Compare › Sell gold › Texas › San Antonio
Coin shops and gold buyers in San Antonio: the official picture
·
By GoldGuy. First published Oct 24, 2026; text updated Oct 25, 2026. Census data retrieved Oct 24, 2026; state tax rules checked Oct 24, 2026; melt values refresh with every price update.
Census cannot count coin shops or gold buyers in San Antonio directly. It does count the trade around them. Bexar County had 124 jewelry stores in 2023, up +15% since 2019, and just 17 precious-metal wholesalers. One in five San Antonio households (20.0%) has retirement income, more than in Houston. Today's yardstick: 10k gold melts at $51.93 per gram as of Oct 31, 2026 2:24 AM ET.
Key facts
- Jewelry stores, Bexar County: 124 (Census CBP 2023)
- Precious-metal wholesalers, Bexar County: 17 (CBP 2023)
- San Antonio median household income: $66,176 (ACS 2024)
- Texas bullion sales tax: Exempt: gold, silver and numismatic coins and gold, silver and platinum bullion (checked Oct 24, 2026)
- 14k gold melt: $72.70/g (Oct 31, 2026 2:24 AM ET)
San Antonio residents and retirement income (ACS 2024)
| Measure (ACS 2024) | San Antonio | Texas | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 1,526,621 | 31,290,831 | 340,110,990 |
| Median household income | $66,176 | $79,721 | $81,604 |
| Residents age 65+ | 13.6% | 14.0% | 18.0% |
| Households with retirement income | 20.0% | 19.4% | 24.4% |
| Median home value | $260,900 | n/a | n/a |
Source: Census ACS 2024 1-year estimates (tables B01003, B19013, B19059, B25077, S0101), city limits of San Antonio. Notes.
Bexar County jewelry stores: rebounding after a 2022 dip
| Year | Jewelry stores, Bexar County | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 108 | 635 |
| 2022 | 101 | 587 |
| 2023 | 124 | 1,196 |
| Area | Jewelry stores (2023) | Per 100,000 residents |
|---|---|---|
| Bexar County | 124 | 5.8 |
| Texas | 1,575 | 5.0 |
| United States | 19,897 | 5.9 |
Source: Census CBP 2019, 2022 and 2023, NAICS 448310 (jewelry stores); per-100,000 rates use ACS 2024 population. Notes.
San Antonio vs Houston: same state, different market
| Measure | San Antonio / Bexar | Houston / Harris |
|---|---|---|
| Jewelry stores (CBP 2023) | 124 | 321 |
| Jewelry stores per 100,000 | 5.8 | 6.4 |
| Precious-metal wholesalers (CBP 2023) | 17 | 123 |
| Wholesalers per 100,000 | 0.8 | 2.5 |
| City median household income (ACS 2024) | $66,176 | $64,361 |
| Households with retirement income | 20.0% | 13.6% |
| Residents 65+ | 13.6% | 12.4% |
Both cities share Texas's tax rules, but San Antonio's market is mostly retail counters while Houston's has a deep wholesale layer. See the Houston page for its numbers.
Few precious-metal wholesalers in Bexar County
| Area | Precious-metal wholesalers (2023) | Per 100,000 residents | Change since 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bexar County | 17 | 0.8 | +1 |
| Texas | 450 | 1.4 | +49 |
| United States | 6,949 | 2.0 | - |
Source: Census CBP 2019 and 2023, NAICS 423940 (jewelry, watch, precious stone and precious metal merchant wholesalers), 75 employees locally in 2023. These are business-to-business firms, not a count of shops that buy from the public. Notes.
Reading the San Antonio numbers
Jewelry stores in Bexar County dipped from 108 in 2019 to 101 in 2022. Then they jumped to 124 in 2023, the most in the years we pulled. Jobs followed: 1,196 in 2023 against 587 the year before.
Wholesalers are the thin spot. Bexar County's 17 precious-metal wholesalers come to 0.8 per 100,000 residents, about half the Texas rate of 1.4. Bexar has under half of Harris County's people but about a seventh of its wholesale trade. That suggests more local gold changes hands over retail counters.
San Antonio's households look a lot like Texas as a whole. 20.0% report retirement income (Texas 19.4%) and 13.6% of residents are 65 or older (Texas 14.0%). These are context figures, not a count of sellers, so no price conclusion follows.
Texas tax on coins and bullion
Exempt: gold, silver and numismatic coins and gold, silver and platinum bullion. Texas does not charge state or local sales tax on gold, silver or numismatic coins, or on gold, silver or platinum bullion (Tax Code §151.336, current wording since Oct 1, 2013). The Comptroller's rule says the exemption does not cover jewelry or other items worn as adornment.
Sources: Texas Bullion Depository (Texas Comptroller), Sales tax benefits; Texas Tax Code §151.336. Checked Oct 24, 2026. These rules cover buying; they are general information, not tax advice. Selling gold can raise a federal capital-gains question instead: see how to sell silver and gold.
Melt values to check any San Antonio offer against
Gold is worth the same in San Antonio as anywhere else: weight times purity times the spot price. As of Oct 31, 2026 2:24 AM ET, gold spot is $3,876.40/troy oz. Online dealers' published buy prices for bullion: 1 oz American Gold Eagle 98.9% of melt (Hero Bullion); 1 oz Gold Krugerrand 97.7% of melt (Hero Bullion); 1 oz gold bar (.9999) 97.9% of melt (Hero Bullion). Checked Oct 31, 2026 2:32 AM ET.
| Karat | Melt per gram | Melt per pennyweight |
|---|---|---|
| 24k | $124.50 | $193.63 |
| 22k | $114.24 | $177.67 |
| 21k | $109.05 | $169.59 |
| 18k | $93.47 | $145.36 |
| 14k | $72.70 | $113.06 |
| 10k | $51.93 | $80.76 |
Plug in your own weight with the pawn shop gold price calculator, which also shows what share of melt an offer is.
Melt = grams × purity × spot ÷ 31.1035 (spot: gold-api.com). Local offers for jewelry and scrap are below melt; the gap depends on the buyer.
Frequently asked questions
How many coin shops are in San Antonio?
There is no official count. Census does not list coin shops on their own. The nearest official measures are 124 jewelry stores and 17 precious-metal wholesalers in Bexar County in 2023 (County Business Patterns).
Who buys gold in San Antonio, Texas?
Coin shops, jewelers that buy gold, pawn shops and online dealer buyback programs. We do not list or rank local businesses. Get written offers per gram from several and compare each with melt: 10k is $51.93 per gram as of Oct 31, 2026 2:24 AM ET.
Where can I sell gold in San Antonio?
Most local trade runs through retail counters: Bexar County had 124 jewelry stores but only 17 precious-metal wholesalers in 2023 (Census CBP). For coins and bars, also compare the online buy prices on our sell-gold page.
Before you visit a San Antonio buyer
- Keep coins and bars apart from jewelry. Coins and bars are priced by fine weight, jewelry by karat and grams.
- To check offers, price a 4 g 10k ring at $207.72 and a 6 g 18k band at $560.83 (as of Oct 31, 2026 2:24 AM ET).
- Ask if the quote is a sale or a pawn loan. They are different deals.
- Get every quote in writing, with the price per gram.
More local gold-selling data
Sell gold in Houston, TX · Sell gold in Tucson, AZ · Sell gold in Denver, CO
All city pages · Pawn shop gold price calculator · Gold jewelry value by karat · 14k gold price per gram · How to sell gold step by step
Bullion Price Check publishes price data and does not buy, sell or lend on gold. No business on this page is listed, rated or endorsed. General information, not financial or tax advice.
Notes: establishment counts are from the U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023 (the latest year published; NAICS 2017 codes 448310 jewelry stores and 423940 jewelry, watch, precious stone and precious metal merchant wholesalers), county level, retrieved Oct 24, 2026. Population, income, age and retirement-income figures are from the U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates, retrieved Oct 24, 2026. Per-100,000 rates divide 2023 business counts by 2024 population, so they mix years and are approximate. Census does not count pawnshops, coin shops or gold buyers as such: a jewelry-store count includes stores that never buy gold, and pawnshops are filed under a broader lending code that we do not use. ACS figures are survey estimates with margins of error.