IRA-Approved Precious Metals: Exactly Which Gold, Silver, Platinum and Palladium the Tax Code Allows (2 Legal Routes, 2026)

IRA-approved precious metals are the coins and bars the tax code lets an IRA own: named US coins and pure-enough bullion, both held by the IRA's trustee. The accurate legal word is IRA-eligible: your IRA can buy the metal without the purchase being taxed as a withdrawal. Bullion means bars, rounds (coin-shaped pieces from private mints) and coins valued for their metal alone. The trustee, usually called the custodian, is the bank or trust company that holds your IRA.

The IRS itself approves no coin, bar, dealer or vault.

This page is the eligibility chapter of SafeOunce's rulebook for precious metals IRAs. It is built on 26 U.S.C. 408(m)(3), part of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC).

SafeOunce takes no money from any company named on this page. Every rule below quotes the statute, the IRS or a court.

What Are IRA-Approved Precious Metals?#

IRA-approved precious metals are the gold, silver, platinum and palladium coins and bars an IRA may own under 26 U.S.C. 408(m)(3); the law's own word is "eligible". Any other metal counts as a collectible, which an IRA may not buy.

The word "approved" comes from dealers, not the IRS. The IRS Retirement Plan Investments FAQs (updated April 8, 2026) say "there is no list of approved investments".

The table shows who decides what. A futures exchange is a regulated market where contracts for metal trade.

Why the tax code treats every coin and metal as a collectible first#

Gold, silver, platinum and palladium enter an IRA only through an exception, because 26 U.S.C. 408(m)(2) lists "any metal" and "any coin" as collectibles. The same list covers art, rugs, antiques, stamps and alcoholic beverages.

The rule comes from the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 and covers property bought after December 31, 1981. Rhodium, iridium, ruthenium and osmium, the minor platinum-group metals, have no exception and stay collectibles in any form. The IRS collectibles rule page explains how the rule reaches other assets.

What does IRA-eligible gold mean?#

IRA-eligible gold is gold your IRA can own without a tax hit: American Gold Eagles in 4 sizes, or gold bullion at least 99.5% pure held by your trustee. IRA-approved gold means the same thing; "approved" is a sales word, not an IRS status.

Gold qualifies in 2 ways.

1. Named coin: the American Gold Eagle in 1, 1/2, 1/4 or 1/10 oz (26 U.S.C. 408(m)(3)(A)(i)).
2. Bullion: bars, rounds or coins of .995 fineness or more, in the trustee's physical possession (408(m)(3)(B)). Fineness is the share of pure metal, so .995 means 99.5%.

The IRS's own summary is looser than the law.

Publication 590-B (2025) adds the custody rule: "The coins must be in the possession of the custodian or trustee of the IRA."

What "IRS-Approved" Really Means for Coins, Custodians, Depositories and Dealers#

No coin, bar, dealer or depository is "IRS-approved"; the only IRS list in this area names nonbank trustees. A nonbank trustee is a company allowed to hold IRA assets without a bank license, called a charter. A depository is the vault that stores IRA metal for the custodian. A private letter ruling (PLR) is an IRS answer to one taxpayer's own question.

The table tests the 5 "IRS-approved" claims you are most likely to hear.

When a seller says "IRS-approved", ask 2 things: approved by whom, and where can I see it? For a coin, the honest answer is "it meets 408(m)(3) and my custodian accepts it."

The only IRS approval list: 73 nonbank trustees#

The IRS approves one thing in this area, nonbank trustees, and its list named 73 of them as of April 1, 2026.

Most of the 73 names are brokerages, health savings account firms, and church or fraternal groups. The one precious metals business is Lone Star Tangible Assets, LP, the operator of the Texas Bullion Depository, approved November 30, 2023. The best-known metals custodians are missing because they qualify as banks through a state trust charter. A nonbank trustee holds IRA assets with IRS approval instead of a charter.

How to check whether your custodian is qualified#

A custodian qualifies if it is a bank, a state-chartered trust company or a company on the IRS nonbank trustee list (26 U.S.C. 408(a)(2), 408(n)(3)). A state-chartered trust company is licensed by a state and examined by its banking regulator; the tax code counts it as a bank.

Check a custodian in 2 steps.

1. Search the custodian's name in the IRS nonbank trustee PDF (list as of April 1, 2026).
2. If the name is missing, ask which state charters it, then find it on that state's banking regulator website.

Equity Trust, for example, describes itself as "a state-chartered non-depository trust company regulated by the South Dakota Division of Banking" (company statement, as shown in search results on September 29, 2026). Non-depository means it takes no bank deposits.

How to verify a charter is explained under "IRS-approved gold IRA custodians".

The 2 Legal Routes Into an IRA Under 26 U.S.C. 408(m)(3)#

Metal enters an IRA by 2 legal routes: Route A names specific coins (26 U.S.C. 408(m)(3)(A)), and Route B allows pure-enough bullion held by the trustee (408(m)(3)(B)). No purity test applies on Route A, and no coin is named on Route B. That is why a 22-karat Gold Eagle is allowed and a 22-karat Krugerrand is not.

The table compares the 2 routes.

Route A: the Gold Eagle, Silver Eagle, Platinum Eagle and state coins#

Route A makes 4 kinds of coins IRA-eligible by name, whatever their purity: American Gold Eagles, the 1-ounce Silver Eagle, Platinum Eagles and state-issued coins.

The 4 named coin groups are:

• American Gold Eagle in 1, 1/2, 1/4 and 1/10 oz (31 U.S.C. 5112(a)(7)-(10)).
• American Silver Eagle, 1 oz only (5112(e)). Fractional Silver Eagles do not exist.
• American Platinum Eagle, bullion and proof (5112(k): "platinum bullion coins and proof platinum coins"). A proof is a mirror-finish collector version, sold in a box with a certificate.
• State coins, added in 1988 (408(m)(3)(A)(iv)). SafeOunce found no coin marketed under this clause as of September 2026.

The Gold Eagle is the only 22-karat coin (22 parts gold out of 24) an IRA may hold. Pricing and storage of the American Gold Eagle in an IRA are covered on its own page.

Route B: bullion that passes the purity test and stays with the trustee#

Route B allows bullion of the 4 metals if it is at least as pure as a futures exchange demands, and only while your trustee holds it.

A "contract market" is a futures exchange, and delivery means handing over real metal to settle a contract. The 4 minimum purity numbers are:

Common mix-ups: the gold minimum is .995, not .999; the platinum and palladium minimum is .9995, not .9999. COMEX and NYMEX are sister US futures exchanges, overseen by the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission); LPPM Good Delivery rules are the London market's purity standards. Sources: COMEX rule filings with the CFTC (August 12, 2024); custodian pages read September 29, 2026.

One COMEX contract, for 1-kilogram gold bars, requires .9999, but custodians and the market use .995. That contract and the other gold IRA purity requirements are explained in full.

Where the metal sits matters too. A 2002 IRS letter ruling looked at metal held by 2 storage companies, "Company M" and "Company N", instead of the trustee.

The same letter treats foreign "bullion coins" as bullion, which is how a Canadian Maple Leaf qualifies. Bar size is not a legal test, and no law requires a government mint. For gold bars, one check is the LBMA gold Good Delivery List of 67 refiners (September 29, 2026). Johnson Matthey and Credit Suisse, which one widely syndicated press release lists as approved refiners, are not on it.

Does the trustee rule cover American Eagles too? What McNulty decided#

Yes: in McNulty v. Commissioner, 157 T.C. No. 10 (2021), the Tax Court ruled that American Eagles in an IRA must be held by a trustee, even though the possession clause sits under the bullion route.

The trustee rule is printed as the last line of the law, after Route B. The Law Revision Counsel, which publishes the US Code, footnotes it: "So in original. Concluding provisions probably should be part of subpar. (B)." Home-storage promoters used this to argue that Route A coins need no custodian. The court disagreed.

In 1986, Senator McClure told Congress the coins "would have to be held by a trustee and could not be held by the individual investor" (132 Cong. Rec. 14537). Promoters sold the McNulty setup as a home storage gold IRA; the Tax Court taxed it as a withdrawal.

Which US Mint Coins Qualify for an IRA, and by Which Route?#

Only the Gold, Silver and Platinum Eagles qualify by name; the US Mint's Gold Buffalo, Palladium Eagle and 5 oz America the Beautiful coins qualify only as bullion. Route A never names those 3.

The table maps 8 US coins to the coinage law (31 U.S.C. 5112), their purity and their route.

"Reported" fineness comes from secondary accounts of US Mint specifications; the statute sets none for these coins. A graded coin is sealed in a grading company's plastic slab with a condition score.

A 2010 law (Pub. L. 111-303) created the Palladium Eagle, but Congress never added it to the named coins in 408(m)(3)(A). A dealer page that says the law names it is wrong.

Why the 22-karat Gold Eagle qualifies and the Krugerrand does not#

The Gold Eagle qualifies because 408(m)(3)(A)(i) names it, not because of its purity. It and the South African Krugerrand are both .9167 gold, which is 22 karat. Only the Eagle is named, and neither passes the .995 test.

31 U.S.C. 5112(a)(7) defines the 1 oz Eagle as a coin that "weighs 33.931 grams, and contains one troy ounce of fine gold". One troy ounce, the ounce used for precious metals, is 31.1035 grams, so the coin is 91.67% gold (31.1035 ÷ 33.931). The other 2.83 grams are alloy metals.

Spot price is the market price of 1 troy ounce; the premium is what you pay above it, as a percent. Your tax bracket is the rate on your last dollars of income, and under age 59 1/2 the IRS adds a 10% "additional tax" on early withdrawals. The mini table compares $50,000 of each coin in a traditional IRA, at SD Bullion prices on September 29, 2026.

SafeOunce computation at a flat 22% on the last dollars of income; federal tax only; state tax may add more.

The $16,000 tax bill is about 11 times the value of the extra gold. The page on Krugerrands in an IRA explains why the gold Krugerrand fails both routes.

Why custodians accept proof Eagles but refuse proof Buffalos#

Custodians generally accept proof Eagles because the coinage law covers proof versions of the named coins; they refuse proof Buffalos because the Buffalo qualifies only as bullion. A collector proof is not bullion.

Packaging matters too. A proof Eagle sold in a plastic capsule alone, without its box or certificate, can be refused.

Two lines of the coinage law cover proofs. A clause about Mint purchasing, 31 U.S.C. 5112(j)(1), covers the Eagle coins "including any proof version of any such coin", and 5112(k) names "proof platinum coins". Custodian rules for proof coins in an IRA differ by coin. SafeOunce found no IRS ruling or court case on proof coins as of September 2026.

STRATA accepts "American Eagle bullion and/or proof coins" in "complete, original mint packaging" with the certificate of authenticity, the Mint's paper that identifies the coin. GoldStar requires proofs to be "ungraded" and lists "U.S. Buffalo Proof" as unacceptable (both pages read September 29, 2026).

Exactly Which Gold, Silver, Platinum and Palladium Qualify: The 4 Metals#

All 4 metals can go in an IRA: gold needs .995, silver .999, and platinum and palladium .9995; gold, silver and platinum also have a named US Eagle, and palladium has none. Each metal also has coins that fail, some only in certain years.

Gold: the Gold Eagle and .995 bullion#

IRA-eligible gold is the Gold Eagle in 4 sizes plus gold bullion of .995 or better, such as the Buffalo, Maple Leaf, Philharmonic and Kangaroo.

The gold that qualifies, as of September 2026:

• American Gold Eagle (Route A)
• American Gold Buffalo, .9999
• Canadian Maple Leaf, .9999
• Austrian Philharmonic, .9999
• Australian Kangaroo, .9999
• British Britannia dated 2013 or later, .9999
• Chinese Panda, .999 (since 2016 the coin weighs 30 grams, or 0.9645 troy oz)
• Mexican Libertad dated 1991 or later, .999 (no custodian list we checked names it, so get written approval)
• Gold bars of .995 or better from a maker your custodian accepts

The gold that does not qualify:

• Krugerrand and British Sovereign (.9167)
• British Britannia dated 1987-2012 (.9167)
• Mexican Libertad dated 1981-1990 (.900)
• Pre-1933 US gold, such as Saint-Gaudens double eagles (.900)
• Mexican 50 Peso, Austrian Corona and Ducat, and French and Swiss francs (custodians refuse these by name)

Allowed gold coins do not cost the same. On September 29, 2026, 1 oz coins cost this much over spot at SD Bullion: Kangaroo 2.02%, Philharmonic 2.03%, Gold Eagle 3.03% and Gold Buffalo 5.71%. The complete list of IRA-eligible gold coins, with premiums, is kept on the product pages.

Silver: the 1-ounce Silver Eagle and .999 bullion#

IRA-eligible silver is the 1-ounce American Silver Eagle plus silver bullion of .999 or better, such as the Maple Leaf, Philharmonic, Kookaburra, Libertad and newer Britannias.

The silver that qualifies:

• American Silver Eagle, 1 oz (Route A)
• Canadian Maple Leaf, .9999
• Austrian Philharmonic, .999
• Australian Kookaburra, .999 through 2017 and .9999 from 2018
• Mexican Libertad, .999
• British Britannia dated 2013 or later, .999
• America the Beautiful 5 oz, .999
• Silver bars and rounds of .999 from makers your custodian accepts

The silver that does not qualify:

• Pre-1965 US dimes, quarters and half dollars, called "junk" silver (90% silver)
• Original Morgan and Peace dollars (.900)
• British Britannia dated 1997-2012 (.958)
• Mexican Onza (.925)
• Sterling silver items

Two coins sit in between. The silver Krugerrand passes .999 on paper, and SD Bullion shelves the Australian Silver Kangaroo as "IRA-approved", but no custodian list we checked names either as of September 2026; get written approval first. Every eligible coin, bar and round is listed under IRA-approved silver, the dealer term for the same thing.

Platinum: the Platinum Eagle and .9995 bullion#

IRA-eligible platinum is the American Platinum Eagle, bullion or proof, plus platinum bullion of .9995 fineness, such as the Platinum Maple Leaf, the Koala and .9995 bars.

As of September 2026, STRATA and GoldStar both name the Canadian Platinum Maple Leaf and the Australian Koala. STRATA also names the Isle of Man Noble, and GoldStar names .9995 bars. The Platinum Maple Leaf is .9995, not .9999.

The named coin costs more than a bar. On September 29, 2026, the 1 oz Platinum Eagle cost 11.4% over spot and a 1 oz platinum bar 5.5% at SD Bullion. Prices and custodian lists for IRA-eligible platinum coins and bars are tracked on their own page.

Palladium: .9995 bullion only, no named coin#

Palladium has no named coin in 408(m)(3)(A), so only palladium bullion of .9995 fineness qualifies. As of September 2026, the Canadian Palladium Maple Leaf is the only palladium coin STRATA and GoldStar name.

The American Palladium Eagle passes on purity (.9995), but neither custodian names it, so ask yours in writing before you buy one.

On September 29, 2026, SD Bullion sold the Palladium Maple Leaf at 32.1% over spot (JM Bullion's quoted spot ask). Its posted buy-back price that day, which may lag the market, implied a 31.8% loss on an instant resale. The short list of IRA-eligible palladium coins and bars is tracked separately.

What Your Custodian Adds to the Tax Code: Makers, Condition and Graded Coins#

Your custodian has the final say: the law asks only for a named coin or enough purity, but custodians also require an accepted maker, proper packaging and good condition.

An accredited maker is a refiner or mint approved by an exchange or trade body, such as COMEX or the LBMA (London Bullion Market Association). Good condition means coins that are "uncirculated in excellent condition", in GoldStar's words. Each custodian writes its own list; the table compares 3.

Pages read September 29, 2026 (Equity Trust: precious metals FAQ and precious metals page); none is dated. The makers are futures exchanges and metal-market bodies; "BMA" is as Equity Trust prints it. Custodians are sources here, not ranked.

ISO 9000 is a general quality-management certificate, not a refining accreditation, so it is the loosest route onto these lists.

Custodian pages also contain errors. Equity Trust's FAQ lists Silver Eagles in "1 oz, ½ oz, ¼ oz, and ⅒ oz" sizes, though only the 1 oz exists. The same page says "IRS-approved depository", a status the IRS does not grant.

Check your custodian's list, not the dealer's, and get a written yes before the invoice. Fees and lists of other gold IRA custodians are compared side by side.

What Happens If Your IRA Buys a Coin That Is Not Allowed?#

A coin your IRA may not own is taxed as a withdrawal of its full price in the year of purchase. If you are under 59 1/2, a 10% additional tax, the early-withdrawal penalty, is added.

The table prices a purchase of pre-1921 Morgan silver dollars (.900 silver), which pass neither route, using the 2026 federal brackets in Rev. Proc. 2025-32.

Federal tax only; state tax may add more. SafeOunce computation.

In the first case, the coins stay in the IRA with $40,000 of basis, meaning money already taxed. Publication 590-A (2025) says amounts taxed at purchase "aren't included in your income when the collectible is actually distributed". Keep the Form 1099-R to prove it years later.

Normally the IRS has 3 years to audit a return, a deadline called the statute of limitations. It gets 6 years when omitted income exceeds 25% of the income reported (26 U.S.C. 6501(e)). IRS audit guidance tells agents to "consider the six-year statute of limitation" once 3 years have passed.

A wrong coin never ends the IRA itself, but a prohibited transaction, a deal the tax code bans between your IRA and you or close family, does. The table compares 3 mistakes.

Morgans are only one example; the full list of coins and bars you cannot hold in an IRA names each custodian's refusals.

Can You Contribute Coins You Already Own to an IRA?#

No: an IRA accepts contributions only in cash (26 U.S.C. 408(a)(1)), so coins or bars you already own cannot be put into it. That includes metal bought from an online dealer or a warehouse store.

The legal route costs you twice, in 3 steps.

1. Sell your coins to a dealer at the bid, the price the dealer pays you.
2. Contribute the cash, within the 2026 limit of $7,500, or $8,600 at age 50 or older (IRS Notice 2025-67).
3. Let the IRA buy new metal at the ask, the price the dealer charges.

At SD Bullion on September 29, 2026, a 1 oz Silver Eagle bought and sold straight back lost 14.6% (the metal must rise 17.1% to break even); a Platinum Eagle lost 10.8%. On $40,000 of Silver Eagles, that is about $5,840 gone before the IRA owns anything. Posted buy-back prices may lag the market.

That yearly cap sets the pace; see gold IRA contribution limits for the 2026 figures and catch-up rules.

Eligible Does Not Mean Fairly Priced: Markups on IRA-Approved Coins#

A coin can be fully IRA-eligible and still cost twice its metal value, because the tax code checks the coin's legal status, never its price. Premium means the price above metal value; a markup is the price above a stated base, such as spot or the seller's cost. The spread is the gap between the price you pay and the price the dealer pays back.

The CFTC charged Red Rock in 2023, and a consent order, a court order the firm agreed to, followed on April 23, 2024.

A CFTC advisory (release 8215-20, August 4, 2020) put bullion at 5%-10% over spot and numismatic coins, sold for rarity or collector appeal, at 40%-200%. How dealers set gold IRA markups decides what an eligible coin really costs.

Size is a second hidden cost. The mini table shows premiums over spot at SD Bullion on September 29, 2026.

Per $10,000, 1 g gold bars buy $8,166 of gold, against $9,871 at the 10 oz rate. The CFTC and 30 states allege that Barrick Capital, part of the Metals.com (TMTE) group, sold 1/10 oz Silver Britannias at an average 287% markup over the market price (CFTC v. TMTE Inc., N.D. Tex. 3:20-cv-02910; pending, trial set for March 1, 2027).

The "IRA-approved" label on dealer sites#

A dealer's "IRA-approved" category is a sales shelf, not a custodian list, and it can hold items that the custodians we checked refuse or do not name.

Four examples seen on September 29, 2026:

• Shaped novelty coins, such as a "Coca-Cola Diet Coke Shaped Coin" and a "2024 Samoa 1 oz Batman Batarang Shaped Coin", in APMEX's "All Other IRA-Approved Silver Coins" category. APMEX's page tells buyers to contact its IRA department first.
• Proof Buffalos in a box with certificate, in SD Bullion's "IRA approved gold" category, though GoldStar refuses "U.S. Buffalo Proof".
• A 2015-W American Liberty high-relief gold coin without box or certificate, in the same SD Bullion category, though GoldStar lists "U.S. Liberty" as unacceptable.
• A 1/4 oz Gold Eagle cull, meaning a damaged coin, in the same SD Bullion category, though STRATA requires coins "free from damage". Even a coin the law names can fail on condition.

Cheap proofs carry the same risk: that day, SD Bullion sold a 1 oz proof Gold Eagle capsule-only, without box or certificate, at 4.81% over spot, and a custodian may refuse it. Ask your custodian, in writing, before the dealer invoices.

The "exclusive IRA coin" upsell#

The upsell is a switch: a seller quotes low bullion markups, then moves you to an "exclusive" IRA-eligible coin with a far larger markup. Because the coin is eligible, the pitch sounds safe.

Safeguard Metals charged an average markup of 71% while its customer agreement stated a 23% maximum (CFTC release 8812-23). A consent order on liability followed on October 25, 2023. A 2024 CFTC and FINRA advisory calls "semi-numismatic" "a made-up industry term that really has no special meaning." These upsells follow the same script each time; the numismatic coin upsells page quotes it from the case files.

How long a markup takes to earn back#

At 5% yearly metal growth, a 5% markup takes about 1 year to earn back, a 71% markup about 11 years and a 130% markup about 17. Break-even is the point where your metal is worth what you paid.

The table shows metal value per $10,000 and years to break even at 2 growth rates.

Years = ln(1 + premium) ÷ ln(1 + growth), where ln is the natural logarithm (the LN function in any spreadsheet). Growth rates are assumptions for illustration, not forecasts; dealer buy-back spreads add more time. SafeOunce computation.

To test your own quote, work out how much metal must rise to cover the markup.

How to Check Any Coin or Bar Against the Tax Code in 5 Questions#

Five questions decide IRA eligibility: is it a named coin, is it pure enough, is it bullion, will your custodian accept it, and will the trustee hold it? A sixth question tells you what it really costs.

Ask them in order. A "no" to question 1 sends you to question 2; after that, any "no" means stop.

1. Is it a US Gold Eagle (any of 4 sizes), a 1 oz Silver Eagle or a Platinum Eagle? If yes, it is eligible by name (Route A); skip to question 3.
2. Is it gold of at least .995, silver of at least .999, or platinum or palladium of at least .9995? If no, it is a collectible.
3. Is it a bullion bar, round or coin, or a proof Eagle in its original box, and not graded, rare or collectible?
4. Does your custodian accept it in writing, including maker, packaging, condition and year?
5. Will the custodian's depository hold it from the day of purchase, never your home?

Ask question 4 even for a Gold Eagle, because custodians refuse slabbed Eagles and proofs without their original box. Then ask the sixth, money question: what is the premium over melt value (the metal's worth at spot), and what will the dealer pay back today?

SafeOunce's database lists every coin and bar checked against the tax code with its route, purity and custodian status. A "yes" to all 5 means the coin is IRA-eligible under 26 U.S.C. 408(m)(3), not that its price is fair.

Do the Same Eligibility Rules Apply to 401(k)s, Gold ETFs and Older Purchases?#

The same 408(m) rules cover 401(k) accounts where you pick the investments, and swapping ETF shares for gold; gold ETF shares on their own are not collectibles. Metal bought by IRAs before 1998 followed older, narrower rules.

Gold ETF shares in an IRA#

Gold ETF shares are not collectibles: in PLR 200732026 (released August 10, 2007), the IRS ruled that buying gold trust shares "will not constitute the acquisition of a collectible". An ETF (exchange-traded fund) is a fund you buy like a stock; a gold trust is a fund that holds bullion.

Swapping the shares for the bullion itself, an in-kind redemption, "would constitute the acquisition of a collectible ... except to the extent section 408(m)(3) of the Code is satisfied." A letter ruling is not precedent (26 U.S.C. 6110(k)(3)). Costs of a gold IRA vs gold ETF are compared year by year.

Gold in a self-directed 401(k)#

A self-directed 401(k) can hold metal only on the same 2 routes, and most 401(k) plans offer no physical metal at all. The collectibles rule covers "an individually-directed account under a plan described in section 401(a)", meaning an account where you pick the investments.

The 1986 coin exception applied only to IRAs; the 1997 rewrite extended the exceptions to these plan accounts. The limited ways to hold gold in a 401(k) are covered separately.

A short history of the IRA metal exceptions: 1982, 1987, 1988, 1998#

IRAs could hold almost no metal from 1982 until 1987, when American Eagles became eligible; state coins followed in 1988, and bars and foreign bullion coins only from 1998. The years are when each rule took effect; the table gives the exact start dates.

So Eagles an IRA bought in late 1986, and Maple Leafs bought in 1996, were collectibles. The full history of gold in IRAs starts in 1974.

Questions readers ask about IRA-approved precious metals#

Readers ask 6 questions most; in short, yes, an IRA can hold metal, and no metal is safe from price swings.

Can I invest in precious metals through an IRA?#

Yes: a traditional or Roth IRA can own IRA-eligible gold, silver, platinum and palladium if its custodian allows metal and stores it in a depository. You need a self-directed IRA, meaning one where you choose the assets. A Roth IRA is one funded with money already taxed. The main guide explains how a precious metals IRA works.

What is the best way to own gold through an IRA?#

There are 2 ways to own gold in an IRA, and neither is best for everyone: gold ETF shares in an ordinary IRA, or physical metal in a self-directed IRA. The ETF route costs a yearly fee, such as 0.10% for GLDM, a gold ETF (per its 10-K annual report, as of September 2026). Physical metal costs flat custodian and storage fees plus the dealer's spread.

Is it better to have physical gold or a gold IRA?#

Neither is better in general: gold at home sits outside any IRA and is taxed as a collectible when sold, while IRA gold stays with a trustee. A traditional IRA grows tax-deferred, meaning no tax until you withdraw. The top 28% collectibles rate applies only outside an IRA; traditional IRA withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income (26 U.S.C. 1(h)). Costs, taxes and control of a gold IRA vs physical gold are compared.

Does the IRS know if you buy gold or silver?#

Inside an IRA, yes: the custodian reports the account's year-end value on Form 5498 and any withdrawal, including a wrong-coin purchase, on Form 1099-R. Sales outside an IRA follow other forms. The page "Does the IRS know about your gold" decodes them box by box.

Does a coin have to be legal tender to go in an IRA?#

No: the IRA rule in 408(m)(3) never mentions legal tender. US law says foreign gold or silver coins "are not legal tender for debts" (31 U.S.C. 5103), yet Maple Leafs and Philharmonics qualify as bullion. Old US Morgan dollars are legal tender and still fail, because they are only .900 silver. What legal tender means for coins is defined in the glossary.

What is the safest precious metal to invest in?#

No precious metal is safe from price swings, but gold's yearly returns swung less than platinum's and silver's from 1971 to 2025, and gold fell in fewer years (19 of 55, against 23 for platinum and 26 for silver). In 2026, gold still fell 26.1% from its record LBMA PM price of $5,405.00 on January 29 to $3,993.55 on July 16, and silver 53.3% from its 2026 peak to its low (LBMA Silver Price).