Gold IRA Purity Requirements: .995 Gold, .999 Silver and .9995 Platinum and Palladium (2026 Guide)

Gold IRA purity requirements are .995 (99.5%) for gold, .999 (99.9%) for silver and .9995 (99.95%) for platinum and palladium, the minimums the tax code borrows from US futures exchanges. So why does the 22-karat American Gold Eagle, only 91.67% gold, qualify at all? Fineness is the share of pure metal by weight. Bullion is metal valued for its weight and purity. A futures exchange is a regulated market for contracts to deliver metal at a set standard.

Purity is one of the gold IRA rules in 26 U.S.C. 408(m)(3). This page shows who sets the 4 numbers and why the Gold Eagle is the exception. It then covers stamps, which coins pass or fail, 3 unsettled cases and what a wrong coin costs in tax.

Every rule below cites the statute or the exchange rule itself, not "the IRS".

What Are the Gold IRA Purity Requirements?#

Gold IRA purity requirements are the minimum fineness that gold, silver, platinum and palladium bullion must reach to be held in an IRA under 26 U.S.C. 408(m)(3)(B). Fineness is the share of pure metal by weight: .995 means 995 parts pure gold in every 1,000. A karat is the jeweler's scale for gold only, where 24 karats means pure gold. The line is a floor: a bar at exactly .995 passes, and a bar at .994 does not.

Coins named in the law, such as the American Gold Eagle, skip this test. A named coin is a US coin that the tax code lists by its section in the coinage law. Every other coin, bar or round has to clear the purity line for its metal.

The 4 minimums are listed below, with the exchange rule each one comes from.

Bullion clause effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 1997 (Pub. L. 105-34 sec. 304). Exchange rules as filed with the CFTC and published by CME Group, read September 29, 2026.

What purity does gold need to be for an IRA?#

Gold for an IRA must be at least .995 fine (99.5% pure), the minimum COMEX Rule 113101 sets for gold delivered on its 100-ounce futures contract. A futures contract is an exchange agreement to deliver metal at a set standard on a later date. So IRA gold purity starts at .995, and IRA-eligible gold purity for bars and rounds never goes below that line.

The only gold coins that skip this test are American Gold Eagles, which the law names directly. Every other gold coin is judged like a bar.

Gold bullion commonly sold for IRAs is listed below, with its fineness.

• Canadian Maple Leaf: .9999
• American Gold Buffalo: .9999 (eligible as bullion only; it is not a named coin)
• Austrian Philharmonic: .9999
• Australian Kangaroo: .9999
• British Britannia: .9999 (2013 and later only)
• Chinese Panda: .999 (30 grams, not 1 ounce, since 2016)

All 6 clear the .995 line. The full list of which gold the tax code allows, coin by coin, sits with the other 3 metals.

What purity does silver need to be for an IRA?#

Silver for an IRA must be at least .999 fine (99.9% pure), the minimum in COMEX Rule 112101 for silver delivered on its 5,000-ounce futures contract.

The 1-ounce American Silver Eagle is named in the law. Its coinage section, 31 U.S.C. 5112(e), calls for ".999 fine silver", so it passes either way. Only the 1-ounce size exists. Most other silver bullion coins sit exactly on the line: the Austrian Philharmonic, the Mexican Libertad and the 2013-and-later Britannia are .999, and the Canadian Maple Leaf is .9999.

Dealers often call these coins IRA-approved silver, but a coin at .998 fails, whatever the label says. Every IRA-approved silver coin, bar and round is listed with its premium.

What purity do platinum and palladium need to be for an IRA?#

Platinum and palladium for an IRA must each be at least .9995 fine (99.95% pure), the grade NYMEX Rules 105101 and 106101 require for delivered metal. Grade is the exchange's word for minimum purity.

NYMEX set its platinum and palladium grade at 99.95% for delivery after October 1992, according to archived NYMEX contract sheets. Before that, the platinum minimum was 99.9%. After the change, 99.5% platinum stayed deliverable at a discount until October 1995. That was 5 years before the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 let IRAs hold these metals from 1998. So the .9995 line has applied since the first day they could enter a platinum IRA.

The Canadian Platinum and Palladium Maple Leafs and the American Palladium Eagle (31 U.S.C. 5112(a)(12), bullion only) are all .9995. The American Platinum Eagle is named (5112(k)) and needs no fineness test. A platinum IRA or palladium IRA holds only metal at this grade or a named Platinum Eagle.

Who Sets the .995, .999 and .9995 Numbers?#

US futures exchanges set the 4 purity numbers, not the IRS: the tax code says IRA bullion must match the minimum fineness a regulated futures exchange requires for delivery. The law calls such an exchange a "contract market". The CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) is the federal regulator of these markets.

6 layers decide whether a bar or coin can sit in your IRA, from the law down to the stamp.

Congress wrote a short rule, the exchanges supply the numbers and your custodian has the final say on what it will hold. The dealer only sells.

What 26 U.S.C. 408(m)(3)(B) actually says#

26 U.S.C. 408(m)(3)(B) exempts gold, silver, platinum and palladium bullion from the collectibles rule on 2 conditions. The metal must be at least as fine as a futures exchange requires, and your trustee must hold it. A trustee is the bank or trust company that holds your IRA, usually called the custodian.

A collectible, in tax terms, is an item such as art, antiques, stamps or coins. Under 408(m)(1), when an IRA buys a "collectible", its cost counts as a distribution: money treated as paid out to you, and taxed. Section 408(m)(2) counts "any metal or gem" and "any stamp or coin" as collectibles.

So IRC 408(m) governs metals by exception. The wider rule, how IRC 408(m) governs metals in IRAs, starts from that default.

Two phrases matter later. "May be delivered" counts only contracts that deliver real metal, and "a contract market" does not say which one (see the edge cases below).

The COMEX and NYMEX rules behind each number#

Each IRA purity number is copied from the delivery rule of one COMEX or NYMEX futures contract, as filed with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The gold and silver text sits in CFTC Submission 24-283, filed August 12, 2024, and the platinum and palladium text in the NYMEX rulebook.

Three terms appear in every rule. An assay is a lab test of purity. An approved brand is a refiner or mint the exchange accepts for delivery. A troy ounce, the unit for precious metals, is 31.1035 grams.

The table below quotes the 4 rules word for word.

The rules also set weight tolerances. A COMEX gold delivery may run 5% above or below 100 ounces, and a silver or platinum delivery 10% either way. COMEX writes "995 fineness" in parts per thousand; NYMEX writes "99.95% pure".

Only the purity number carries over into IRA law. The bar sizes and "brand approved by the Exchange" lists cover exchange delivery bars only: 100 oz and 1 kg gold, 1,000 oz silver, and the platinum and palladium lots. Retail coins and small bars are not delivery bars. Custodian maker lists are the custodian's own policy.

The two exchanges split the metals: NYMEX runs platinum and palladium, COMEX runs gold and silver, and both belong to CME Group.

What the IRS has written about .995 gold#

The IRS has never published the purity numbers as a rule; its only text tying .995 gold to COMEX sits in the facts section of a 2007 private letter ruling. A private letter ruling is a letter the IRS writes to one taxpayer about that taxpayer's own plan.

A private letter ruling also "may not be used or cited as precedent" (26 U.S.C. 6110(k)(3)). Precedent means a decision others can rely on. IRS Publication 590-A describes eligible bullion only as "certain gold, silver, palladium, and platinum bullion" and names no purity. The IRS Retirement Plan Investments FAQs say "there is no list of approved investments". So the numbers stand on the statute plus the exchange rules.

Why the 22-Karat American Gold Eagle Passes Without Meeting .995#

The American Gold Eagle passes without meeting .995 because 26 U.S.C. 408(m)(3)(A) names it directly, and a named coin never has to pass the purity test. This is Route A: coins the law names. Route B is bullion that passes the purity test.

31.1035 grams of gold in a 33.931-gram coin is 91.67% gold, or 22 karats. The other 2.8275 grams is alloy, meaning other metals mixed in; here, silver and copper. So the 1-ounce Eagle still holds a full troy ounce of gold. All 4 sizes (1, 1/2, 1/4 and 1/10 ounce) are named in 5112(a)(7) to (10).

The 1-ounce Silver Eagle (5112(e)) and the Platinum Eagle (5112(k), bullion and proof) are named too. The Gold Buffalo and the Palladium Eagle are not; they pass only as bullion. Sizes, premiums and custodian rules for the American Gold Eagle in an IRA are covered coin by coin.

Same gold, opposite answer: the Eagle and the Krugerrand#

The South African Krugerrand holds the same troy ounce of gold at the same 22-karat purity as a Gold Eagle. Yet it is not IRA-eligible, because it is neither named in the law nor .995 fine. The British Sovereign fails for the same reason. STRATA and GoldStar both list the Krugerrand as unacceptable (policy pages read September 29, 2026).

The price gap tempts buyers. Spot price is the market price for metal delivered now, and a premium is the dealer's charge above it. On September 29, 2026, SD Bullion sold Krugerrands at 0.11% over spot and random-year Gold Eagles at 3.03%. On $50,000, that gap buys about $1,416 more gold.

In a traditional IRA, though, the whole $50,000 counts as a distribution. At age 57 in the 22% bracket, that is $11,000 of income tax plus $5,000 of additional 10% tax: about $16,000. The tax is about 11 times the saving (SafeOunce computation).

Common-date pre-1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagles tempt buyers too: about 1.10% over melt value (the worth of the gold inside) at SD Bullion on September 29, 2026. At .900 they fail, so price is not the issue; tax status is.

The silver Krugerrand question is answered on the Krugerrands in an IRA page.

How to Read a Purity Stamp: Fineness, Karats and "Nines"#

A purity stamp states fineness in parts per thousand, so "999.9", ".9999" and "four nines" all mean 99.99% pure metal and pass every IRA minimum for gold and silver. Parts per thousand means how many of every 1,000 parts are pure metal.

4 stamp formats appear on IRA coins and bars.

• Decimal: ".9999", ".995"
• Parts per thousand: "999.9", "995"
• Percent: "99.99%", "99.95%"
• Words: "Fine Gold", "1 Oz. Fine Silver", "four nines"

LBMA Good Delivery gold bars, the large wholesale bars traded in London, carry fineness to 4 significant figures, such as 999.9. A short fineness definition sits in the glossary.

Fineness, karats and nines converted#

Karats measure gold only and 24 karats means pure gold, so the .995 IRA minimum equals about 23.88 karats and a 22-karat coin is about 91.67% gold. To convert, multiply the fineness by 24.

The table below converts the 5 fineness levels you meet most often on gold.

Karats = fineness x 24, rounded (SafeOunce computation).

22 karats means 22 parts gold out of 24. The gap between the .995 line (23.88k) and pure 24-karat gold is only 0.12 karat, so 24-karat gold is not required. Coins at .900, such as the pre-1933 US Double Eagle and the 1981-1990 gold Libertad, sit 2.28 karats below the line. Silver, platinum and palladium are never stated in karats; read the decimal.

Fine weight: how much pure metal is inside a troy ounce#

Fine weight is the weight of pure metal inside a coin or bar, found by multiplying its total weight by its fineness. Metal value depends on fine weight, not on the stamp alone. Gross weight is the total weight, alloy included.

The LBMA PM price is the London afternoon benchmark price for gold; it was $4,144.55 per troy ounce on September 28, 2026.

SafeOunce computation. A price change changes the dollar gap.

Both bars are IRA-eligible; the difference is money, not law. Fine weight also explains why the Gold Eagle (33.931 grams) and the Krugerrand (33.93 grams) each hold 1 troy ounce of fine gold. A coin stamped "1 oz. fine gold" states its fine weight, not its fineness. A troy ounce is 31.1034768 grams.

The Chinese gold Panda shows the trap: since 2016 it weighs 30 grams, or 0.9645 troy ounce. On September 29, 2026, SD Bullion priced a 30 g Panda at $4,105.64 and a random-year 1 oz Gold Eagle at $4,280.53. The Panda looks $174.89 cheaper per coin, yet per troy ounce it costs $4,256.66, only $23.87 less, so compare IRA invoices per troy ounce.

Who checks the purity: mints, refiners, assays and your custodian#

No government office tests the purity of IRA metal; custodians rely on the mint's or refiner's stamp and accept only makers on their lists. A refiner is the company that melts and purifies metal into bars.

There is no IRS assay requirement. An assay is the lab test that measures purity. COMEX Rule 113101 requires each delivery bar to come with an assay certificate, a lab's written purity result, showing no less than 995 fineness. The LPPM, the London platinum and palladium market, monitors its listed refiners' assaying on a rolling 3-year program.

Retail IRA coins and small bars are not delivery bars, so custodians rely on maker lists instead. Keep the assay card or certificate and the original packaging; custodians refuse proof coins without them.

Which Popular Coins and Bars Pass or Fail the Purity Test?#

Most gold bullion coins pass the purity test with room to spare at .9999, while most silver coins and every platinum and palladium product sit exactly on the line. A percentage point is one hundredth of the whole. The margin is how many points a coin sits above or below its metal's minimum.

The table below compares each coin's fineness with its metal's minimum, in percentage points (as of September 2026).

Margin = (fineness - minimum) x 100. Passing on purity is not acceptance: see the custodian section below. SafeOunce computation from mint data in the SafeOunce knowledge base; custodian lists read September 29, 2026.

A US Mint stamp does not make a coin a named coin. Among US Mint bullion coins, only the Gold, Silver and Platinum Eagles are named in 408(m)(3)(A). The Gold Buffalo, Palladium Eagle, America the Beautiful 5 oz, 2015-W American Liberty and 2009 Ultra High Relief Double Eagle are Route B only. They pass on purity, then face your custodian's list.

Purity is 1 of 2 legal tests; the table answers only the first. Premiums and custodian rules for all IRA-eligible gold coins are on the gold coin list.

The same .999 stamp passes gold and silver but fails platinum and palladium#

A bar stamped .999 passes the gold minimum (.995) and the silver minimum (.999). It fails the .9995 minimum for platinum and palladium, so the same 3 nines can be eligible or a collectible depending on the metal.

Platinum and palladium products have zero margin, so a .999 platinum or palladium bar or round is a collectible inside an IRA. Check the metal symbol and the decimal together. A metal symbol is the chemical short name: Au for gold, Ag for silver, Pt for platinum and Pd for palladium. NYMEX Rules 105101 and 106101 require delivery packages to show the grade and the symbol "Pt" or "Pd".

Every product on the list of IRA-eligible palladium coins and bars meets .9995, not just .999.

Year traps: coins whose purity changed#

5 popular coins changed purity over the years, so the same coin name can pass or fail depending on the year stamped on it.

The table below shows the failing and passing years for each coin.

A random-year coin is one where the dealer, not you, picks the year. Random-year lots can ship an old coin, so put the year range in writing on the order. A 2012 gold Britannia and a 2013 gold Britannia share a name, yet only the 2013 coin passes. STRATA and GoldStar both list pre-2013 Britannias as unacceptable (policy pages read September 29, 2026). For 2021-and-later Morgans, ask your custodian in writing before you buy.

Purity Is Not Enough: 2 More Tests Before a Coin or Bar Goes in Your IRA#

A pure enough coin or bar also has to stay in your trustee's physical possession and be accepted by your custodian, so purity is only the first of 3 tests. In most IRAs the trustee and the custodian are the same firm.

The 3 tests are listed below in the order they apply.

1. Purity, or a named coin: the metal meets its minimum, or it is a named Eagle (26 U.S.C. 408(m)(3)).
2. Physical possession by the trustee: the metal stays with your IRA's trustee or its vault (408(m)(3)).
3. Acceptance by your custodian: the maker, packaging and condition meet the custodian's written policy.

A coin can pass test 1 and still fail test 2 or 3. The IRA eligibility checker for any coin or bar runs the same 3 tests.

Trustee possession: no home storage of IRA gold#

Even .9999 gold stops being IRA-eligible bullion if you keep it at home, because 408(m)(3) requires the metal to be "in the physical possession of a trustee". Physical possession means the trustee, or a vault acting for it, actually holds the metal.

The possession clause is flush language: text placed after a list rather than inside one item. The Law Revision Counsel adds a footnote to it: "So in original. Concluding provisions probably should be part of subpar. (B)." Read literally, that placement could suggest named coins need no trustee.

The Tax Court rejected that reading in McNulty v. Commissioner, 157 T.C. No. 10 (November 18, 2021): "The flush text does not create an exception to the well-established rules that IRA assets must be held by a trustee." Keeping American Eagles at home, a home storage gold IRA setup, was a taxable distribution of their cost.

Custodian rules on makers, packaging and condition#

Custodians add rules the tax code lacks: the maker must be on an accredited list, bullion coins must be undamaged and proofs must keep their original packaging. An accredited refiner is one that an exchange, a market body or a national mint recognizes. A proof coin is a specially struck collector version. A graded, or slabbed, coin is sealed in a plastic holder with a grade from a coin-grading firm.

The table below quotes 3 custodians' published policy pages, read September 29, 2026 (the pages carry no date).

All 3 custodians use the same 4 numbers. ISO 9000 appears on all 3 maker lists, yet it is a general quality-management certificate, not an assaying accreditation: the loosest route onto these lists.

A maker list and a refusal list can point different ways. STRATA's maker list includes the LBMA, yet its do-not-accept list names "LBMA Germania Mint". GoldStar refuses the "U.S. Buffalo Proof" by name, and STRATA's list does not name the American Palladium Eagle. So your own custodian's list is the one that counts.

Fees and full policies of all gold IRA custodians are compared side by side.

Edge Cases the Purity Rule Never Settled#

3 questions about the purity rule have no IRS answer: which gold contract counts, whether cash-settled futures count, and what happens if an exchange changes its number. Each one comes from the way 408(m)(3)(B) points to the exchanges instead of stating a number.

Two COMEX gold minimums: .995 and the .9999 kilo bar#

COMEX runs 2 physically delivered 100-ounce gold contracts at 995 fineness and a kilo contract at .9999, and the tax code never says which one sets the IRA minimum. Physically delivered means the buyer can receive real metal, not just cash.

Every custodian page SafeOunce read (September 29, 2026) uses .995, and PLR 200732026 recites .995 in its facts. No regulation, ruling or court case addresses the kilo contract. COMEX is the gold and silver futures exchange owned by CME Group.

The question matters only for gold between .995 and .9999, such as a .999 Panda or a .995 bar. Under the .995 reading, those pass.

Cash-settled futures cannot lower the purity line#

A cash-settled futures contract cannot set an IRA purity minimum, because 408(m)(3)(B) counts only metal "which may be delivered", and cash-settled contracts deliver no metal. Cash-settled means the contract ends with a cash payment, never a bar.

Coinbase Derivatives, LLC self-certified a cash-settled Platinum Futures contract of 10 troy ounces with the CFTC on January 8, 2026, for trading from January 26, 2026 (CFTC filing). Self-certified means the exchange itself told the CFTC that the new contract meets the rules. Its final settlement price is the NYMEX platinum futures settlement price, so even this contract leans on NYMEX.

A cash-settled contract has no delivery grade, so it has no fineness for the statute to borrow. The purity line stays with the physically delivered NYMEX contract at 99.95%.

What happens if an exchange changes its minimum#

If COMEX or NYMEX changed a delivery minimum, the IRA purity line would move with it without any act of Congress.

It has happened before on the exchange side. NYMEX moved platinum from 99.9% to 99.95%, and set palladium at 99.95%, for delivery after October 1992. Exchanges also update marking rules. Submission 24-283 (2024) added a production month-and-year mark for metal produced on or after January 1, 2025. COMEX Submission 25-128 (April 17, 2025) now sets January 1, 2026 for gold bars.

Metal already in an IRA would face an open question after any future change, and no ruling answers it. SafeOunce rechecks the 4 rules each time this page is reviewed.

What Happens If Your IRA Buys Metal Below the Purity Line?#

If your IRA buys metal below the purity line, the IRS treats the purchase price as a distribution to you in that year. You owe income tax on it, plus an additional 10% tax if you are under 59 1/2 (26 U.S.C. 72(t)). This is a deemed distribution: a withdrawal on paper, with no cash leaving the account.

SafeOunce computation; age and bracket are assumptions.

The coins stay in the IRA. The $10,000 becomes basis, meaning money already taxed, so it is not taxed again when you later take it out (IRS Publication 590-A). The custodian reports the deemed distribution on Form 1099-R, the form that reports money out of a retirement account.

Your custodian's written policy, not a dealer's label, is the real protection: STRATA and GoldStar publish do-not-accept lists. On September 29, 2026, one large online dealer's "IRA approved gold" category included 4 kinds of items that custodian policies refuse or question.

• A proof Gold Buffalo with box and certificate of authenticity (COA): GoldStar refuses the "U.S. Buffalo Proof".
• A cull or damaged 1/4 oz Gold Eagle: STRATA requires bullion coins "free from damage".
• A 2015-W American Liberty without box or COA: GoldStar lists "U.S. Liberty" as unacceptable.
• Novelty-design gram bars.

"Exclusive" coins sold as IRA-approved also appear in CFTC cases, such as the Red Rock Secured consent order (April 23, 2024) and the Safeguard Metals consent order (October 25, 2023). Those cases sit behind the warning signs of gold IRA scams.

SafeOunce takes no money from any company named on this page.

How Do Purity Rules Apply to Each Metal IRA and Product Type?#

The same 4 minimums apply to every metal IRA and every product type, but each one has its own common traps, from year-dated coins to low-margin palladium. Palladium has no named coin, so every palladium product must meet .9995 on its own. The table below maps each metal IRA and product group to its rule.

Good Delivery bars, accredited refiners and retail IRA bars#

London Good Delivery sets the same minimums for wholesale bars (995.0 gold, 999.0 silver, 99.95% platinum and palladium). Yet a 1-ounce IRA bar is not a Good Delivery bar.

Good Delivery is the London market's standard for large bars. LBMA gold bars hold 350 to 430 fine troy ounces, silver bars 750 to 1,100 ounces, and LPPM platinum and palladium bars 1 to 6 kilograms. As of September 29, 2026, 67 refiners sit on LBMA's gold list. Retail IRA bars sit outside the Good Delivery standard.

Custodians accept a listed refiner's small bars because of who made them: STRATA's maker list names both the LBMA and the LPPM. What makes accredited refiners acceptable to custodians is explained in the glossary.

Questions readers ask about IRA gold purity#

7 reader questions about IRA gold purity come up often, and each has a short, sourced answer below.

Is 24-karat gold required for a gold IRA?#

No: IRA gold must be at least .995 fine, about 23.88 karats, and the 22-karat American Gold Eagle qualifies by name. Purity above .995 adds nothing legally; it only changes how much pure gold you get per ounce of metal.

Are .999 platinum bars IRA-eligible?#

No: platinum must be at least .9995 fine for an IRA, so a .999 platinum bar is a collectible even though the same stamp passes for gold and silver. The same applies to palladium (NYMEX Rules 105101 and 106101). Check the listing for .9995 or 99.95% before you buy.

Does the IRS test the purity of IRA gold?#

No: the IRS has no assay program; custodians rely on the mint's or refiner's stamp and refuse makers that are not on their lists. The alloy in US Mint gold coins may vary no more than 0.1 percent from the required percentage of gold (31 U.S.C. 5112(b)).

Can a gold ETF satisfy the purity rule?#

A gold ETF share is not bullion, so no purity test applies. An ETF, or exchange-traded fund, is a fund whose shares trade like stocks. In PLR 200732026 the IRS said an IRA's purchase of shares in a trust that holds gold is not a collectible acquisition. PLR 201426034 (April 3, 2014) modified that ruling after the trust's custodian reorganized and kept the result. Redeeming the shares for bullion inside the IRA would be an acquisition that must meet 408(m)(3). Neither ruling is precedent. Costs of a gold IRA vs gold ETF are compared separately.

Since when have IRAs been allowed to hold gold bullion?#

IRAs have been allowed to hold gold, silver, platinum and palladium bullion for taxable years beginning after December 31, 1997, under the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. Gold and Silver Eagles came first, for acquisitions after December 31, 1986. State coins followed for acquisitions after November 10, 1988. The collectibles rule itself covers property acquired after December 31, 1981. The full history of gold in IRAs runs from 1974 to the 1997 bullion rule.

What types of gold are IRA-approved?#

No gold is "IRS-approved"; IRA-eligible gold is the American Gold Eagle in 4 sizes plus gold bullion of .995 fineness or more held by your custodian. "IRA-approved" is a dealer phrase for the same 2 routes, which silver, platinum and palladium follow at their own minimums. Both routes for IRA-approved precious metals are explained in full.

What is the downside of a gold IRA?#

The downsides of a gold IRA are that metal pays no interest or dividends, spreads and flat fees weigh on small balances, and traditional withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income. Purity rules add one more risk: a wrong coin counts as a withdrawal. The real downsides are weighed with 55 years of data.