What You Earn Depends on What You Learn
Learning the hobby can pay dividends, and collectors have more good news as additional states preserve or expand coin sales tax exemptions.
It’s been a while since I repeated this lesson, so here goes. The company that I owned for 33 years (and where I still work) was founded ten years before my becoming an owner by R. William “Bill” Bradford.
As Bill purchased collections from customers over the years, he would ask them two questions. First, he wanted to know if they were selling at an overall profit or at a loss. Second, he asked how long they had been a coin or currency collector.
The results almost completely split into two directions. He said that some people had begun “investing” in coins strictly for potential financial gains, and didn’t have an interest in becoming a numismatist. Of these sellers, Bill told me that 90 percent of them sold at a loss.
In contrast, those who had begun even as casual collectors out of change that passed through their hands, but had become interested enough to study numismatics for at least five years, sold at a profit about 90 percent of the time.
Even the most focused student of numismatics keeps in the back of their mind the issues of value and the risk of gain or loss of a possible acquisition. They study catalogs, price guides, and follow market trends. They devote time to learning how to grade. They seek out and may be able to pick the brains of other collectors or dealers who have specialized knowledge of the numismatic niche of particular interest to them. It is a result of this learning process that enables them to identify pieces of solid value and quality for the prices they would have to pay. Therefore, when it comes time to sell, they are in a favorable position.
The lack of numismatic education and overreliance on dealers who may be more interested in making a one-time sale to an “investor” rather than developing a long-term relationship with a new numismatist helps explain why such buyers too often end up taking losses down the road.
With respect to numismatics, it is usually true that what you earn depends on what you learn.
Update on 2026 Coin and Precious Metals Bullion Sales Tax Exemption Efforts
Pending sales tax exemption legislation involving coins and precious metals bullion in the states where such bills were under consideration had mostly positive outcomes in 2026.
Efforts in three states, Colorado, Nebraska, and New York, to repeal existing exemptions were all stopped when their respective legislative sessions ended for the year.
Virginia’s coin and precious metals bullion sales tax exemption was due to expire at the close on June 30, 2026, unless extended by the legislature and governor. While both chambers of the legislature agreed to extend the exemption, this extension was contained in legislation that included other issues where the two chambers differed. It wasn’t until the last week of June that the legislation passed to extend this exemption through June 30, 2028.
Alaska does not have a state sales tax at all. However, many local municipalities and boroughs have a local sales tax, which applies to coin and precious metals bullion purchases. House Bill 1 was enacted on May 29, 2026, and becomes effective on August 28, 2026, which exempts gold and silver coins and stamped gold and silver bars from any local sales tax.
Last year, the state of Maryland narrowed its existing coins and precious metals bullion sales tax exemption only to transactions of $1,000 or more conducted at the Baltimore Convention Center. This year, Senate Bill 309 was unanimously enacted to restore, as of July 1, 2026, a coin and precious metals bullion sales tax exemption for transactions anywhere in the state of $1,000 or more.
Last year, the state of Washington revoked its precious metals bullion and monetized bullion sales tax exemption and also changed that state’s Business & Occupations tax of 4.71 percent on the gross margin on such retail sales to now apply to the entire selling price, effective Jan. 1, 2026. Legislation introduced in both chambers in 2026 saw no action before the end of the session. However, the Washington Coin & Bullion Association (https://washingtoncoinandbullionassoc.org/) is already hard at work lining up support to try again in 2027.
Currently, only the states of Hawaii, Maine, New Mexico, Vermont, and Washington, plus the District of Columbia, do not have any form of sales and use tax exemptions on the retail sales of coins and precious metals bullion. For details on the nature of exemptions for particular states, contact the National Coin & Bullion Association at https://www.ncbassoc.org/. Note: I serve the National Coin & Bullion Association as its Industry Issues Advisor, where I mostly focus on sales and use tax exemption issues.
See more sales tax exemption news here:
