Sell Precious Metals in Los Angeles
South Bay Coin is one of the few precious metals buyers in Los Angeles paying for all four metals at one counter. Bring a mixed lot, sorted or not, and leave with a single offer.
The Counter That Buys All Four Metals
If you want to sell precious metals in Los Angeles, the gold is the easy part. Nearly every buyer in this market wants gold. What actually decides your afternoon is the rest of the pile: the sterling nobody weighed, the white ring somebody once called platinum, the heavy coin with no name on it. South Bay Coin has bought gold, silver, platinum and palladium from Los Angeles County sellers since 1980, and prices all four in the same visit.
A pile of metal gets graded by its hardest item, not its easiest one. A shop built around gold still has to say something about your silver, and the number a buyer puts on a metal it does not want is the price of making that metal go away. That is how sellers end up carrying half a box back to the car, or handing over the whole box for one round figure that quietly covers everything in it.
We are a licensed, bonded and insured California dealer with our own refinery, so metal leaving our counter goes into our own process instead of to a third party at a markup. Sell your gold in Los Angeles, your silver, or your platinum and palladium, and every piece is weighed, recorded and priced on a line of its own.
Nothing here needs an appointment and nothing needs sorting first. Bring the box the way it sits in the closet. Each item is evaluated in front of you, the offer is explained before you decide, and anything you would rather keep goes back in the box and home with you. Sellers come to Lawndale from Torrance, Inglewood, El Segundo and across LA County for exactly that.
Our Lawndale Showroom
South Bay Coin
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Sat: 10 AM - 3 PM
Sun: Closed
What Counts as a Precious Metal
Four metals have a working market at a retail counter: gold, silver, platinum and palladium. They do not arrive in equal amounts. Gold turns up in more karats and more shapes than the other three put together. Silver turns up heaviest and in the widest range of objects, from flatware to coins to trays. Platinum turns up in the fewest object types, mostly rings and a small run of coins and bars. Palladium turns up least often on its own, which is precisely why it gets missed.
The platinum group has other members. Rhodium, iridium, ruthenium and osmium are genuinely valuable and genuinely traded, just not usually as objects a person carries in. Rhodium reaches most households as a bright plating a few microns thick over white gold or silver, which is a finish rather than a quantity you can weigh. We price the metal underneath it, and we say so plainly when the shine is doing the talking.
Then there are the words that carry a metal name without carrying the metal. German silver, nickel silver and alpaca are copper, nickel and zinc, with no silver in them at all. EPNS stands for electroplated nickel silver, so the silver there is a coating over that same base. White gold is gold, and prices as gold. None of it is a trick played on you. The names are simply older than the marks, and they outlived the trade that coined them.
Sorting that out is the work, and it is the reason an unsorted lot is worth bringing whole. The pieces that turn out to be nothing cost you nothing to ask about, and the piece you had written off is the one that surprises people most often.
The Four Metals We Buy for Cash
We buy each metal as itself, in any form and any condition, whether it arrives as jewelry, bullion, coins or scrap. Every piece is weighed and recorded separately, then the lines are combined into one offer.
Gold
Chains, rings, bracelets, dental gold, broken pieces, bars and coins, 10K through 24K. Sorting by karat is our job, not yours. See the gold jewelry we buy.
Silver
Sterling and coin silver, rounds, bars and pre-1965 US coinage. Weight counts for more here than with any other metal, so bring the heavy things, including silver flatware sets.
Platinum
Wedding bands, engagement mountings, bench findings, laboratory and thermocouple wire, bars and platinum coins. Usually marked 950, 900 or PLAT, and heavier in the hand than it looks.
Palladium
Palladium bullion, hallmarked palladium jewelry, and palladium bearing alloys still in working condition. Very few Los Angeles counters price this metal at all. We do.
Selling a Mixed Lot in Three Steps
Bring the Whole Lot
Walk into 16916 Hawthorne Blvd in Lawndale with no appointment, or text photos to (310) 363-2697 first. Nothing needs sorting, cleaning or paperwork.
We Separate and Weigh
Each metal is identified, weighed on a calibrated scale in front of you and written on its own line. You watch the sorting happen and can ask about any piece.
One Offer, One Payment
We explain how every line was priced, then give you one figure for the lot. Accept and you are paid on the spot. Bring a valid photo ID.
South Bay Coin vs. Other Precious Metals Buyers
Most buyers in this market are built around a single metal and treat the rest as an accommodation. Here is how a walk-in visit to our Lawndale counter compares with the three business models a Los Angeles seller usually runs into.
| Feature | South Bay Coin | Cash-For-Gold Shops | Mail-In Refiners | Bullion Investment Firms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buys gold, silver, platinum and palladium | Yes | No | Yes | Varies |
| Prices jewelry and scrap, not only bullion | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| One combined offer on a mixed metal lot | Yes | No | Varies | No |
| Your metal never leaves the room | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Pays above metal value for collectible pieces | Yes | Rarely | No | Varies |
| Walk in without an appointment | Yes | Varies | No | No |
| Buys by mail from outside California | No | Varies | Yes | Yes |
| Buys bulk industrial and laboratory scrap | No | No | Yes | No |
What Our Customers Say
Common Questions About Selling Precious Metals
Where can I sell precious metals in Los Angeles?
You can sell precious metals in Los Angeles at South Bay Coin, 16916 Hawthorne Blvd in Lawndale, where gold, silver, platinum and palladium are all bought over a public counter. Walk in Monday to Friday, 10 AM to 5 PM, or Saturday, 10 AM to 3 PM. No appointment needed.
What counts as a precious metal?
Four metals have a working market at a retail counter: gold, silver, platinum and palladium. Rhodium, iridium, ruthenium and osmium belong to the same platinum family and carry real value, but they rarely arrive as objects a person can bring in to a counter. German silver and nickel silver contain no silver at all.
Can I sell gold, silver and platinum in the same visit?
Yes, and that is how we prefer it. Each metal is identified and weighed separately so nothing gets absorbed into a single lump figure, then the lines are added into one offer. Bring the box unsorted. Sorting a mixed lot is our work, not a task we hand back to you.
Do you buy palladium in Los Angeles?
Yes. We buy palladium bullion, hallmarked palladium jewelry and palladium bearing alloys in working condition. Very few Los Angeles storefronts price this metal at all, which is why palladium pieces often come back from other counters unpriced or quietly grouped in with something else. Bring it and we will name it.
Do I need to sort or clean anything before I come in?
No. Bring everything exactly as it sits. Cleaning can damage a surface that carries value, and sorting by guesswork usually puts the wrong pieces in the wrong pile. No paperwork is required either. We separate, weigh and record each item in front of you at the counter instead.
What do you need from me to complete a purchase?
A valid government-issued photo ID. California requires identification on precious metals purchases, and the transaction is recorded. Nothing else is needed: no receipts, no certificates, no original boxes. If you happen to have paperwork for a coin or a bar, bring it, because it helps, but it is never a condition of sale.
Do you buy silver flatware and hollowware?
Yes. Sterling flatware, tea services, trays and bowls are among the heaviest items we see, and weight counts for more with silver than with any other metal. Complete sets are checked for pattern and maker before anything is grouped, so bring the box or the chest as it is.
Is there anything you do not buy?
Two things come up often enough to name. We do not buy detached catalytic converters, which California limits to a narrow set of licensed buyers. We also do not take bulk industrial or laboratory scrap, which needs a different kind of processing than a counter purchase. Everything else is worth asking about.
Do you buy precious metal coins and bars as well as jewelry?
Yes. Coins and bars go to our coin desk rather than being handled as scrap, which is a different evaluation entirely. We buy gold and silver coins and gold and silver bars in any size, plus platinum and palladium bullion, at the same counter on the same visit.
How long does it take to sell precious metals in Los Angeles?
Most visits run about fifteen minutes. A mixed lot carrying several metals takes longer, because each metal is sorted, weighed and written down separately before any figure is quoted. You are welcome to watch every step, and nobody asks you to decide while the scale is still settling.
Ready to Sell Your Precious Metals?
Bring gold, silver, platinum and palladium to one counter in Lawndale. Walk in without an appointment, or text photos first. Free evaluation, one offer, payment on the spot.
