyers add ultrasonic density testing to detect internal inconsistencies like tungsten inserts.
Pricing and Spreads
Buyers pay below the current spot price, never at or above it. The gap is the bid-ask spread. Widely recognized bullion coins in standard quantities typically run 2 to 4 percent below spot. Large bars from accredited refineries command tighter spreads, often 1 to 2 percent. Less common items, damaged pieces, or gold without clear provenance see wider spreads. Compare offers from multiple buyers before you sign anything.
Settlement
Once the gold is verified and the price is set, you sign a transfer-of-ownership agreement and bill of sale. Payment for larger transactions is usually made by wire transfer or check rather than cash. Settlement normally takes one to three business days while the buyer’s compliance team completes its review. You should receive a transaction receipt showing weight, purity, agreed price, and settlement date. Keep that receipt. It’s your record for tax reporting.