VA No exemptions Last reviewed: April 2026

Rules of Gold in Virginia

What this means for me Coin & bullion dealers 4

The six facts

Statute-level rules. Each fact is sourced; click through to the primary citation.

Exempt

Sales tax on bullion

Virginia Code § 58.1-609.1(20) exempts from the state's 5.3% sales/use tax (plus applicable local up to 1.7%, totaling 5.3-7.0% combined) "gold, silver, or platinum bullion or legal tender coins" provided the items meet four conditions: (1) refined; (2) contain at least 90% gold, silver, or platinum, or some combination of these metals; (3) sales price fluctuates with and depends on the market price of the underlying precious metal, not the item's rarity, condition, age, or other external factor; (4) the item is NOT jewelry or a work of art. Notable: palladium is NOT included (paralleling UT, SC, and a few other states). Definitions (codified): "Gold, silver, or platinum bullion" = gold/silver/platinum (any combination thereof) refined to a state where value depends on mass and purity not form, numismatic value, or other value. "Legal tender coins" = coins of any metal content issued by a government as a medium of exchange or payment of debts. History: Originally enacted 2017 with a $1,000-per-transaction floor threshold. HB 936 (Del. Amanda Batten, 2022) signed by Gov. Youngkin 2022-04-11 effective 2022-07-01 — eliminated the per-piece $1,000 threshold and required only that the entire transaction exceed $1,000 (subsequent reading per Greysheet coverage suggests transaction-threshold also effectively eliminated). HB 1600 (2025 budget) extended the sunset from 2025-07-01 to 2026-07-01. HB 2336 (2025, Del. Batten) would have extended sunset to 2032-06-30 but was laid on the table 5-3 by House Subcommittee 2025-01-21, effectively dying. Operator must verify whether a 2026 budget extension has been enacted before treating the post-2026-07-01 status as `Yes-full`.

Source As of 2026-04-26 · medium confidence

Recognized as legal tender

Virginia has not enacted a statute recognizing gold or silver coins or bullion as legal tender for payment of debts. No active legal-tender bill identified in 2021-2026 sessions. Per Sound Money Defense League coverage, Virginia "has not taken any steps" comparable to UT/OK on legal tender. Virginia remains absent from the legal-tender state list as of 2026.

Source As of 2026-04-26 · medium confidence

Taxed

Capital gains on bullion

Virginia taxes capital gains as ordinary income through a 4-bracket individual income tax system: 2% (taxable income up to $3,000), 3% ($3,001-$5,000), 5% ($5,001-$17,000), and 5.75% (income above $17,000). Notable: Virginia's 5.75% top rate hits at the lowest top-rate threshold in the dataset — only $17,000 of Virginia taxable income. Compare to other states' top-rate trigger thresholds: OR 9.9% at $125K, NY 9.65% at $1.077M, NM 5.9% at $210K. VA effectively functions as a near-flat-rate state for any taxpayer with substantial taxable income, since most taxpayers with bullion-investment-relevant income clear the $17K threshold easily. No PM-specific capital-gains carve-out in current Virginia code.

Source As of 2025-01-01 · high confidence

State bullion depository

Virginia has not enacted enabling legislation authorizing a state-administered or state-chartered bullion depository. Per Sound Money Defense League coverage, "Virginia law does not currently allow for a state bullion depository." No depository-authorization bill identified in 2021-2026 sessions. The Virginia Department of the Treasury has no statutory authority to operate a depository or hold physical bullion as a state asset.

Source As of 2026-04-26 · medium confidence

State gold & silver reserves

The Virginia Department of the Treasury does not hold physical gold or silver as a reserve asset. Virginia statutes do not authorize state-treasury PM holdings. No legislative initiative for state PM reserves identified in 2021-2026 sessions. (Notably, given Virginia's location housing the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and its commercial banking center positioning, the Commonwealth's investment posture has tracked traditional fixed-income / public-equity / real-asset / alternatives mix without PM exposure.)

Source As of 2026-04-26 · medium confidence

No disclosure

Pension fund holdings

The Virginia Retirement System (VRS, ~$110B AUM as of FY24) — administered under Title 51.1 of Virginia Code — manages defined-benefit and defined-contribution plans for state and local government employees. VRS investment philosophy emphasizes diversification across stocks, bonds, real assets, and other strategies; investment earnings fund approximately two-thirds of pension benefit payments. VRS does not enumerate physical-precious-metals exposure as a discrete line item in publicly-available summary documents. Field marked `No-public-disclosure` rather than definitive `No` because the alternatives sleeve composition is not fully enumerated — physical PM exposure is presumed minimal-to-zero but cannot be ruled out without ACFR-level review.

Source As of 2024-06-30 · medium confidence

What this means for buyers

When you buy bullion in Virginia: investment-grade bullion is exempt from state sales tax. The exemption typically covers gold, silver, platinum, and palladium meeting standard investment-grade purity. Verify the exemption applies to your specific purchase — definitions and minimum-purity thresholds vary by statute.

When you sell or otherwise realize a gain: capital gains on bullion are taxed as ordinary income at Virginia’s state-tax rates, stacked on top of the federal 28% collectibles rate. This is a real drag on long-term holdings — consult a CPA before realizing a major position.

Mostly standard taxation; one carve-out worth knowing about. Confirm it covers your specific purchase before relying on it.

Coin & bullion dealers in Virginia

Verified retail dealers — sourced from state corporation registries, BBB, and trade associations.

Full directory

Candl Coins and Stamps

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Norview Coin Shop

Operating since 1964

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Harry Laibstain Rare Coins

Operating since 1980
PCGS Authorized, NGC Authorized

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Liberty Coins (Richmond)

PCGS Authorized, NGC Authorized

View dealer

About this page. Legislative data captured by the Empirical Research Orchestrator. Each fact links to its primary source. State laws change — confirm material facts with your CPA or the state Department of Revenue before acting on a transaction. Fair Market Value does not provide legal or tax advice.

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