[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of the Town of West New York 1-7-1981 by Ord. No. 1441. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Auctioning of precious metals — See Ch. 121.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 - Ord. No. 1441 Preamble
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
DEALER
Any person, firm or entity who purchases, sells or trades in secondhand jewelry or precious metals or melts, refines or processes precious metals or makes or provides appraisals of precious metals or secondhand jewelry, with or without compensation, fee or remuneration.
PRECIOUS METALS
Gold, silver, platinum and their alloys, as defined in N.J.S.A. 51:5-1 et seq. and 51:6-1 et seq., including coins or bullion.
SECONDHAND JEWELRY
Used articles consisting all or partially of gold, silver, platinum or jewels.
A. 
After the effective date of this chapter, any dealer in precious metals, secondhand jewelry, coins or bullion shall submit an application for a license to the Licensing Officer of the Department of Public Safety, which shall contain a current photograph, address of his residence and principal place of business, his past business and employment history for 10 years last past, a brief description of security measures and devices installed for protection at the address where he intends to engage in precious metals transactions and the full name, address and employment history of each person charged with management, supervision and security at the address given for precious metals transactions.
B. 
The application shall be accompanied by a license application fee of $75. The license to engage in precious metals or secondhand jewelry transactions shall be approved by the Director of the Department of Public Safety. If denied, the applicant may, within 10 days of receipt of written notice of denial, file a written appeal of the decision of the Director to the Board of Commissioners.
[Amended 6-16-2010 by Ord. No. 13/10]
The license of a precious metals dealer shall be renewed annually on October 1 of each year upon filing of a renewal application, plus payment of an annual renewal licensing fee of $15.
No person, firm or entity shall engage as a precious metals dealer or engage in any precious metals or secondhand jewelry transaction within the Town of West New York until and unless licensed pursuant to §§ 296-2 and 296-3 of this chapter.
A. 
Every person, firm or entity who shall engage in any precious metals or secondhand jewelry transaction in the Town of West New York shall:
(1) 
Post a conspicuous sign in English and Spanish in the place where the transaction is made, stating the prices offered various metals units, i.e., grams, specific rare coins, pennyweights, etc., and fineness of precious metals; or in lieu of posting specific prices, they may post a reference to a standard price guide in the trade which is recognized as authoritative in the trade, and they must have the current edition of said reference available for use, free of charge, on the premises and readily accessible to potential customers.
(2) 
Post his license in a conspicuous place on the premises, which location and posting shall be readily accessible for view by all potential customers.
(3) 
Advertise his legal name, address and license number in all advertisements and window signs.
(4) 
Maintain forms prescribed and supplied by the West New York Police Department, which forms shall be subject to daily review by and delivery to any police officer and shall contain a legible and correct transcript of each daily sale, purchase, trade, exchange or appraisal of precious metals, and said form shall contain the following:
[Amended 1-19-2011 by Ord. No. 30/10]
(a) 
Legal name and residence address of the person, firm or entity with or for whom the precious metals dealer engages in any transaction, plus the following specific information regarding each such person: occupation, age, height, weight, sex and color of eyes, complexion and hair.
(b) 
Date and time of the transaction.
(c) 
An exact description of the article displayed to or viewed by the precious metals dealer together with clear, close-up digital photographs of the article sufficient to allow its identification, and showing any inscription or identifying marks or engraving to the extent it is practicable to record such images.
(d) 
Net weight in terms of pounds (Troy), ounces (Troy), pennyweight (Troy), grams or kilograms.
(e) 
Fineness in terms karat for gold and sterling or coin for silver in accordance with N.J.S.A. 51:5-1 et seq. and 51:6-1 et seq.
(f) 
The price or other consideration paid or received by the precious metals dealer for the described item.
(5) 
Maintain the records required in Subsection A(4)(a) through (f) of this section for a period of at least five years and shall at all times have same available on his premises and open for inspection and copying by any police officer of the Town of West New York.
[Amended 1-19-2011 by Ord. No. 30/10]
B. 
No precious metals dealer shall sell, melt, change the form of, release from his possession or dispose of any precious metals or secondhand jewelry article bought or received by him until 14 calendar days have elapsed from the date indicated on his official record prepared pursuant to Subsection A(4)(a) through (f) of this section.
[Amended 7-1-1981 by Ord. No. 1477; 1-19-2011 by Ord. No. 30/10]
No person, firm or entity shall buy, sell, exchange, appraise or otherwise engage in or enter into any precious metals transaction or secondhand jewelry transaction within the Town of West New York with any person under the age of 18, and each person entering into any such transaction shall have the responsibility to verify the age of the other person with whom he is dealing and shall note on his permanent records the documentary verification of age.
It shall be the duty of every licensed precious metals dealer to have on his main business premises a certified accurate metals weighing scale in working order and in visible sight of all customers, and said scale shall be used by the licensees for all precious metals transactions. The certified weighing scale shall contain all essential measurements, including but not limited to pennyweights (Troy), hundred weights, pounds (Troy), ounces (Troy), grams or kilograms.
Any person, firm or entity who shall violate this chapter shall be subject to a mandatory fine of $250 for a first offense and, in addition thereto, in the discretion of the court, up to 30 days' incarceration, and for a second or any subsequent offense, a mandatory fine of $500 for each offense and, in addition thereto, up to 90 days' incarceration and permanent revocation of license.