LLC for a Coin and Bullion Shop: A 7-Step Guide

A business name is the first thing a wholesale supplier or retail customer sees before any transaction takes place, so it carries both legal and commercial weight. Most states require the name to include “LLC” or “Limited Liability Company” as part of the official registered name. Abbreviations like “L.L.C.” are accepted in some states but not all, so checking the Secretary of State’s website for the specific state’s formatting rules is the right starting point.

Certain words are restricted or prohibited outright. Terms like “Bank,” “Trust,” or “Insurance” typically require additional regulatory approval or may not be permitted at all — a relevant restriction for a business that deals in currency and financial instruments. The coin and bullion shop business name also must be distinguishable from any existing business entity registered in the same state, which is verified through the state’s business entity database. Before settling on a name, coin shop owners generally run three checks: the state’s business entity database, the USPTO trademark database for potential federal conflicts, and a domain name search if the shop plans to sell online or maintain a web presence. Many states allow a name to be reserved for 60 to 120 days before the Articles of Organization are filed, which gives time to complete the remaining formation steps without losing the name to another filer. A few examples of names that work well in this vertical:

• Meridian Coin and Bullion LLC — the geographic reference grounds the business locally while “Coin and Bullion” makes the inventory immediately clear to both retail customers and wholesale suppliers.
• Apex Precious Metals LLC — positions the shop as a serious dealer rather than a hobbyist operation, which matters when applying for accounts with national mints or distributors.
• Oak Street Numismatics LLC — “numismatics” signals expertise to collectors and signals that the shop handles more than spot-price bullion.

Every LLC is required to designate a registered agent, sometimes called a statutory agent or resident agent depending on the state. A registered agent is a person or business entity designated to receive legal documents, tax notices, and official government correspondence on behalf of the LLC. The agent must maintain a physical street address in the state where the LLC is formed — a P.O. box does not meet the requirement in most states.

The owner can serve as their own registered agent, but there are practical reasons many coin shop owners choose a professional service instead. A professional registered agent keeps the owner’s home address off public records, which matters for dealers who store inventory at home or want to avoid advertising a residential address. A professional service also ensures that time-sensitive legal documents are received and processed during business hours, even when the owner is at a coin show or away from the shop. When evaluating registered agent services, the factors that matter most are reliability, how quickly the service notifies the LLC of incoming documents, and annual cost. Most professional services charge between $50 and $150 per year.

Filing the Articles of Organization is the step that legally creates the LLC. This document — called a Certificate of Formation in some states and a Certificate of Organization in others — is submitted to the state along with a filing fee, and once the state processes it, the business exists as a legal entity. The filing typically requires the LLC name, the registered agent’s name and address, the principal office address, the name of the organizer filing the document, and a designation of whether the LLC will be member-managed or manager-managed.

Member-managed means the owners run day-to-day operations themselves. Manager-managed means the owners appoint one or more managers to handle operations, which can be useful if a coin shop has a silent partner or an investor who won’t be working the floor. Filing fees range from approximately $40 to $500 depending on the state, with most states falling between $50 and $150. Processing times vary from a few business days to several weeks. Expedited processing is available in many states for an additional fee, which can be worth it for owners who want to start applying for dealer licenses as soon as the LLC is official.

An operating agreement is an internal document that defines how the LLC is managed, how profits and losses are distributed among members, and what happens if an owner exits the business or the LLC dissolves. Most states do not legally require one, but operating without one leaves the business exposed to state default rules that may not reflect what the owners actually want.

For a single-member coin shop LLC, the operating agreement establishes on paper that the business is a separate entity from the owner. That distinction matters if the LLC’s liability protection is ever challenged in court — a judge looking at whether the business was truly separate from the individual will look for documentation like this. For a multi-member shop, the agreement spells out each partner’s ownership percentage, capital contributions (including any inventory brought into the business at formation), decision-making authority, and exit procedures. Coin and bullion shops that start with one partner buying inventory and another handling retail operations benefit from having those roles and the corresponding profit split documented before any disagreement arises. An operating agreement drafted at formation is far less expensive than litigation over ownership later.

An EIN, or Employer Identification Number, is a federal tax ID issued by the IRS that functions as the business’s identifier for tax filings, bank accounts, and credit applications. The application is free through the IRS website, and the number is issued immediately upon completion of the online form. By default, a single-member LLC is taxed as a sole proprietorship, meaning profits and losses pass directly to the owner’s personal tax return. A multi-member LLC is taxed as a partnership by default, with each member reporting their share of income on their personal return. Neither structure pays income tax at the entity level, which avoids the double taxation that corporations face.

Coin and bullion dealers face a few tax considerations that are specific to the industry. Many states exempt investment-grade precious metals from sales tax, but the rules vary by state and by product type — some states tax numismatic coins differently than bullion bars, and some exempt only coins above a certain purity threshold. Dealers who buy and sell frequently may also face quarterly estimated tax payment obligations. Owners whose income from the shop grows to a level where self-employment tax becomes a significant burden may want to consult a tax professional about whether electing S corp taxation could reduce that liability under their specific circumstances.

Licensing for a coin and bullion shop goes well beyond a standard local business license, and the requirements vary by state, county, and city. Most jurisdictions that regulate precious metals dealers require a separate precious metals dealer license or a secondhand dealer permit. These permits often involve a background check, a waiting period, and a requirement to report purchases electronically to local law enforcement — a measure designed to prevent the sale of stolen goods.

At the federal level, dealers who conduct a significant volume of cash transactions are subject to Bank Secrecy Act requirements administered by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Dealers who buy or sell more than $10,000 in a single cash transaction are required to file a Currency Transaction Report (CTR). Shops that deal in volume may also be required to establish a written Anti-Money Laundering (AML) program, which includes employee training and internal controls. If the shop buys scrap gold or silver by weight, the scales used for those transactions may be required to be registered and periodically inspected by the state’s weights and measures division. Zoning permits are also relevant for shops operating from a retail storefront, and some municipalities require a certificate of occupancy before a business can open to the public. General liability insurance is not typically mandated by law, but many commercial landlords require it as a condition of a lease, and it provides a practical layer of protection for a business handling high-value inventory.

Once the LLC is formed and the EIN is in hand, opening a dedicated business bank account is the step that puts the legal structure into practice. Commingling personal and business funds — depositing a coin sale payment into a personal checking account, for example — can jeopardize the LLC’s liability protection through a legal concept called “piercing the corporate veil.” A court that finds the owner treated the business and personal finances as interchangeable may set aside the LLC’s liability protection entirely.

Banks typically require the EIN, a copy of the Articles of Organization, a government-issued ID, and sometimes the operating agreement to open an LLC account. Coin and bullion dealers sometimes face additional scrutiny during the account-opening process because of the cash-intensive nature of the business. Bringing AML compliance documentation to the bank meeting can help move the process along. A business credit card is worth considering alongside the bank account. It keeps business expenses cleanly separated from personal spending, builds the LLC’s credit profile, and makes it easier to manage cash flow when purchasing a large bullion lot ahead of a market move. Setting up basic bookkeeping from the start — whether through accounting software or a bookkeeper — keeps the financial records clean and makes tax filing considerably less complicated at year end.