Ch. 774

LAWS OF MARYLAND

(c) (D) "Person" means an individual, corporation, or other
legal or commercial entity.

(d) (E) (1) "Precious metals" means gold, silver,
palladium, iridium, platinum, or any item composed of those
metals or of an alloy of those metals if the market value of the
metal therein is principally the gold, silver, palladium,
iridium, or platinum component, or if at least 25 percent of the
item's weight is gold, silver, palladium, iridium, or platinum.

(2) "Precious metals" includes a precious or a
semiprecious stone, or a pearl, that is or appears to have been
attached or affixed to, or inlaid in, gold, silver, platinum,
palladium, iridium, or any alloy of any of these metals.

(e) (F)(1) "Dealer" means a person engaged in the business
of buying, acquiring, or trading commercially with members of the
public in secondhand precious metals in this State or, unless
otherwise provided, a pawnbroker.

(2) "DEALER" INCLUDES A RETAIL JEWELER.

(f) (G) "Secretary" means the Secretary of Licensing and
Regulation.

(g) (H) "Primary law enforcement agency" means the State
Police, or a police or sheriff's department, as designated by
resolution of the county governing body.

(h) (I) "Pawnbroker" means any person who loans money on
deposit or pledge of personal property or other valuable thing,
other than securities or printed evidences of indebtedness, or
who deals in the purchasing of personal property or other
valuable things on condition of selling the same back at a
stipulated price.

(I) (J) "EMPLOYEE" MEANS ANY PERSON EMPLOYED BY A DEALER OR
PAWNBROKER WHO, AS PART OF THE PERSON'S EMPLOYMENT, BUYS, SELLS,
STORES, TRANSPORTS, OR IN ANY OTHER WAY HANDLES OR COMES INTO
CONTACT WITH PRECIOUS METALS. OR DIRECTLY SUPERVISES THE BUYING
OR SELLING OF SECONDHAND PRECIOUS METALS.

417.

(A) This subtitle does not apply to transactions
concerning:

(1) Merchandise____acquired from an established

manufacturer or licensed dealer with a fixed business address,
other than a pawnbroker, if the acquiring dealer retains an
invoice or other customary proof of origin of the merchandise;

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