The history of gold in IRAs has 4 eras. Gold was allowed from 1975 to 1981, banned from 1982 to 1986, limited to American Eagle coins from 1987 to 1997, and opened to bars and foreign coins in 1998. An IRA is an individual retirement account, a savings account with tax benefits. A gold IRA is not a separate account type in the tax code: it is an IRA whose custodian holds eligible metal. So which date is right when a seller says gold IRAs began in 1975, 1986 or 1997? Each one is half right.
This page is part of our guide to gold and silver for retirement. It reads the laws themselves, chiefly the five acts that changed what Americans and their IRAs may hold, and one executive order. The dollar lost its link to gold in 1971, and gold ownership and the IRA both became law in 1974. A 1981 act then taxed IRA gold as a collectible, an item such as art, gems or coins that the tax code keeps out of IRAs. A 1986 act let American Eagle coins back in. A 1997 act added bullion, meaning bars and coins valued for their metal. You also see what gold cost at each date.
Every date below links to the statute, the Federal Register or the IRS. Ratings and rules on SafeOunce follow our published method.
When Were Gold IRAs Allowed? 4 Eras From 1975 to Today#
Gold IRAs were allowed from January 1, 1975 to December 31, 1981, and again from January 1, 1987, first for American Eagle coins and from 1998 for bullion. An era here is a stretch of years under one rule. The table below gives the 4 eras, their dates and the law behind each one.
| Era | Dates | Length | What an IRA could buy | The law |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Open | January 1, 1975 to December 31, 1981 | 7 years | Any gold, silver or coin (no collectibles rule existed) | ERISA, Public Law 93-406, section 2002 (IRAs); Public Law 93-373, section 2 (gold ownership) |
| 2. Banned | January 1, 1982 to December 31, 1986 | 5 years | No metal and no coin; earlier purchases grandfathered | Economic Recovery Tax Act, Public Law 97-34, section 314(b) |
| 3. Eagles only | January 1, 1987 to December 31, 1997 | 11 years | American Gold Eagles and Silver Eagles; coins issued by a state from November 11, 1988 | Tax Reform Act of 1986, Public Law 99-514, section 1144; Public Law 100-647, section 6057 |
| 4. Bullion | Tax years beginning after December 31, 1997 (January 1, 1998 for most people) to today | 28.8 years as of October 2026 | The named US coins plus gold, silver, platinum and palladium bullion at futures-exchange purity, held by the trustee | Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, Public Law 105-34, section 304 |
Lengths are SafeOunce computations from the effective dates in the notes to 26 U.S.C. 408. Era 1 is our reading of two texts: the 1981 act's effective date and the IRS grandfather sentence quoted below.
"Allowed" in era 1 means that no federal tax rule treated the purchase as a withdrawal. The IRA still needed a trustee, the bank or trust company that holds the account, as it does today (26 U.S.C. 408(a)(2)). A tax year is the 12 months your tax return covers, which is the calendar year for most people. "Grandfathered" means kept under the old rule.
The 4 laws are explained in order below. The 1971 background and the 1980 price peak sit between them.
What Happened to Gold on August 15, 1971?#
On Sunday, August 15, 1971, President Richard Nixon ended the right of foreign governments to swap dollars for US gold at $35 an ounce. That promise to pay foreign governments in gold was called the gold window. It was the core of Bretton Woods, the 1944 system of fixed exchange rates. Convertibility, the right to turn dollars into gold, ended that night for foreign governments.
The same speech ordered "a 90-day freeze on wages and prices" and an import surcharge "set at 10 percent", the same essay records. American savers lost no right that day, because they could not legally own most gold bullion in 1971. A free gold price is what made gold an investment. The next 2 steps, legal ownership and the IRA, both came in 1974.
Why Americans could not own gold before 1975#
From 1933 to 1974, Americans needed a Treasury license to hold most gold bullion. A license here means written permission. Executive Order 6102 of April 5, 1933 ordered most gold delivered to the Federal Reserve by May 1, 1933. Executive Order 6260 revoked it on August 28, 1933 but kept the license rule. The Gold Reserve Act of January 30, 1934 let the President reset the official price. The next day, January 31, 1934, it moved from $20.67 to $35 an ounce. What Executive Order 6102 required, and who was exempt, has its own page.
Gold's Price After August 15, 1971, Year by Year#
Gold's London afternoon price rose from $43.00 an ounce on August 13, 1971 to $850.00 on January 21, 1980, or 19.8 times in 8.4 years. August 13 was the last trading day before the announcement. The rise equals 42.4% a year, a compound rate (SafeOunce computation). These prices are the LBMA Gold Price PM, the London afternoon benchmark of the London Bullion Market Association, in US dollars per troy ounce. A troy ounce weighs 31.1 grams. No PM price was set on Monday, August 16, 1971, and the next one, on August 17, was $43.05.
The table below lists gold on each anniversary of the announcement, at each year-end, and next to US inflation. Inflation is the CPI-U, the main US consumer price index, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
| Year | Price on August 15 (or the last price before it) | Year-end price | Change in the year | US inflation that year (CPI-U, December to December) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | $43.00 (August 13) | $43.63 | +16.7% | 3.3% |
| 1972 | $65.75 | $64.90 | +48.8% | 3.4% |
| 1973 | $94.00 | $112.25 | +73.0% | 8.7% |
| 1974 | $153.00 | $186.50 | +66.1% | 12.3% |
| 1975 | $162.10 | $140.25 | -24.8% | 6.9% |
| 1976 | $113.40 (August 13) | $134.50 | -4.1% | 4.9% |
| 1977 | $144.15 | $164.95 | +22.6% | 6.7% |
| 1978 | $213.20 | $226.00 | +37.0% | 9.0% |
| 1979 | $301.85 | $512.00 | +126.5% | 13.3% |
| 1980 | $624.50 | $589.75 | +15.2% | 12.5% |
| 1981 | $413.00 (August 14) | $397.50 | -32.6% | 8.9% |
Year-end = last PM price of the year. The 1971 change is measured from $37.38 at the end of 1970. SafeOunce computation from LBMA and Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
The second table below gives gold on August 15 in 6 later years.
| Year | Price on August 15 (or the last price before it) |
|---|---|
| 1990 | $398.40 |
| 2000 | $274.15 |
| 2010 | $1,214.25 (August 13) |
| 2020 | $1,944.75 (August 14) |
| 2025 | $3,335.50 |
| 2026 | $4,390.70 (August 14) |
LBMA Gold Price PM.
From $43.00 to $4,144.55 on September 28, 2026 is 96.4 times, or 8.6% a year over 55.1 years (SafeOunce computation). That is a compound rate, not an average of yearly changes. Measured from year-end 1970 to year-end 2025 ($37.38 to $4,367.80), gold returned 9.0% a year, or 5.0% a year after inflation. The path was not smooth: gold fell in 1975, 1976 and 1981. All 55 years of gold IRA returns, and what IRA costs take out, are in our table of gold IRA returns since 1971.
The official US gold price was raised twice after 1971, and the market price ran ahead of it each time. The official price was a par value, the dollar's legal worth in gold. The table below sets each official price beside the London price.
| Date | Official price | Law | London price (date shown) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before August 15, 1971 | $35.00 | Proclamation of January 31, 1934, under the Gold Reserve Act of 1934 | $43.00 (August 13, 1971) |
| December 18, 1971 (Smithsonian Agreement; enacted March 31, 1972) | $38.00 (+8.57%) | Par Value Modification Act, Public Law 92-268, 86 Stat. 116: "$1 equals one thirty-eighth of a fine troy ounce of gold" | $42.72 (December 20, 1971, the first price after the agreement) |
| February 12, 1973 (announced; enacted September 21, 1973) | $42.2222 (+11.11%) | Public Law 93-110, 87 Stat. 352: "forty-two and two-ninths dollars per fine troy ounce of gold" | $68.90 (February 13, 1973); $103.50 (September 21, 1973) |
The $42.2222 figure is still in 31 U.S.C. 5117(b) as the book value of Treasury gold. Percentages are SafeOunce computations.
A spot price is the price for metal delivered now. The London benchmark is one of several ways the spot price of gold is quoted.
The Nixon Shock's Economic Effects: Prices Froze for 90 Days, Then Inflation Returned#
The measures of August 15, 1971 stopped price rises for the 90 days of the freeze, but US inflation reached 8.7% in 1973 and 12.3% in 1974. The new $38 gold peg, a fixed official price, lasted 14 months. The Federal Reserve's own history says: "Inflation was practically halted during the 90-day wage-price freeze but would soon reappear as the monetary momentum in support of inflation had already begun" (Sandra Kollen Ghizoni, Federal Reserve History, 2013). The inflation figures are the CPI-U, December to December, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Wage and price controls are government limits on pay and prices. To devalue a currency is to cut its official worth. A floating exchange rate is one the market sets. The table below puts 6 questions to the sources and quotes each finding.
| Question | What the source found | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Did the freeze stop inflation? | "practically halted" for 90 days, then it would "soon reappear" | Federal Reserve History, Sandra Kollen Ghizoni, 2013 |
| Did the economy grow at first? | "Shortly after the plan was implemented, the growth of employment and production in the United States increased." | Same essay |
| Did the controls work over 1971 to 1974? | "Those controls only temporarily slowed the rise in prices while exacerbating shortages, particularly for food and energy." | Federal Reserve History, "The Great Inflation", Michael Bryan, 2013 |
| What did inflation do? | 3.3% (1971), 3.4% (1972), 8.7% (1973), 12.3% (1974) | Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U, December to December |
| Did fixed exchange rates survive? | The dollar was devalued to $38 in December 1971 and again on February 12, 1973. "Within a month nearly all major currencies were floating against the dollar. The Bretton Woods system was finished" | Federal Reserve History, "The Smithsonian Agreement", Owen Humpage, 2013 |
| Was it done for political gain? | Nixon "chose to trade off longer-term economic costs to the economy for his own short-term political gain"; the policy was used "to help secure his reelection victory in 1972" | Burton A. Abrams and James L. Butkiewicz, "The political economy of wage and price controls: evidence from the Nixon tapes", Public Choice 170 (2017), pages 63-78 (abstract) |
The $38 peg ran from December 18, 1971 to February 12, 1973, or 14 months (SafeOunce computation).
A common summary calls the Nixon shock "a political success but an economic failure". The sources support a narrower statement. The freeze worked for 90 days and growth picked up at first. Inflation then returned, the controls caused shortages, and the fixed-rate system ended in March 1973.
The "political success" part rests on one study of the White House tapes. Burton A. Abrams and James L. Butkiewicz published it in the journal Public Choice in 2017. They found that the policy was shaped to help the 1972 election. Whether gold kept up with that inflation is tested in gold as an inflation hedge.
When Did Gold Become Legal to Own Again? December 31, 1974#
Americans could legally buy, hold and sell gold bullion again from December 31, 1974, after 41 years. The law is Public Law 93-373, approved August 14, 1974 (88 Stat. 445, section 2). Gold's London PM price was $156.25 on that approval day.
The act's title starts with a different subject: "To provide for increased participation by the United States in the International Development Association". That agency is the World Bank's fund for the poorest countries. Section 1 approved "four annual installments of $375,000,000 each" for it, and gold came in section 2. From April 5, 1933 to December 31, 1974 is 41 years, 8 months and 26 days (SafeOunce computation).
The two laws that ended the ban: Public Law 93-110 and Public Law 93-373#
Congress legalized gold ownership twice: first in 1973 without a date, then in 1974 with a deadline. The table below shows the 3 steps and the document behind each one.
| Date | Document | What it did | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 21, 1973 | Public Law 93-110, section 3 (87 Stat. 352) | Said no law "may be construed to prohibit any person from purchasing, holding, selling, or otherwise dealing with gold". It took effect only "when the President finds and reports to the Congress" that monetary reform had gone far enough. It also raised the official price to $42.2222 | govinfo, 87 Stat. 352 |
| August 14, 1974 | Public Law 93-373, section 2 (88 Stat. 445) | Replaced that open-ended clause with a deadline: "either on December 31, 1974, or at any time prior to such date" on a presidential finding | govinfo, 88 Stat. 445 |
| December 31, 1974 | Executive Order 11825 (40 F.R. 1003) | Revoked the remaining gold orders, effective the same day | govinfo, Federal Register of January 6, 1975 |
The first law waited 327 days and had not taken effect. The second gave the President 139 days and then took effect on its own (SafeOunce computation).
Executive Order 11825: the last gold orders are revoked#
President Gerald Ford signed Executive Order 11825 on December 31, 1974, and it took effect that day. An executive order is a president's written command, and to revoke one is to cancel it. This order revoked Executive Order 6260 of August 28, 1933 as amended by 6 later orders, plus parts of Executive Orders 6073, 6359 and 10289. It cites "section 3 of Public Law 93-110, 87 Stat. 352, as amended by section 2 of Public Law 93-373".
The Federal Register is the government's daily record of rules and orders. It printed the order on January 6, 1975 (40 F.R. 1003). Executive Order 6102 is not on the list because it had already been revoked in 1933.
1974: ERISA Creates the IRA, and Gold Is Allowed From 1975 to 1981#
Congress created the individual retirement account on September 2, 1974, 19 days after it legalized gold, and both changes began with 1975. The law is the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), Public Law 93-406, section 2002. It added section 408 to the tax code for "taxable years beginning after Dec. 31, 1974" (26 U.S.C. 408, amendment notes). The first limit was a deduction, an amount you subtract from taxable income. It was "15 percent of the compensation ... or $1,500, whichever is less" (26 U.S.C. 219, amendment notes).
The first IRAs were for workers with no employer plan. The law disallowed the deduction for an "active participant", a worker covered by an employer's retirement plan.
The 1974 law listed almost nothing an IRA could not buy. The collectibles rule did not exist until 1981, and when it came it applied only to "property acquired after December 31, 1981". So for 7 years, 1975 through 1981, an IRA that bought gold broke no tax rule. How many savers used that freedom is not established.
The table below shows how much gold one year's maximum contribution bought at 3 dates.
| Year | Maximum IRA contribution | Who could contribute | Gold price (LBMA Gold Price PM) | Ounces |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | $1,500 (or 15% of pay if less) | Workers without an employer plan | $175.00 (January 2, 1975) | 8.57 oz |
| 1982 | $2,000 | Any worker under age 70 1/2 | $395.00 (January 4, 1982) | 5.06 oz, but an IRA could no longer buy gold |
| 2026 | $7,500 ($8,600 at age 50 or older) | Any worker with earned income, subject to the rules in force | $4,144.55 (September 28, 2026) | 1.81 oz (2.08 oz at 50 or older) |
SafeOunce computation; premiums and fees ignored. The 2026 limit is from IRS Notice 2025-67.
The dollar limit is 5 times its 1975 level, yet it buys about one-fifth of the gold. Today's gold IRA contribution limits are set each year by the IRS.
The custody rule is as old as the IRA. Section 408(a)(2) has always required a bank or another trustee approved by the Treasury. The only IRS list is the one behind IRS-approved gold IRA custodians: it names trustees, not coins.
The 1980 Gold Peak and the Dow-to-Gold Ratio: 1.03 in 1980, 44.79 in 1999#
Gold's London afternoon price peaked at $850.00 on January 21, 1980, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 872.78, and the Dow-to-gold ratio fell to 1.03. The Dow is an index of 30 large US companies. A ratio is one number divided by another. Gold is the LBMA Gold Price PM. Dow closes come from Samuel H. Williamson, "Daily Closing Value of the Dow Jones Average, 1885 to Present" (MeasuringWorth), checked against Yahoo Finance from 1992.
Neither source publishes the ratio, so we computed it for every day. The table below lists 8 turning points since 1971.
| Date | Dow close | Gold (LBMA Gold Price PM) | Ratio | What it marks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 13, 1971 | 856.02 | $43.00 | 19.9 | Last day before the gold window closed |
| January 21, 1980 | 872.78 | $850.00 | 1.03 | Lowest ratio in our series (which starts April 1, 1968) |
| August 25, 1999 | 11,326.04 | $252.85 | 44.79 | Highest ratio in our series |
| January 14, 2000 | 11,722.98 | $283.30 | 41.38 | The Dow's own closing high of that cycle |
| August 22, 2011 | 10,854.65 | $1,877.50 | 5.78 | Lowest ratio since March 1989 |
| October 1, 2018 | 26,651.21 | $1,189.35 | 22.41 | Highest since November 2005 |
| January 29, 2026 | 49,071.56 | $5,405.00 | 9.08 | Gold's record PM price; lowest ratio since March 2013 |
| September 28, 2026 | 51,481.51 | $4,144.55 | 12.42 | Latest day in our series |
SafeOunce computation for the 14,366 days from April 1, 1968 to September 28, 2026 on which both a Dow close and a London PM gold price exist. Dow closes before 1992 come from one source, MeasuringWorth.
A common version says the ratio "peaked on January 14, 2000, at 41.3". The value for that day is right (41.38), but it was not the peak. The ratio was higher on 61 trading days in 1999 (79 days in all), and it topped out at 44.79 on August 25, 1999. Gold bottomed that summer, at $252.80 on July 20, 1999, months before the Dow topped.
The ratio stayed at 40 or above on 198 trading days between June 3, 1999 and June 12, 2001. It stayed below 2 on 369 days between November 30, 1979 and September 9, 1982.
The 1980 peak came in era 1, when IRAs could still buy gold. A saver who bought at $850.00 waited 28.0 years, until January 3, 2008, for the London price to pass $850 again. By July 20, 1999 that price had fallen 70.3%.
Inflation makes the wait longer. $850.00 in January 1980 equals about $3,660 in August 2026 dollars. Gold did not regain that level until September 3, 2025, 45.6 years later (SafeOunce computation from LBMA and Bureau of Labor Statistics data). The fall after 1980 is the longest gold crash since 1971. All the gold and silver crashes are compared on their own page.
The ratio describes two prices on one day. It does not tell you what either price does next.
How the Dow-to-gold ratio is computed#
The Dow-to-gold ratio is the Dow's closing value divided by the price of one troy ounce of gold on the same day. Three choices change the result, and they are listed below.
- The gold price used: the London PM price, the London AM price, or a New York futures close.
- The days counted: daily closes, or only month-end or year-end values.
- The Dow value used: the close, or the high during the day.
Our series uses the Dow close and the London PM price on the same date. Those choices explain why other pages print 41.3, 43 or 45 for the same peak.
The Dow-to-gold ratio at each year-end, 1971 to 2025#
At year-end the Dow-to-gold ratio fell from 20.4 in 1971 to 1.6 in 1979 and 1980, rose to 39.6 in 2000, and stood at 11.1 at the end of 2025. The table below gives the ratio on the last day of each year that has both prices.
| Year | Ratio | Year | Ratio | Year | Ratio | Year | Ratio | Year | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 20.4 | 1982 | 2.3 | 1993 | 9.6 | 2004 | 24.8 | 2015 | 16.6 |
| 1972 | 15.7 | 1983 | 3.3 | 1994 | 10.0 | 2005 | 21.0 | 2016 | 17.3 |
| 1973 | 7.6 | 1984 | 3.9 | 1995 | 13.2 | 2006 | 19.8 | 2017 | 19.2 |
| 1974 | 3.3 | 1985 | 4.7 | 1996 | 17.7 | 2007 | 16.0 | 2018 | 18.0 |
| 1975 | 6.1 | 1986 | 4.9 | 1997 | 27.3 | 2008 | 10.0 | 2019 | 18.8 |
| 1976 | 7.5 | 1987 | 4.0 | 1998 | 32.2 | 2009 | 9.7 | 2020 | 16.1 |
| 1977 | 5.0 | 1988 | 5.3 | 1999 | 39.5 | 2010 | 8.2 | 2021 | 20.2 |
| 1978 | 3.6 | 1989 | 6.9 | 2000 | 39.6 | 2011 | 8.0 | 2022 | 18.3 |
| 1979 | 1.6 | 1990 | 6.8 | 2001 | 36.7 | 2012 | 7.8 | 2023 | 18.1 |
| 1980 | 1.6 | 1991 | 9.0 | 2002 | 24.0 | 2013 | 13.7 | 2024 | 16.3 |
| 1981 | 2.2 | 1992 | 10.0 | 2003 | 25.0 | 2014 | 14.9 | 2025 | 11.1 |
SafeOunce computation: Dow close divided by the LBMA Gold Price PM on the last day of the year with both prices.
The Dow is a price index, a measure that leaves out dividends, so the ratio is not a comparison of returns. Returns, not ratios, are compared in gold vs the S&P 500 since 1971.
1981: The Economic Recovery Tax Act Bans Gold in IRAs#
The Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981, signed August 13, 1981, added the collectibles rule that shut gold out of IRAs for purchases after December 31, 1981. The law is Public Law 97-34, section 314(b). It "added subsec. (m)", a new subsection or lettered part, to 26 U.S.C. 408. The rule "shall apply to property acquired after December 31, 1981, in taxable years ending after such date" (26 U.S.C. 408, amendment notes). "Bans" is shorthand: the purchase was not made illegal, it was taxed as a withdrawal.
The same act opened IRAs to more people and closed them to gold. The table below shows both sections.
| Section of the 1981 act | What it did |
|---|---|
| Section 311(a) | Raised the limit from $1,500 to $2,000 and removed the bar on workers with employer plans |
| Section 314(b) | Treated metals, coins, art, gems, stamps, rugs, antiques and alcoholic beverages as withdrawals |
Why Congress added the collectibles rule is not established here. We could not read the 1981 committee reports, so this page gives no reason.
Gold's London PM price was $407.25 on the signing day, August 13, 1981. It was $397.50 on December 30, 1981, the last price before the rule began.
The rule still works the same way, with the exceptions added in 1986 and 1997. An IRA purchase of a collectible counts as a withdrawal equal to its cost. How the IRS collectibles rule taxes a wrong purchase today is explained step by step.
What was grandfathered#
Gold that an IRA bought on or before December 31, 1981 stayed in the account untaxed. The IRS says so in its guide "Investments in collectibles in individually directed qualified plan accounts", a page it reviewed on July 3, 2026.
1986: American Eagles Come In#
The Tax Reform Act of 1986, signed October 22, 1986, let IRAs buy American Gold Eagle and Silver Eagle coins from January 1, 1987. The law is Public Law 99-514, section 1144(a). It added paragraph (3), a numbered exception, to section 408(m). Under section 1144(b) it covered "acquisitions after December 31, 1986" (26 U.S.C. 408, amendment notes). An acquisition is a purchase.
Four dates set the Eagle timetable, and they are listed below.
- July 9, 1985: the Liberty Coin Act (Public Law 99-61, title II) authorizes a one-ounce silver coin that must "contain .999 fine silver". No coin could be issued "before September 1, 1986, or before the date on which all coins minted under title I of this Act have been sold, whichever is earlier".
- December 17, 1985: the Gold Bullion Coin Act of 1985 (Public Law 99-185) authorizes $50, $25, $10 and $5 gold coins. None could be issued or sold "before October 1, 1986". Gold's London PM price was $321.15 on December 17, 1985.
- October 22, 1986: the IRA exception is signed.
- January 1, 1987: the first day an IRA purchase of Eagles is not a collectible.
That leaves a gap of about 10 weeks. An IRA that bought Gold Eagles in the last weeks of 1986 bought a collectible, because the exception covered only acquisitions after December 31, 1986.
Gold's London PM price was $425.00 on October 22, 1986 and $403.50 on January 2, 1987.
The Gold Eagle is 22 karat, below the purity that bars must meet. It qualifies by name, not by purity: see American Gold Eagle in an IRA.
What the Senate said about who holds the coins#
Two senators speaking on the Eagle amendment said on the Senate floor in 1986 that the coins must be held by a trustee, not by the IRA owner. The Tax Court quoted them in McNulty v. Commissioner, 157 T.C. No. 10 (November 18, 2021), footnote 7. Its source is the Congressional Record, the official transcript of Congress, at 132 Cong. Rec. 14537 (1986).
The court case that settled the home storage gold IRA question cited these same statements.
1988: state coins are added#
The Technical and Miscellaneous Revenue Act of 1988 added "any coin issued under the laws of any State" for acquisitions after November 10, 1988. The law is Public Law 100-647, section 6057 (26 U.S.C. 408, amendment notes). Gold's London PM price was $419.10 on November 10, 1988, the day the act was signed. As of October 2026, we could identify no state-issued coin sold for IRAs.
1997: The Bullion Rule Opens IRAs to Bars and Foreign Coins#
The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, signed August 5, 1997, let IRAs hold gold, silver, platinum and palladium bullion for tax years beginning after December 31, 1997. The law is Public Law 105-34, section 304. The conference report, House Report 105-220, lists it as "Certain bullion not treated as collectibles". The effective date is in the amendment notes to 26 U.S.C. 408.
Four terms in that quote need a plain meaning. Fineness is purity, in parts per thousand. A futures contract is a standard deal to deliver metal at a later date, and a contract market is a regulated futures exchange. Physical possession means the trustee actually holds the metal.
The House and Senate did not agree at first. The table below quotes the conference report, the document that settles differences between the two chambers (H. Rept. 105-220).
| Stage | Text of the 1997 conference report (H. Rept. 105-220) |
|---|---|
| Present law | "IRA assets may not be invested in collectibles. This prohibition does not apply to certain gold and silver coins or to coins issued by a State." |
| House bill | "No provision." |
| Senate amendment | "IRA assets may be invested in certain platinum coins and in certain gold, silver, platinum or palladium bullion." |
| Conference agreement | "The conference agreement follows the Senate amendment." |
Gold's London PM price was $321.10 on the signing day and $288.00 on January 2, 1998. For someone who files by calendar year, the first legal day to have an IRA buy a gold bar was January 1, 1998. The 2 routes, named coins and bullion by purity, are listed in precious metals the tax code allows.
What the Taxpayer Relief Act changed besides bullion#
The 1997 act made 5 changes that still shape a gold IRA. The 5 changes are listed below.
- Platinum coins: American Platinum Eagles (31 U.S.C. 5112(k)) joined the named coins.
- Palladium and platinum bullion: both metals were allowed by purity for the first time.
- 401(k)-type accounts: the rewrite dropped the words "In the case of an individual retirement account". The exceptions now also cover an "individually-directed account", one whose owner picks the investments, in a 401(a) plan.
- The Roth IRA: section 302 of the same act created it.
- The 28% rate: section 311 defined collectibles gain "as defined in section 408(m) without regard to paragraph (3) thereof" (26 U.S.C. 1). So bullion is IRA-eligible, yet still a collectible for capital-gains tax outside an IRA. A capital gain is the profit when you sell for more than you paid.
Under the exchange rules the statute points to, the purity floors are .995 for gold, .999 for silver and .9995 for platinum and palladium. Those are the floors as custodians applied them in September 2026. The numbers behind the borrowed test are the gold IRA purity requirements.
The text has one drafting quirk. The possession clause sits after subparagraph (B), not inside it. The official code carries this note: "So in original. Concluding provisions probably should be part of subpar. (B)."
The Gap Years: Why "Legal Since 1986" Is True Only for Eagles#
"Gold IRAs have been legal since 1986" is true only for American Eagles: an IRA that bought a Maple Leaf or a gold bar before 1998 bought a collectible. A named coin is one the statute lists by name. A route is the legal path a product uses to qualify, either by name or by purity. The table shows how the law treated the same IRA purchase in 4 different years.
| IRA buys... | in 1980 | in 1984 | in 1990 | in 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Gold Eagle (first authorized for issue October 1, 1986) | Did not exist | Did not exist | Allowed | Allowed (named coin, 408(m)(3)(A)) |
| Canadian Gold Maple Leaf in an IRA | Allowed (no rule) | Collectible | Collectible | Allowed if it meets .995 and the trustee holds it (408(m)(3)(B)) |
| Gold bar at .995 or finer | Allowed (no rule) | Collectible | Collectible | Allowed, same conditions |
| Krugerrands in an IRA (.9167) | Allowed (no rule) | Collectible | Collectible | Collectible (below .995, not a named coin) |
| Pre-1933 US gold coin (.900) | Allowed (no rule) | Collectible | Collectible | Collectible |
"Allowed (no rule)" means no collectibles rule existed in 1980; an IRA trustee still had to agree to hold the metal. "Collectible" means taxed as a withdrawal, not illegal to own. Source: 26 U.S.C. 408(m).
Why does this still matter? A coin's history page may say "IRA-eligible since 1986" or "since 1998". Check which route the coin uses today, not when the door first opened. Two coins, the Britannia and the Libertad, changed purity over the years, so the year on the coin matters too.
What Gold Cost on the Day Each Door Opened#
Gold cost $175.00 an ounce when IRAs began in January 1975, $403.50 when Eagles entered IRAs in January 1987 and $288.00 when bullion entered in January 1998. These are LBMA Gold Price PM values on the first trading day after each rule began. The table below adds what gold did next. A multiple is how many times the price grew.
| Door | First London PM price after it opened | What gold did next | Multiple to $4,144.55 (September 28, 2026) | Per year since |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IRAs begin (gold legal since December 31, 1974, at $186.50) | $175.00 (January 2, 1975) | Fell 40.9% to $103.50 by August 25, 1976; back above $175 on January 23, 1978 | 23.7 times | 6.3% |
| Ban begins | $395.00 (January 4, 1982) | (IRAs could not buy) | 10.5 times | 5.4% |
| Eagles allowed | $403.50 (January 2, 1987) | Fell 37.3% to $252.80 by July 20, 1999; last below $403.50 on September 16, 2004 | 10.3 times | 6.0% |
| Bullion allowed | $288.00 (January 2, 1998) | Fell 12.2% to $252.80 by July 20, 1999; last below $288.00 on February 4, 2002 | 14.4 times | 9.7% |
LBMA Gold Price PM. SafeOunce computation; yearly figures are compound rates. Before dealer premiums, storage fees and taxes. Past prices do not predict future prices.
Each new door opened at a different point in gold's cycle. The record 1974 price of $195.25 came on December 30, 1974, one day before gold became legal to own. The price was 47.0% lower by August 1976.
An IRA holder earned less than these figures, because of the dealer's markup and yearly fees. A markup is the amount a dealer adds to the metal's price. The same start dates, with what $10,000 became after IRA costs, are in the returns table.
What Has Changed Since 1997?#
The list of metals an IRA may hold has not changed since the 1998 tax year; later changes came from IRS rulings, one court case and the yearly limits. A private letter ruling is an IRS answer to one taxpayer, which others cannot cite as precedent. An ETF is an exchange-traded fund, a fund whose shares trade like a stock. The table below lists the 5 events.
| Date | Event | What it means in plain English | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 31, 2002 | IRS Private Letter Ruling 200217059 | Bullion held by storage companies that were not the IRA trustee was a collectible, so its cost was treated as a distribution; not precedent | IRS, PLR 200217059 |
| May 17, 2007 (released August 10, 2007) | Private Letter Ruling 200732026 | An IRA that buys shares of a gold trust (a gold ETF) is not buying a collectible; not precedent (26 U.S.C. 6110(k)(3)) | IRS, PLR 200732026 |
| March 23, 2018 | Public Law 115-141, section 401(a)(76) | Fixed a cross-reference in 408(m)(3)(B) ("section 5" for "section 7"); no change in what is allowed | 26 U.S.C. 408, amendment notes |
| November 18, 2021 | McNulty v. Commissioner, 157 T.C. No. 10 | IRA Eagles kept in a home safe were a taxable distribution | US Tax Court, Docket No. 1377-19 |
| 2026 | IRS Notice 2025-67 | Contribution limit $7,500, plus $1,100 at age 50 or older | IRS Notice 2025-67 |
No law since 1997 has added or removed a metal. The custody rule runs through the whole record: the 1974 trustee rule, the 1986 Senate statements, the 1997 possession clause, the 2002 ruling and the 2021 case. Two newer coins, the American Palladium Eagle (Public Law 111-303, 2010) and the Gold Buffalo, are not named in the statute. They qualify, if at all, through the 1997 bullion clause.
5 Claims About Gold IRA History That the Statutes Do Not Support#
Five common claims about gold IRA history are wrong or half right, and each can be checked against one statute. The table below quotes each common version and sets the record beside it.
| # | Common claim | What the record shows | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Gold IRAs began with the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997" | Eagles were allowed 11 years earlier, and gold of any kind was allowed in 1975 to 1981 | Public Law 99-514, section 1144; Public Law 97-34, section 314(b) (26 U.S.C. 408, notes) |
| 2 | "Gold has been allowed in IRAs since 1975" | True for 1975 to 1981, false for 1982 to 1986, and bullion returned only in 1998 | Same sections |
| 3 | "Gold IRAs have been legal since 1986" | True for Gold and Silver Eagles bought after December 31, 1986; bars and foreign coins waited until the 1998 tax year | Section 1144(b); Public Law 105-34, section 304(b) |
| 4 | "Once the 1986 act was signed, IRAs could buy Eagles" | The exception covered "acquisitions after December 31, 1986", 10 weeks after signing | Section 1144(b) |
| 5 | "The Dow-to-gold ratio peaked on January 14, 2000 at 41.3" | It peaked at 44.79 on August 25, 1999; January 14, 2000 was 41.38 | SafeOunce computation, turning-points table above |
What Does This History Mean for a Gold IRA Today?#
Three rules from this history still decide what a gold IRA can hold today: the 1981 collectibles rule, the 1986 list of named coins and the 1997 purity test. A fourth rule is older than all of them: the 1974 requirement that a trustee, not the owner, holds the assets. How a gold IRA works now, with costs and risks, starts on the main guide. The table below sends each question this history raises to the page that answers it.
| Question the history raises | Where it is answered |
|---|---|
| Which rules apply today? | Which gold IRA rules apply today, rule by rule |
| What about platinum and palladium, added in 1997? | Platinum and palladium in a precious metals IRA |
| What came of the Roth IRA, created by the same 1997 act? | The Roth gold IRA, possible since the 1997 act |
| Why is bullion still taxed as a collectible outside an IRA? | Why the 28% collectibles rate still applies outside an IRA |
| Can a workplace plan hold gold after the 1997 rewrite? | Whether you can hold gold in a 401(k) after the 1997 rewrite |
| What else did the 1997 act say? | The Taxpayer Relief Act, section by section |
Questions readers ask about gold ownership and gold IRA history#
Four questions come up most often about gold ownership and gold IRA history, and each has a short answer below. The answers use the same laws and the same price series as the sections above.
How much gold can a US citizen legally own?#
There is no federal limit on how much gold you may own. Since December 31, 1974, no law may be read "to prohibit any person from purchasing, holding, selling, or otherwise dealing with gold" (Public Law 93-373, section 2). Inside an IRA the limits are of a different kind. One limit is what the IRA may buy under 26 U.S.C. 408(m)(3). The other is how much you may contribute each year, which is $7,500 in 2026.
Why was it illegal for Americans to own gold?#
President Roosevelt's Executive Order 6102 of April 5, 1933 ordered most gold coin, bullion and gold certificates turned in during the banking crisis. License rules then stayed in force until December 31, 1974. Whether it could happen again is covered in can the government confiscate your gold.
What if you invested $1,000 in gold 25 years ago?#
$1,000 of gold bought at the LBMA Gold Price PM of $293.10 on September 28, 2001 was worth about $14,140 on September 28, 2026, before any costs. That is 11.2% a year, a compound rate (SafeOunce computation). A gold IRA would have earned less after the dealer's markup and yearly fees. These are past results, not a forecast.
Does the IRS know if you buy gold?#
Inside an IRA, yes: the custodian reports the account's year-end value to the IRS on Form 5498 every year. That value is the fair market value, what the metal would sell for on that date. Purchases outside an IRA follow different reporting rules. Each form is decoded in Forms 1099-R, 5498, 1099-B and 8300.