Sell Palladium for the Highest Price in LA
One of the few palladium buyers in Los Angeles with a public counter. We identify the metal in front of you, weigh it, price it against the live market, and pay the same visit.
The Los Angeles Buyer That Prices Palladium as Palladium
South Bay Coin is a licensed, bonded, and insured precious metals dealer at 16916 Hawthorne Blvd in Lawndale, and one of the few places in Los Angeles where you can sell palladium across a public counter with no appointment. We have bought metals here since 1980.
Palladium is the fourth precious metal and the one almost nobody advertises. Work through the South Bay and you find shop after shop listing gold, silver and platinum, then stopping. That is not because palladium is worthless. It is because palladium arrives in more shapes than the other three, and a counter that cannot tell them apart prefers not to be asked.
We would rather be asked. Identification comes first, in front of you, before any number is discussed, because a white band can be palladium, platinum, white gold or silver, and the four settle differently. Any platinum jewelry or gold and silver bars you bring are weighed in the same sitting.
Because we run our own refinery, palladium bought here does not pass through a third party before it is worth anything to us, which removes a layer of cost from the offer. Every evaluation is free and nothing leaves your sight. Sellers reach Lawndale from Torrance, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach and Hawthorne, often after other buyers declined to price the piece.
Our Lawndale Showroom
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Sat: 10 AM - 3 PM
Sun: Closed
What Palladium Looks Like When It Reaches a Counter
Palladium is sold by the form it is in, not by the fact that it is palladium. The question at the counter is never whether there is palladium in the object. It is whether that palladium can be identified, weighed and paid for as itself.
Three forms answer yes. The first is bullion: Swiss refiner bars, the one ounce American Palladium Eagle the US Mint began striking in 2017, the Canadian Palladium Maple Leaf, and generic rounds. Each is self contained and carries its own fineness.
The second is hallmarked jewelry, and it carries the trap this page exists to flag. Palladium is marked in millesimal fineness, the same system platinum uses, and the three standards are 500, 950 and 999. American pieces often read PD, PD950 or PALL. Here is the trap: on a white ring, 950 names a fineness, not a metal. PT950 and PD950 sit at the same number and settle differently. A 500 mark has no platinum equivalent, so it is a useful tell.
The third form is alloy in working condition: dental and laboratory material, plus bench stock such as casting grain and filings, all bought on what it assays at.
When Palladium Is the Alloy and Not the Item
Far more palladium sits in Los Angeles jewelry boxes as an ingredient than as an item, and that decides which name it is paid under.
White gold is the largest case. Pure gold is yellow, so white gold is gold bleached with something else, and for a century the candidates have been nickel and palladium. Nickel is cheap and provokes allergies in many wearers, so nickel free white gold uses palladium instead. That palladium is real and it is paid for, but as part of an 18 karat or 14 karat white gold piece, because that is what the piece is. The honest destination for it is our gold buying counter.
Dental alloy is the second case, and the one most often written off. The American Dental Association sorts crown and bridge alloys by noble metal content, and its middle class requires no gold at all. Those alloys are commonly palladium with silver or copper, palladium being the majority constituent. A crown a dentist called semi-precious is often a palladium alloy.
The converse runs the other way. A band sold to its first owner as platinum can turn out to be palladium, and a palladium band can turn out to be white gold or silver. That has a factual answer, which is why we do not quote white metal from a photograph.
The Palladium We Do Not Buy, and Why Not
Most of the world's palladium is not in anybody's jewelry box. It is in vehicle exhaust systems, and a page about selling palladium that says nothing about that leaves out the form many searchers have in mind.
South Bay Coin does not buy detached catalytic converters. That is not a judgment about the seller. In California a detached converter is a regulated item. Since the start of 2023, state law limits who may lawfully buy one and who may lawfully sell one, restricting purchases to licensed dismantlers, automotive repair dealers, and vehicle owners holding documentation of ownership, and requiring the buyer to record the vehicle it came off. One of the two bills behind that was carried by the assembly member for Torrance, so it is a South Bay story.
If you have a converter to sell lawfully, the destination is a licensed core recycler set up for that paperwork. The same reasoning covers circuit boards and other electronic scrap: the palladium is there, but it is recovered by assaying a whole lot, not by weighing one piece.
Palladium We Buy for Cash
We buy palladium in every form a counter can identify, weigh and settle in one sitting. If you are unsure which you hold, that is what the free evaluation is for.
Palladium Bars & Coins
Refiner bars in any size, American Palladium Eagles, Canadian Palladium Maple Leafs, and generic rounds. Original packaging welcome, not required.
Palladium Jewelry & Bands
Bands, rings, pendants and settings marked 500, 950, 999, PD, PD950 or PALL, plus unmarked white pieces we identify free.
Dental & Lab Alloys
Crowns, bridges and partials in palladium silver and palladium copper alloys, plus casting grain and filings from jewelers.
Estate White Metal
Drawers and lots where nobody is sure what is what. We sort palladium from platinum, white gold and silver before quoting.
Sell Palladium in Three Steps
Visit, Call, or Text
Walk into our Lawndale showroom at 16916 Hawthorne Blvd, no appointment, or text photos of the marks to (310) 363-2697.
Free Metal Identification
We confirm the metal before anything is quoted, weigh each piece on a scale you can read, and explain the offer against the live market.
Get Paid on the Spot
Accept and take payment the same visit. Decline and take your palladium home. Most visits run fifteen minutes. Bring photo ID.
South Bay Coin vs. Other Palladium Buyers
Palladium separates buyers more sharply than gold does, because most counters will not price it. Here is how a walk-in visit to Lawndale compares.
| Feature | South Bay Coin | Mail-In Refiners | Scrap Metal Recyclers | Jewelry Stores |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Identifies the metal before quoting | Yes | No | Varies | Sometimes |
| Prices palladium as its own metal | Yes | Yes | Varies | Rarely |
| Pays for palladium held inside another alloy | Yes | Yes | No | Rarely |
| Buys a single ring, band or bar | Yes | Yes | No | Sometimes |
| Metal never leaves your sight | Yes | No | Varies | Varies |
| Paid in the same visit | Yes | No | No | Varies |
| Buys detached catalytic converters | No | No | Yes | No |
| Licensed CA dealer, one address since 1980 | Yes | Varies | Varies | Varies |
What Our Customers Say
Common Questions About Selling Palladium
Where can I sell palladium in Los Angeles?
South Bay Coin, 16916 Hawthorne Blvd in Lawndale, Monday through Friday from 10 AM to 5 PM and Saturday from 10 AM to 3 PM. Walk in with palladium bullion, jewelry or alloy, no appointment. We identify the metal, weigh it in front of you, and pay that visit.
How do I know whether my white ring is palladium, platinum or white gold?
You often cannot tell by looking, and weight alone is not decisive. Check inside the band for a mark: PD, PD950, PALL, 500 or 999 point toward palladium, while PT, PLAT or 900 point toward platinum. If the mark is worn, we test the piece before quoting.
What do the 950, 500 and 999 marks on palladium mean?
They are millesimal fineness, parts per thousand. A 950 mark says the alloy is 950 parts palladium out of a thousand, 500 says half, and 999 is effectively pure, usually bullion rather than jewelry. Because platinum uses the same numbering, the number alone never names the metal.
Do you buy palladium bars and palladium bullion coins?
Yes. We buy palladium bars from refiners including PAMP, Valcambi and Credit Suisse, the one ounce American Palladium Eagle the US Mint introduced in 2017, the Canadian Palladium Maple Leaf, and generic palladium rounds. Original packaging is welcome but not required. Bring one piece or a whole holding.
Do you buy catalytic converters for the palladium inside them?
No. A detached catalytic converter is a regulated item in California, and since 2023 state law limits who may buy one and who may lawfully sell one, with vehicle records required. That work belongs to a licensed core recycler. We buy palladium in bullion, jewelry and alloy form.
My white gold is alloyed with palladium. Do I get paid for the palladium?
Yes, but under the name of the piece. Nickel free white gold uses palladium as the whitening metal, so the palladium is there and forms part of what the alloy assays at. The item still prices as 14 karat or 18 karat white gold.
Do you buy palladium dental crowns, bridges and lab alloys?
Yes. Many white crowns and bridges are palladium silver or palladium copper alloys rather than base metal, which is why a dentist may have called the work semi-precious. We buy dental alloy on what it assays at, not on how it looks. Bring it in any container.
Why do so few gold buyers in Los Angeles mention palladium?
Because palladium takes more work to identify than gold and arrives in more shapes, from wedding bands to dental alloy to bullion. A counter that only tests karat gold has no reason to advertise it. We list palladium because we buy it, and few others do.
Do I need an appointment to sell palladium in the South Bay?
No. Walk into 16916 Hawthorne Blvd in Lawndale during business hours, Monday through Friday from 10 AM to 5 PM and Saturday from 10 AM to 3 PM. Sellers come from Torrance, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach and Hawthorne. Bring valid photo identification for the purchase record.
How is a palladium offer worked out at the counter?
Three things: what the metal is, how much of it there is, and where palladium is trading while you stand there. We confirm the metal, weigh each piece on a scale you can read, and quote against the live market. We refine in-house, so no reseller intervenes.
Ready to Sell Your Palladium?
Walk in with no appointment, or text photos of the marks for a same-day estimate. Free identification, immediate payment.
