Sell gold coins for the highest price in Los Angeles
South Bay Coin is a coin counter, not a scrap counter. Every gold coin you bring is identified and named before it is quoted, whether you carry in one piece or a full box. Walk in, get a free appraisal, leave paid.
The best place to sell gold coins in Los Angeles
There are two kinds of counter in this business, and a gold coin can end up at either one. At a scrap counter, gold is bought by the pile. It goes on a scale, the purity is settled, and a number follows. At a coin counter, a gold coin is named first, and the scale is the last thing it sees, if it sees one at all. South Bay Coin has run a coin counter in Lawndale since 1980, which is why people drive here from across Los Angeles County rather than stopping at the nearest window that says cash for gold.
We are a licensed, bonded and insured California dealer at a fixed address on Hawthorne Blvd, with a public showroom, a resale side of the business, and our own refinery on site. That combination matters more on coins than on anything else we buy. A coin with a market as a coin never has to become metal here to get paid for, and a coin that has no market beyond its gold still gets the benefit of a buyer who refines rather than passing the job along.
Most of what comes through the door is not rare, and we will tell you that plainly rather than let you imagine otherwise. A common date is still a coin, though, and that is the part the market gets wrong. Bring one piece or a boxful. We are happy to look at a run of gold and silver coins together, price any gold bars and bullion alongside them, and handle the loose gold jewelry and scrap in the same visit, on separate tickets, so you can see which piece earned what.
Our Lawndale showroom
South Bay Coin
Get Directions (opens in a new tab)
Sat: 10 AM - 3 PM
Sun: Closed
Why a gold coin is not weighed like scrap gold
Search for what your gold coins are worth and every calculator you find teaches the same arithmetic: take the weight, apply the purity, multiply by today's market. That is correct, and it is the right way to think about a broken chain, because with scrap nobody knows what is in front of them until it is measured. A coin is the opposite case. Its weight and purity were fixed by the mint that issued it and published before it left the building. There is nothing to discover.
So the work at a coin counter is not measurement, it is identification. We are reading the piece to find out what it is: which issue, which mint, which size, and whether the market that trades that issue wants it as a coin or only wants the gold inside it. That reading is free, it happens in front of you, and it is the step a scrap counter skips because a scrap counter has no use for the answer.
None of which makes the metal irrelevant. The gold in a coin is a floor, and no honest buyer should ever land under it. What the floor is not is the answer. Treating it as the answer is how a coin worth more as a coin gets bought as though it were a bent bracelet, and it is the single most expensive thing that happens to gold coins in this city.
The three ways a gold coin gets priced
Quoted by the piece. Modern government-issued gold coins trade as units. They are bought and sold every day by name and size, so the market has a running figure for the coin itself and there is no reason to reduce it to a weight. Ten identical coins are ten of the same thing, quoted the same way, and you are told the figure per coin before anything is added up.
Read one at a time. Some coins have to be looked at individually because something about that piece has its own market: an older issue, an early date, a coin already sealed in a grading holder, a condition plainly better than the rest of the group. These come out of the stack and get their own line, alongside the rest of a coin collection rather than inside a bullion lot.
Bought for the gold. The third outcome is real and we name it out loud. Plenty of gold coins have no market above their metal, and some pieces that look like coins are not gold at all. When that is the case you hear it in those words, not as a shrug or a single number covering everything on the counter. Being told which of the three your coin fell into is the whole point, because it is the only way to know whether the offer you are holding is a good one.
The one question to ask any gold buyer
You do not need to know what your coins are to sell them well. You need one question, and it works at every counter in Los Angeles, including ours: are you quoting this as a coin, or as gold?
It is a fair question and it is easy to answer. A buyer who trades coins will answer it piece by piece without hesitating, because sorting is what they do all day. A buyer who only refines will either tell you plainly that everything goes in by weight, which is honest and useful, or will avoid the question while sliding your coins onto the scale beside the broken jewelry. Either answer tells you what you needed to know before you agreed to anything.
Ask it here, then ask it at the next place and compare the answers rather than only the numbers, because a number with no basis attached cannot be compared with anything. Everything at our counter is quoted the same way whether you accept or not, and if you would rather take your coins home you take all of them home exactly as they arrived.
Gold coins we buy for cash
Any country, any date, any size, any condition. If it is a gold coin we want to see it, and we will tell you which of the three outcomes above it falls into.
Modern Bullion Coins
Current government mint issues in full and fractional sizes, single pieces, tubes, and whole stacks. Quoted by the coin.
Older U.S. Gold Coins
Early American gold in every denomination, including pieces held back from circulation and coins already sealed in grading holders.
World Gold Coins
Gold coinage from mints on every continent, modern and historic, whether or not you can read the inscription on it.
Worn, Damaged & Unmarked
Coins that have had a hard life, and pieces you are unsure about. Looked at free, identified, and never mixed into a lot.
How to sell gold coins in three steps
Walk In With Your Coins
Come to 16916 Hawthorne Blvd in Lawndale. No appointment. Bring them loose, in tubes, in albums, or in the box you found them in.
Watch Each Coin Get Named
We identify the pieces in front of you, separate what trades as a coin from what does not, and tell you the basis for each line.
Take the Offer or the Coins
Accept and get paid in the same visit, or decline and carry everything out. Most visits run about 15 minutes. Bring photo ID.
South Bay Coin vs. other gold coin buyers
The difference between a coin counter and a scrap counter shows up in the process, not the sales pitch. Here is what happens to a gold coin at each, including the two rows where our own answer is no.
| Feature | South Bay Coin | Cash-For-Gold Counters | Pawn Shops | Mail-In Buyers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Each coin identified before it is quoted | Yes | Rarely | Rarely | No |
| Coins quoted by the piece, not by the pile | Yes | Rarely | Sometimes | Varies |
| Coins kept separate from scrap in the same lot | Yes | Rarely | Sometimes | No |
| Pays above gold value when a coin earns it | Yes | No | Rarely | Varies |
| Says out loud when a coin is worth only its gold | Always | Rarely | Rarely | Rarely |
| Your coins stay in front of you throughout | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Paid in the same visit | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Quotes a coin over the phone from a description | No | Sometimes | Sometimes | Sometimes |
| Publishes a fixed payout chart online | No | Yes | Rarely | Yes |
| Licensed CA dealer at one address since 1980 | Yes | Varies | Varies | Varies |
What our customers say
Common questions about selling gold coins
Where can I sell gold coins in Los Angeles?
South Bay Coin, 16916 Hawthorne Blvd in Lawndale, open Monday to Friday 10 AM to 5 PM and Saturday 10 AM to 3 PM. Walk in without an appointment. We are a licensed California coin dealer serving all of Los Angeles County, and every gold coin is identified in front of you before any offer is made.
Is a gold coin worth more than its gold?
Sometimes, and the only way to know is to have the coin identified rather than weighed. Some gold coins trade as coins and carry a figure of their own. Others are worth exactly what the gold in them is worth. We tell you which of the two you are holding before you decide anything.
Do gold coin dealers pay more than cash for gold shops?
On coins that trade as coins, usually yes, because a buyer who only refines has no way to pay for anything except the metal. On a coin that is genuinely worth only its gold, a refining buyer can be perfectly competitive. Ask each one which basis they are quoting on and compare the answers.
How do you determine the value of my gold coins?
We identify each piece first: the issue, the mint, the size and the condition. That tells us whether it is quoted by the coin, read on its own, or bought for its gold content. You see the sorting happen, you get the basis for every line, and you can accept or decline any part of it.
Should I sell my gold coins with my gold jewelry?
Bring them in the same trip, but they should never end up on the same ticket. Jewelry is bought on its metal. Coins are bought on what they are. We separate the two before anything is quoted, so a coin never disappears into a jewelry lot and gets paid for as though it were scrap.
Do you buy worn or damaged gold coins?
Yes. Wear and damage can change which market a coin belongs in, but nothing removes the gold from it, so there is always an offer. Please do not try to improve a coin before bringing it in. Whatever it looks like now is the condition we would rather see it in.
Do you buy foreign gold coins in Los Angeles?
Yes, from mints worldwide, modern and historic, whether or not you can read what is written on them. Foreign gold coins are handled exactly the same way as American ones: identified first, then quoted on the right basis. Bring anything you are unsure about, including pieces you assume are souvenirs.
Can I sell just some of my gold coins?
Yes. There is no minimum here and no requirement to sell the group to get an offer on part of it. Take the lines you are happy with and carry the rest home. Nothing is separated, opened or altered without you saying so first, whatever you decide.
Do I need an appointment to sell gold coins?
No. Walk-ins are welcome during showroom hours at our Lawndale location, and most visits take about 15 minutes. If you are bringing a large group of coins, a quick call to (310) 363-7808 first lets us set aside the time to go through them properly rather than rushing.
What do I need to bring to sell gold coins in California?
Your coins and a valid government-issued photo ID, which California requires for precious metals purchases. Nothing else is needed. Original packaging, receipts and paperwork are welcome if you have them, and their absence never changes whether we will make you an offer on a coin.
Ready to sell your gold coins?
Walk into our Lawndale showroom with no appointment, or call first. Free evaluation, every coin named in front of you, payment in the same visit.
