Rules of Gold in Ohio

Ohio has not enacted a statute recognizing gold or silver coin or specie as legal tender for public or private debts. HB 206 (2025), sponsored by Reps. Jennifer Gross and Riordan McClain in the 136th General Assembly, would enact new ORC §§113.81-113.90 establishing a "transactional currency based on gold and silver held in a bullion depository approved by the treasurer of state" — a Florida HB 999 / NJ S4674-style transactional-currency framework rather than a direct legal-tender recognition statute. The Treasurer would contract with a private company or approved bullion depository to hold the gold and silver backing the currency; users could buy in with US dollars, transact through accounts, withdraw cash, or convert balances to physical metals. HB 206 was referred to the House Financial Institutions Committee April 2, 2025 and held its first hearing October 15, 2025. As of April 2026, the bill remains in committee. Ohio is absent from the legal-tender state list (UT/WY/OK/AR/ID/LA/TN/TX plus pending FL/NH).

Ohio taxes capital gains as ordinary income at the standard graduated rate schedule with no separate capital-gains rate and no precious-metals-specific carve-out under current law. For tax year 2025, Ohio uses a 3-bracket schedule: 0% (up to ~$26,050), 2.75% (~$26,050 to ~$100,000), and 3.125% (over ~$100,000) — the top rate having stepped down from 3.5% (2024). Under HB 96 (FY 2026-2027 budget bill), signed by Gov. DeWine on June 30, 2025, Ohio moves to a flat 2.75% rate on all non-business income above $26,050 starting tax year 2026. The business income tax rate continues at 3.0% under existing flat structure. Ohio's flat-rate phase-down is among the most aggressive in the nation; combined with the existing bullion sales-tax exemption, Ohio offers a comparatively favorable structure for bullion investors, though without the explicit capital-gains carve-outs adopted by NE/AZ/UT/WY/OK/AR/ID/IA/ND/MS/MO. Capital gains on bullion held by Ohio residents are taxed at the same flat 2.75% (2026 forward) as ordinary income.

Ohio has not enacted enabling legislation for a state-administered bullion depository. HB 206 (2025) would authorize a "state-approved bullion depository" supervised by the Treasurer of State to hold the gold and silver backing the proposed transactional currency — the framework parallels Florida HB 999 and Louisiana Act 304 (2025) in relying on a private contractor under State oversight rather than a state-built-and-operated facility. HB 206 remains in House Financial Institutions Committee as of April 2026. As of capture, the State Treasurer's office does not operate any state bullion depository facility. (Tier-2 verification 2026-04-26: Robert Sprague is term-limited but his current term as Treasurer continues through January 2027 — he is NOT yet a "former" Treasurer; he announced a 2026 GOP primary run for Secretary of State in February 2025, with successor to be elected November 3, 2026. Republican primary candidates Niraj Antani, Jay Edwards, and Kristina Roegner are competing in the May 5, 2026 primary.)

The Ohio State Treasurer does not hold physical gold or silver as a reserve asset. There is no statutory authority for an Ohio state precious-metals reserve. Ohio has not pursued any HB-302-style (New Hampshire) authorization for state-treasury PM holdings. HB 206 (2025), if enacted, would establish a transactional-currency framework with bullion held in a contracted depository — but this is structurally distinct from a state-treasury reserve allocation (the bullion would back user account balances rather than state operating funds).

Ohio's public pension landscape includes the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS, ~$110B AUM), State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio (STRS Ohio, ~$95B AUM), School Employees Retirement System (SERS, ~$20B AUM), Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund (OP&F, ~$20B AUM), and Highway Patrol Retirement System (HPRS, ~$1B AUM). None of these systems disclose physical-precious-metals or commodities allocations as discrete asset classes in their publicly-available summary documents. Standard institutional asset classes only (public equities, fixed income, real estate, alternatives sleeves of private equity, private credit, infrastructure). Combined Ohio public pension AUM is approximately $245 billion — the second-largest state public pension footprint after California (CalPERS+CalSTRS).