Buying Gold and Jewelry From the Public in Texas

Who these rules cover

Texas Occupations Code chapter 1956, subchapter B, covers a dealer: a person registered to engage in the business of purchasing and selling crafted precious metal, including by mail (§1956.051(4)).

Crafted precious metal means jewelry, silverware, an art object or another object made wholly or partly from precious metal and used mainly for personal, family or household purposes (§1956.051(3)). Precious metal means gold, silver, platinum, palladium, iridium, rhodium, osmium, ruthenium, or an alloy of them (§1956.051(6)). It does not include:

• coins, bars or commemorative medallions;
• an item selling at 105 percent or more of its scrap value;
• dental, pharmaceutical or medical items, or metal recovered from industrial waste (§1956.051(3)(A)–(F)).

The subchapter does not apply to:

• Licensed pawnshops under Finance Code chapter 371, or affiliates whose record-keeping meets that chapter (§1956.060). Pawnshops have their own rules, which this page does not cover.
• Trade-ins at a retail jeweler: crafted precious metal taken in good faith as part or full payment for other crafted precious metal, by a business whose principal business is selling new crafted precious metal directly to consumers (§1956.058).
• Dealer-to-dealer stock, if the selling dealer gives a written statement that the reports were made and the buyer files a copy with police (§1956.055).

Registration

You may not engage in the business of purchasing and selling crafted precious metal unless you are registered with the consumer credit commissioner. The registration lists each Texas location, with a processing fee for each (§1956.0612). The OCCC takes applications online through its ALECS system; registrations renew each year, with renewal open 1–31 December (OCCC crafted precious metal dealers page).

Buying at a temporary location (one used for less than a year) needs extra filings at least 30 days before each purchase: a registration statement with the Department of Public Safety, and copies with local law enforcement and the county or city (§1956.067).

At the counter: buy checklist

The statute requires a seller’s list and an ID record (§1956.062). The OCCC rule sets out the transaction report form in detail (7 TAC §85.2001). For each purchase, the form must be preprinted and prenumbered and show:

• Date of purchase, your business name and address, the purchase address if it was elsewhere in person, and your registration number.
• Seller’s full name as shown on their ID, and the address where they live.
• Seller’s date of birth, height, eye color and gender.
• Seller’s driver’s license, Texas personal identification certificate or handgun license number, recorded when they physically show it (§1956.062(c)). The OCCC says a Texas handgun license must be accepted as ID (OCCC Bulletin B15-4).
• Items: number of items; type of each (ring, chain, fork); metal type, color and purity (for example 10k white gold, .925 sterling); weight in troy ounces, grams or pennyweights per metal group; amount paid per metal group; stones (color, number, approximate size); size or length; serial numbers; engravings and distinctive marks.
• Or, instead of the full item list: a description with a clear photo or photocopy of all items, plus any marks the image does not show (§85.2001(a)(9)(B)).
• Total amount paid to the seller.
• The seller’s certification that their name, address and the item description are true and complete, and that they have the right to sell.
• The OCCC consumer complaint notice, in the wording set by the rule (§85.2001(a)(13)).
• On your copy only: a good-faith estimate of the scrap value, or the percentage of scrap value you are paying (§85.2001(c)).
• Give the seller a complete copy of the form and any images (7 TAC §85.2002(a)).
• Seller under 18? Only with a written statement of consent from a parent or legal guardian, delivered before the purchase and kept with your records (§1956.066).
• Do not buy an object formed by melting crafted precious metal from anyone other than a manufacturer or regular dealer (§1956.068).

Reporting to police

• Send a complete copy of the seller’s list to the chief of police or sheriff no later than 48 hours after it is filed with you (§1956.062(d)). The OCCC rule says the same for the report form and images: within 48 hours, on paper or electronically, in a manner approved by local law enforcement (7 TAC §85.2002(b)).
• Inside a city with a police department, the report goes to the chief of police; elsewhere, to the county sheriff (§1956.063(b)).
• If a city ordinance or another state law requires a similar report, follow that law or ordinance’s format instead (§1956.063(a)). The state law does not stop cities from adding their own dealer rules (§1956.061).
• The OCCC does not take transaction reports; it tells dealers to contact local law enforcement (OCCC).
• Unverified Many Texas police departments take these reports electronically through a commercial system such as LeadsOnline. We have not confirmed which cities require which system, so ask your department.

Hold period

• Do not melt, deface, alter or dispose of reported crafted precious metal before the 11th day after the report is filed (§1956.064(a)). The exceptions are: the officer who received the report authorizes it for good cause; you record the name, address and description of the person you sell it to; or (for a pawnbroker) the pledgor redeems it.
• A peace officer who reasonably suspects an item is stolen can place it on hold for up to 60 days by written notice. You may not melt, alter or dispose of it until a peace officer releases the hold in writing or a court orders it (§1956.064(b)–(c)).
• Make purchased items available for inspection by a peace officer during business hours while you hold them (§1956.065).

Record-keeping

• Keep a copy of each report for 3 years from the date it is filed (§1956.063(d)). Scrap value estimates are kept for 3 years too (§85.2001(c)).
• The OCCC can examine a dealer’s premises and records; this examination power does not apply to a jewelry store (a retailer with 75 percent or more of revenue from crafted precious metal and personal adornment) (§1956.06131, §1956.051(5-a)).

Thumbprints and photos

As we read them on 20 October 2026, neither chapter 1956 nor the OCCC rule requires a thumbprint for a crafted precious metal buy. A photo is one of the two ways to describe the items (§85.2001(a)(9)). City ordinances can ask for more; check yours.

Penalties

It is a Class B misdemeanor to fail to make the reports or allow their inspection, to deal without registration, to break the hold, to fail to obtain or keep a minor’s parental consent, to skip the temporary-location filing, or to buy melted items in breach of the rule above (§1956.069). The commissioner can also impose an administrative penalty of up to $500 for each knowing and wilful violation (§1956.0615) and revoke a registration (§1956.0614).

Texas, Florida and California compared

Federal rules that sit on top

These apply in every state. They are short summaries; follow the links for the full text.

• Buying over $50,000 a year from the public. A jewelry retailer that bought more than $50,000 of covered goods (precious metals, stones, jewels and jewelry that gets half its value from them) from people other than dealers or retailers in the prior year counts as a “dealer” under the Bank Secrecy Act rules (31 CFR §1027.100). A dealer needs a written anti-money laundering program approved by senior management; for a retailer it need only cover those purchases (31 CFR §1027.210). A trade-in credited to the customer’s account, with no money paid out, is not a purchase for this test (§1027.100(b)(3)).
• Cash you receive over $10,000. Form 8300 is for cash a business receives of more than $10,000 in one transaction or in related transactions, filed within 15 days (IRS Form 8300 reference guide). Cash you pay out to a seller is not cash received.

US Buy Register: early access

We’re building a simple register for jewelers and gold buyers who buy from the public: seller ID capture, a hold clock on every item, and a daily report file for your police department or state system. It is meant to run beside the point-of-sale system you already use.

It is not built yet. Join the early-access list and we’ll email you when there is something to try.

Intended price: from $49 per location per month. Nothing is charged now.

Other states

Compare with Florida and California, or see all three side by side on the US Buy Register page. Need the offer price itself? Our free gold buying price calculator works out melt value and your offer from weight, karat and spot price.

Sources

Each source was read on 20 October 2026.

• Texas Occupations Code, chapter 1956, subchapter B (Sale of Crafted Precious Metal to Dealers), §§1956.051–1956.069, Texas Legislature.
• Texas Administrative Code, title 7, chapter 85, subchapter B: official TAC (Secretary of State); §85.2001 and §85.2002 text read via Cornell LII.
• Texas OCCC: Crafted Precious Metals Dealers (registration, renewal dates, transaction reports).
• OCCC Advisory Bulletin B15-4: Handgun License as a Valid Form of ID (31 July 2015).
• 31 CFR §1027.100 and §1027.210 (eCFR); IRS Form 8300 reference guide.

Frequently asked questions