Sell Indian Gold Jewelry in Los Angeles
Sell Indian gold jewelry to a licensed Los Angeles buyer that weighs in grams and pays cash at the counter. If you have been searching for Indian gold buyers near me, walk in for a free appraisal.
Where to Sell Indian Gold Jewelry in Los Angeles
South Bay Coin is a licensed, bonded, and insured precious metals dealer in Lawndale, and the place to sell Indian gold jewelry in Los Angeles when what you want is a cash number rather than store credit. Since 1980 we have bought high karat gold from families across the South Bay and from the communities around Artesia, Cerritos and Norwalk. We buy 24K, 22K and 21K, marked or unmarked, a single bangle or an entire trousseau.
What separates us from a pawn counter is where the metal goes next. We operate our own refinery, so a piece bought here does not pass through a broker before it reaches a refiner. That removes a layer of cost from the transaction and puts it back into the offer. It is also why we can quote on items other buyers wave off: unhallmarked bazaar work, older pieces with no stamp at all, and heavy ornaments a resale-only shop has nowhere to send.
Every piece is tested and weighed in front of you, on a calibrated scale, in grams. Nothing goes into a back room. If your family record lists the weight in tola, pavan, bhori or sovereign, we convert it out loud so both numbers sit on the counter before you decide anything. Appraisals are free and there is no pressure to sell. You can sell gold jewelry of any origin, gold and silver coins, or sell gold of any kind in the same visit.
Our Lawndale Showroom
South Bay Coin
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Sat: 10 AM - 3 PM
Sun: Closed
Tola, Pavan and Gram: Which Unit Is on the Scale
Almost everyone who brings in Indian gold already has a number in their head. It came from a wedding list, a bank locker register, an old estimate, or a parent who said the set was four pavan. The number is usually right. The trouble is that it is rarely in the unit an American counter uses, and until both numbers are in the same unit, no offer can be compared against any other offer.
The traditional units are not interchangeable. A tola is 11.664 grams, fixed at one hundred and eighty grains under the British Indian system and equal to exactly three eighths of a troy ounce. Bhori, bhari and vori are the same weight under Bengali, Gujarati and Bangladeshi names, except in Pakistan, where a tola is commonly taken as 12.5 grams. A pavan, sovereign or savaran runs 8 grams across Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, though a minority of jewelers still work to an older 7.5 gram convention. Rounding a tola to 10 grams for quick mental arithmetic, which nearly everyone does, understates it by more than a gram every time.
The American side has its own habit. Much of the United States jewelry trade weighs in pennyweight, written dwt, which is one twentieth of a troy ounce, or 1.555 grams. The same gold reads as a smaller figure in pennyweight than in grams, and a rate quoted per pennyweight reads larger than the same rate per gram. Neither unit is dishonest. Refusing to convert between them is. We weigh and quote in grams, and we will restate the total in whatever unit your family has always used.
Is Indian Gold Worth More Back Home?
It is the question every seller asks, usually because a relative in Chennai or Ahmedabad quoted a rate far better than anything on offer here. The rate was probably real. It was also a different kind of number. India imports very nearly all the gold it consumes, so the rupee rate a family checks is a landed retail price that already carries import duty and goods and services tax. It moves on Indian trade policy as much as on the metal, and in May 2026 the government raised that duty steeply.
Carrying the jewelry back is not free either. Under India's Baggage Rules 2026 the duty free jewellery allowance is set purely by weight: forty grams for a female passenger and twenty grams for other passengers, and only for a resident or person of Indian origin who has lived abroad over a year and arrives by air or sea. One heavy necklace can use that up on its own. Gold in coin, bar or biscuit form gets no allowance at all and is dutiable from the first gram. Anything over the limit must be declared.
There is also a step most families never hear about. If you intend to take jewelry out of India and bring it back later, Indian customs issues an export certificate before you fly, prepared with a licensed goldsmith, so the pieces are not treated as an import on your return. None of this makes selling in India wrong. It makes it a decision with paperwork attached. If you are travelling anyway and the pieces sit inside the allowance, price both. If not, the honest comparison is between our offer and the next counter down the road. Confirm current allowances with Indian customs before you fly.
Indian Gold We Buy for Cash
We buy South Asian gold in every form it arrives in, worn or unworn, stamped or blank, one piece or a full set. Everything is quoted item by item rather than as a single pile.
Bridal & Wedding Sets
Necklace sets, haram and rani haar, chokers, jhumka, maang tikka, vaddanam and matching pieces from a full wedding trousseau.
Bangles, Kada & Chains
Bangles and kangan, gents kada, chains, mangalsutra, rings and daily wear pieces. Every bangle is weighed on its own, never as a stack.
Gift Coins & Biscuits
Lakshmi and Ganesh kasu coins, wedding gift coins, tola biscuits and small bars. Valued as recognised gold, not folded into scrap.
Unmarked & Inherited Gold
Bazaar work with no hallmark, worn or broken pieces, and inherited gold nobody in the family can date. Tested, not discounted.
Selling Indian Gold in Three Steps
Bring the Whole Box
Walk into our Lawndale showroom at 16916 Hawthorne Blvd with no appointment, or text photos to (310) 363-2697 first. Bring the family record if you have one.
Weighed in Grams, Piece by Piece
We test purity and weigh each item separately on a calibrated scale in front of you, then convert the total into tola, pavan or bhori if that is the number you know.
Paid at the Counter
Accept the offer and take payment before you leave. Decline and take everything home. Most visits run about fifteen minutes. Bring a valid photo ID.
South Bay Coin vs. Other Indian Gold Buyers
Four routes are open to a family with high karat gold in Los Angeles. Here is how a walk-in visit to our Lawndale counter differs from the alternatives, including the one that involves a boarding pass.
| South Bay Coin | Pawn Shops | Mail-In Buyers | Selling on a Trip to India | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| States the weight in grams | Always | Sometimes | Sometimes | Usually |
| Converts to tola, pavan or bhori on request | ||||
| Tests and weighs in front of you | Sometimes | Varies | ||
| Each piece quoted separately | Rarely | Rarely | Sometimes | |
| Buys unhallmarked and unmarked pieces | Sometimes | At a discount | ||
| No travel or shipping required | ||||
| Licensed California dealer | Varies | Varies | Not applicable | |
| Pays in Indian rupees | ||||
| Buys gold plated imitation sets | Sometimes |
What Our Customers Say
Common Questions About Selling Indian Gold
South Bay Coin buys Indian gold jewelry at our Lawndale counter, a short drive from Torrance, Long Beach, Cerritos and Artesia. You can sell Indian gold jewelry here with no appointment, or text photos first. We test purity and weigh every piece in grams in front of you before you decide.
One tola is 11.664 grams, fixed at one hundred and eighty grains under the British Indian system and equal to exactly three eighths of a troy ounce. Bhori, bhari and vori are the same weight. In Pakistan a tola is usually taken as 12.5 grams instead, so the country matters.
A pavan, sovereign or savaran is 8 grams, the working unit in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Most jewelers use 8 grams, though a minority still follow an older 7.5 gram convention, so confirm which one your family record used before comparing it against a scale here.
Grams. A gram means one thing everywhere, which makes it the only unit you can carry from counter to counter and compare honestly. If you would rather see the total in tola, pavan or bhori, we will convert it for you at the counter and write both numbers down.
Yes. On Indian pieces purity is usually stamped millesimally, so 22 karat reads 916 rather than 22K, often beside a BIS mark and a jeweler code. We buy every high karat grade, hallmarked or not, and an unmarked piece is simply tested rather than discounted for having no stamp.
The Indian rate is a landed retail price carrying import duty and tax, because India imports nearly all its gold, so it is not directly comparable to a United States offer. If you are travelling anyway it is worth pricing both. If you are not, a flight is not a selling strategy.
Under India's Baggage Rules 2026 the allowance is set by weight: forty grams for a female passenger and twenty grams for other passengers, for a resident or person of Indian origin who has lived abroad over a year. Coins and bars get no allowance. Confirm current rules before flying.
No. A purchase bill helps in India, where a jeweler may price off its own invoice, but you do not need one to sell Indian gold jewelry here. We test the metal itself. Bring a valid photo ID, which California requires of every licensed dealer buying precious metals.
Yes. Lakshmi and Ganesh kasu coins, gift coins and tola biscuits are all bought here. These are weighed and valued separately from ornaments, since a recognised coin or bar can carry demand above its metal content. Ask us to itemise them rather than folding them into a scrap total.
Usually not. Plated and imitation sets carry a gold layer too thin to recover economically, so there is no weighable metal to pay for. We will tell you which is which at no charge, and many families find solid pieces mixed in among the imitation ones they assumed were costume.
Ready to Sell Your Indian Gold?
Walk in with no appointment, or text us photos for an estimate. Free appraisals, weighed in grams in front of you, payment at the counter.
