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What is IRA-eligible gold?
What makes gold IRA-approved?
How to purchase IRA-eligible coins and bars and which other precious metal bullion is IRA approved and can become a part of your gold IRA account?
Answer to these questions and more are in my guide right below.
You can use these jump links to move around the article faster:
- What is IRA-Eligible Gold (Definition and Meaning)?
- How to Invest in IRA-Eligible Gold? Where to Purchase it?
- Which Other Precious Metals Are IRA-Eligible?
- Which Gold Coins and Bars are IRA-Eligible?
- Which Precious Metals Are Not IRA-Eligible?
Table of Contents
What is IRA-Eligible Gold (Definition and Meaning)?
Definition: IRA-eligible gold is gold that’s been approved by the IRS to be eligible to be included as part of the gold IRA accounts of Americans looking to diversify with precious metals.
IRA-eligible (IRA-approved) gold meets certain purity standards and this is what makes is eligible to form a a part of your precious metals IRA.
The two common forms of IRA-approved gold are gold coins and gold bars (and rounds).
- Gold bars and rounds: These types of gold must be produced by an IRA-approved mint and be 99.5% pure. Small bars must meet exact weight specifications.
- Gold coins: Gold coins must be 99.5% pure, and they must come with a certificate of authenticity, be in mint condition and also be encapsulated in their original packaging.
How to Invest in IRA-Eligible Gold? Where to Purchase it?
The best way to invest in an IRA-eligible gold bullion is to work with a reputable gold IRA company who can procure it for you.
Technically, you could do it on your own and save a little bit of money on account processing fees (~$200/yr). But the risk is too high as there are many scammers and fraudsters lookin to rob you of your money (note: I have a whole article on gold IRA scams you should check out next).
The way these legitimate gold investment companies work is that they do all the paperwork for you (with your assistance and oversight of course).
They find a reputable custodian for you (custodial service will be the one managing your gold bullion for you- a necessity with all self-directed IRAs); they insure and place your bullion in a IRA-approved depository.
And they can arrange for you to visit your gold and silver bullion whenever you feel like it.
You can read my guide to the best gold IRA companies here, but in general the companies I recommend are Augusta Precious Metals (read my full Augusta Precious Metals review, Augusta Precious Metals fees and my Augusta Precious Metals coupon guides next.) and Birch Gold Group (read my full Birch Gold Group review here).
Here’s the process in a nutshell as performed by Augusta Precious Metals (my number #1 choice of a gold IRA provider)
Which Other Precious Metals Are IRA-Eligible?
Besides gold, the other IRA-eligible precious metals are silver (required purity of .999 purity or higher for IRA-eligible silver), platinum (required purity of .9995 purity or higher for IRA-eligible platinum) and palladium (required purity of .9995 purity or higher for IRA-eligible palladium).
| Precious Metals | Purity Standard |
|---|---|
| Gold | .995 purity or higher |
| Silver | .999 purity or higher |
| Platinum | .9995 purity or higher |
| Palladium | .9995 purity or higher |
Note: there are hundreds of different precious metals coins you can own as physical bullion stored at your home.
But there are only a handful of IRA-eligible coins and bars you can include as part of your self-directed IRA.
Which Gold Coins and Bars are IRA-Eligible?
- American Eagles
- American Eagle Proofs
- Canadian Maple Leaf
- Gold Canadian Eagle
- American Buffalo
- Australian Striped Marlin
Which Precious Metals Are Not IRA-Eligible?
One popular precious metals that however is not IRA eligible is rhodium.
There are companies that sell rhodium coins and bars which you can buy but won’t be able to include as part of your gold IRA account.
Another popular metal is copper. Copper is a base metal (not precious precious metal) but you can buy copper bullion in the US.
For example, JM Bullion is an excellent gold IRA company that also sell copper coins, bars and bullet for copper enthusiasts.
Read my JM Bullion review here.
Finally, numismatic coins are also not IRA-eligible and while you can collect them as a hobbyist, you can’t include them as part of your IRA.
Note:Â I covered 5 precious metals (gold, silver, platinum, palladium, rhodium) here and whether they’re IRA-eligible or not. There are 3 more precious metals (ruthenium, iridium, and osmium) left.
Is Iridium IRA-Eligible?
Iridium is not an IRA-eligible precious metal. No gold IRA company currently stocks iridium-made coins and bars.
Is Osmium IRA-Eligible?
Osmium is not an IRA-eligible precious metal. No gold IRA company currently stocks osmium-made coins and bars.
Is Ruthenium IRA-Eligible?
Ruthenium is not an IRA-eligible precious metal. No gold IRA company currently stocks ruthenium-made coins and bars.
What is IRA-Eligible Gold (Conclusion)?
IRA-eligible gold is gold bullion that you can include as part of your gold IRA account.
Other precious metals you can include are silver, platinum, and palladium. Other four precious metals (rhodium, osmium, iridium and ruthenium are not IRA-eligible).
Have questions?
Shoot them in the comment section below.
Nikola Roza
Nikola Roza is a blogger behind Nikola Roza- SEO for the Poor and Determined. He writes for bloggers who don't have huge marketing budget but still want to succeed. Nikola is passionate about precious metals IRAs and how to invest in gold and silver for a safer financial future. Learn about Nikola here.
