Polk County, FL Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)
Key Facts
- Citation
- Polk County Code § 10.5-31 to § 10.5-36
- Covers
- Gold, silver and platinum secondhand items
- Hold period
- 10 days before resale, melting or transfer
- Daily report deadline
- Noon, next business day, to Sheriff's CID
- Maximum penalty
- $500 fine or 60 days in jail
Summary
Anyone buying or selling old, used or secondhand gold, silver or platinum in Polk County must log every transaction in a sheriff-approved register, verify the seller's identity, and hold the item for ten days before reselling or melting it down. Daily transaction reports go to the Sheriff's Office by noon the next business day.
Any persons engaged in business as a dealer in the county shall keep a register in connection with his business, said register to be approved as to type and form by the sheriff of the county, and at the time of each transaction shall enter or cause to be entered therein an accurate description of the person from whom any article of personal property made of precious metal is purchased or received. ... Except as provided in subsection (2), no article or personal property made in whole or in part of precious metal shall be sold, melted, altered or otherwise disposed of by any dealer until ten (10) days have elapsed from the time the sheriff has had made available to him a copy of transcript of the register in which such article of personal property is entered, and the article shall not be transferred from within the county during that ten-day period.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 109 | Land Development Code: Supplement 12).
Full Breakdown
5, adopted under Ordinance No. 81-5, defines a "dealer" as anyone in the county who purchases, sells, or otherwise deals in old, used, or secondhand precious metal, whether gold, silver, or platinum, with a fixed location or as an itinerant. 5-32 requires every dealer to keep a register in a form approved by the sheriff, recording the seller's name, date of birth, sex, race, residence, and driver's license or other government ID number, along with a description of the item and any engraved marks. The dealer must require the seller to sign the register and show identification; giving false identification or signing a false name is itself unlawful.
5-33 then bars a dealer from selling, melting, altering, or otherwise disposing of the item until ten days have passed since the sheriff received a copy of the register entry, and the item cannot leave the county during that ten-day hold. Exemptions cover coin repurchases from the original seller, purchases of bullion or numismatic coins by a licensed coin dealer, and dealer-to-dealer transfers of already-registered items. 5-35 requires arranging stock so the sheriff's department can inspect it during the hold period.
Violations & Fines
Section 10.5-36 punishes any violation of the secondhand precious metals article, including skipping the register, missing the daily transcript deadline, or reselling within the ten-day hold, by a fine of up to $500, up to sixty days in the county correctional facility, or both. A customer who signs a false name or presents false identification to a dealer also commits a separate violation under section 10.5-32.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long must a Polk County pawn or gold dealer hold an item before reselling it?
What identification does a Polk County secondhand dealer have to collect?
Are there any exceptions to the ten-day hold on secondhand precious metals?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Polk County
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