Selling Gold in Nashville, TN: Tax and Dealer Rules

Nashville sits in one of the friendlier states for selling metal: since May 2022 Tennessee charges no sales tax on coins, currency or bullion, and the state levies no capital gains tax on your gain. The rules that actually touch you here are about dealer registration and a holding period.

The tax picture: two things in your favor

Effective May 27, 2022, Public Chapter 1092 exempts the sale of all coins, currency and bullion made in whole or part from gold, silver, platinum or palladium from Tennessee sales and use tax. The exemption is broad: no purity floor, no purchase threshold, and it covers collectible and numismatic coins sold for intrinsic or collectible value, not just standard bars and rounds. The measure passed as Senate Bill 1857 (Senate concurrence April 28, 2022), and the Department of Revenue set out the details in Important Notice #22-08.

That matters as a seller because it removes any question about tax being layered onto a transaction. Nashville/Davidson County carries one of the higher combined sales-tax rates in the country. On November 5, 2024 voters approved a 0.5% surcharge on the local option sales tax, raising the local rate to 2.75% effective February 1, 2025, which put the combined Nashville rate at 9.75% (7.00% state plus 2.75% local). Bullion sits outside all of that. The rate is context only.

The second point is on the gain. Tennessee has no capital gains tax and no state income tax. The Hall Income Tax, the state's only individual-level tax, on interest and dividends, was fully repealed for tax years beginning January 1, 2021. Your state rate on a metal sale is 0%. Federal capital-gains tax still applies, so keep records of what you paid and when.

Dealer regulation runs through the sheriff, not a licensing board

Tennessee handles precious-metals buyers through law enforcement. Under Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 38-1-201 to -205, buyers and dealers of scrap jewelry and precious metals must register with the chief of police and sheriff of each county where they operate. There is no state board issuing a dealer license. If you are selling scrap jewelry or unmarked metal, you are dealing with a business that is supposed to be on file with local law enforcement, which is a reasonable thing to ask about.

One carve-out is worth knowing: a dealer trading solely in coins is exempt from that registration requirement, as is a transaction between dealers who have previously complied. So a pure coin shop and a scrap-jewelry buyer are not regulated identically. That distinction can matter depending on what you are actually selling.

The 20-day holding period

There is a mandatory holding period before a buyer can change the form of what it bought from the public. Under TCA § 38-1-202, it is unlawful for a dealer to sell, exchange, melt, cut up or otherwise alter such items for 20 days from the date of purchase; the items may be moved to a secure location such as a storage facility or bank vault during that window. Note the figure has changed over time (it was 30 days in the 2010 code), so the current number is 20. For you as a seller this is mostly background, but it explains why a buyer records your details and why the transaction is not anonymous.

A real market to sell into

Nashville is a genuine market for coins and bullion, not just a place with a few counters. In 2025 the city hosted IMEX, the International Money Exposition, at the Music City Center — described as the first major new coin show in over 30 years. Its dealer-only day drew roughly 100 dealers filling over 250 tables of numismatic material. The Tennessee State Numismatic Society coordinates the annual state show, which rotates between cities, and Nashville is characterized as the state's most active show city, attributed to population growth and its standing as a regional financial hub. Treat that last point as color rather than a hard count.

What this means in practice: if you hold graded or collectible coins, the presence of a strong show circuit is a reason to get more than one number before you sell. Melt value sets the floor for common gold; anything with numismatic value can trade well above it, and a competitive market is where that difference shows up. See our notes on selling gold coins and bullion for how buyers separate the two.

Before you walk in

• Know the spot price. Check the current gold price the day you sell, and work out roughly what your metal's pure gold content is worth so you can judge an offer.
• Separate scrap from coins. A scrap-jewelry buyer and a coin dealer operate under different rules here. Our selling gold jewelry page covers how karat and weight drive a scrap payout.
• Bring ID and expect a record. The registration and holding-period rules mean a legitimate buyer will document the transaction. That is normal.
• Get more than one offer. The exemption on sales tax and the 0% state rate on your gain are fixed. The spread a buyer takes is not — that is where competing quotes pay off.

If you want the general mechanics before dealing locally, our cash for gold guide walks through weighing, testing and how a fair offer is built.

This page is informational. Figures and rules cited are accurate as of the review date above and can change.

Last reviewed August 2, 2026.