Gold and silver buying and selling — Sebastian, Florida

Bullion bought in Sebastian is exempt from Florida sales tax at any amount, while collector coins sold above face value are taxed at 6 percent plus the Indian River County surtax unless the sale tops $500.

Bullion is the simplest case. Under paragraph (7)(ww) of section 212.08, Florida Statutes (2025), the sale of gold, silver or platinum bullion, or any combination of them, in a single transaction is exempt from sales tax. A bar or round bought at a counter on U.S. 1 in Sebastian or shipped to a Sebastian Highlands address carries no Florida sales tax on that basis.

Coins sold in Sebastian follow a different paragraph. Section 212.05(1)(j) taxes, at 6 percent, a coin or currency that is not legal tender, that is sold above its face value, or that is sold at a price based on its precious metal content. Two carve outs matter. No tax is levied on legal tender of the United States or on gold and silver coin recognized as legal tender under section 215.986. And when the taxable coins or currency in one transaction exceed $500, the entire amount is exempt.

The Florida Department of Revenue sets the general state sales tax rate at 6% and notes that many counties add a discretionary sales surtax on most taxable transactions. In Indian River County that surtax rides on top of the state rate for any coin purchase that is still taxable, which in practice means smaller collector coin sales of $500 or less.

The 2025 Florida Statutes removed the $500 minimum that the 2024 text attached to the bullion sales tax exemption, which matters most for small purchases in Sebastian.

The dollar threshold disappeared. The 2024 text of section 212.08 exempted gold, silver or platinum bullion in a single transaction only if the sales price exceeded $500, and required the dealer to keep documentation. The 2025 text drops that condition, so a one ounce silver round bought in Sebastian is treated the same as a kilo bar.

The coin rule in section 212.05 kept its own $500 test, so the two paragraphs now work differently. Bullion is exempt at any price. Numismatic or collector coins that are not legal tender, or that sell above face value, are taxable at 6 percent plus the Indian River County surtax unless the taxable coins in the transaction exceed $500.

Dealers on the Treasure Coast therefore separate a mixed sale into bullion and collectible coin lines. The statute places the burden of showing that a gold or silver coin meets the legal tender definitions on the person who claims the exemption, with a presumption based on the purity stamped on the coin.

Two effective dates frame the current rules for Sebastian buyers. The $500 condition on bullion was removed by chapter 2025-208 (House Bill 7031), effective August 1, 2025, and the Florida Department of Revenue confirmed in Tax Information Publication 25A01-03 that bullion is exempt regardless of the sales price. The 2026 text of section 212.08 keeps the same wording. Palladium is not covered, because paragraph (ww) names only gold, silver and platinum.

Section 215.986 recognizes high purity gold and silver coin as legal tender in Florida, including Sebastian, for debts incurred on or after July 1, 2026, subject to rule ratification.

Section 215.986, created in 2025 and applicable in Sebastian as everywhere in Florida, defines gold coin as gold of at least 99.5 percent purity and silver coin as silver of at least 99.9 percent purity, in the form of rounds, bars, ingots or bullion coins stamped or imprinted with weight and purity. Jewelry, items of utility such as picture frames, and collectibles are excluded.

Coins meeting those definitions are recognized by the statute as legal tender for the payment of debts incurred on or after July 1, 2026, when tendered to a creditor that agrees to accept them. The Florida Senate's note to the section states that the July 1, 2026 effective date depends on legislative ratification of rules of the Financial Services Commission and the Chief Financial Officer, so the practical use of gold and silver for payments in Sebastian depends on that rulemaking.

The law is also what ties the sales tax exemption in section 212.05 to purity for Indian River County buyers: a 99.9 percent silver round stamped with its weight is presumed to qualify, while a 90 percent silver dime or a sterling piece is not a silver coin under the definition and is taxed under the ordinary coin rules.

On the sales tax side, the date has already arrived. The Florida Department of Revenue announced in Tax Information Publication 26A01-08, dated June 22, 2026, that gold and silver coins recognized as legal tender under section 215.986 are exempt from Florida sales tax beginning July 1, 2026, so a qualifying stamped round bought in Sebastian carries no tax whatever its price.

Selling scrap gold or jewelry to a Sebastian dealer triggers Florida's secondhand dealer rules, including photo ID, a thumbprint and a 30 day hold, while coins and marked bullion are excluded.

For a Sebastian seller, Florida's secondhand dealer law covers scrap and jewelry more tightly than coins. Section 538.03 defines a precious metals dealer as a secondhand dealer who regularly buys used precious metals for resale, and defines precious metals as any item containing gold, silver or platinum. The same section excludes coins and assayed bullion that is properly marked as to its weight and fineness from secondhand goods, and exempts sellers at antique, coin or collectible shows.

For goods that are covered, such as a gold chain or a class ring sold at a shop in Sebastian, section 538.04 requires the dealer to complete a transaction form at the time of sale, record the precious metal type, weight and content, verify a government-issued photographic identification card such as a driver license, and take the seller's right thumbprint. Section 538.06 bars the dealer from reselling or melting a precious metal, gemstone or jewelry item within 30 calendar days after acquiring it.

Dealers themselves must register. Section 538.09 prohibits a secondhand dealer from buying, consigning or trading secondhand goods from any location without registering with the Department of Revenue. Inside the city, the City of Sebastian handles local Business Tax Receipt applications through its MGO Connect permitting portal. No individual coin or bullion dealer is named on this page because none was verified from its own website for this guide.

Sebastian sits beside the wreck sites of the 1715 Spanish treasure fleet, and Florida law gives the state title to treasure abandoned on state lands and submerged lands.

The coins under the sand are the reason this stretch is called the Treasure Coast. Mel Fisher's Treasures, the museum on U.S. 1 in Sebastian, states that on July 24, 1715 a fleet of eleven Spanish galleons and one French ship, the Griffon, left Havana loaded with gold and silver for Spain, and that a storm off the east coast of Florida near present-day Sebastian claimed all of the Spanish vessels, 700 lives and over 14 million pesos of treasure.

Recovery continues. WQCS reported on October 1, 2025 that a crew working for Queens Jewels, LLC, which holds the exclusive salvage rights to the 1715 Fleet, brought up over 1,000 silver reales, or pieces of eight, along with five gold escudos and other gold artifacts off Vero Beach, a few miles south of Sebastian.

Ownership is set by state law. Section 267.061 declares that treasure trove and artifacts abandoned on state-owned lands or state-owned sovereignty submerged lands belong to the state, with title vested in the Division of Historical Resources. In a state park the rule is blunt: Rule 62D-2.013 of the Florida Administrative Code forbids digging, disturbing or removing sand, minerals, artifacts or other materials from any park area or its waters, which covers the beaches of Sebastian Inlet State Park.

Federal tax treats gains on coins as collectibles taxed at up to 28 percent, and Florida adds no state income tax for Sebastian residents.

The Internal Revenue Service states that net capital gains from selling collectibles, such as coins or art, are taxed at a maximum 28% rate, above the 20% top rate that applies to most long term capital gains. Florida has no personal income tax, so for a Sebastian resident the federal rule is the only income tax that applies to a gain on gold or silver.

Collectors in Sebastian who compare prices across sellers can see the current range of graded and bullion pieces in the coins collection on Digital Towns Market. Digital Towns Market is our marketplace. This page describes how the law applies and does not recommend buying, selling or holding any metal.