The four precious metals that may be held in an individual retirement account are gold, silver, platinum, and palladium, as long as they are IRS-approved coin or bar products. All products that fall outside these ranges, with the exception of American Gold Eagles, are not eligible for IRA contributions. Unapproved precious metal products include, for example, gold from before 1933, gold coins from Krugerrands and 90% silver coins from the USA.
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Since the American Gold Eagle is the only exception, gold bars to be included in an IRA account must have a minimum fineness of. Instead, it must be placed under the supervision of an approved custodian bank, usually in a metal depot. Although IRAs used to be limited to owning American Eagle gold and silver coins, IRAs can now invest in IRS-approved gold, silver, palladium, and platinum bars and coins. While most available gold and silver bars are at least 99.9% pure, only a few coins and bullets can be included in an IRA account.
In fact, there are only certain gold, silver, platinum, and palladium products that are eligible for inclusion in an IRA account. To be eligible as an IRA-approved product, precious metals must meet the minimum degrees of fineness mentioned above. IRA accounts for precious metals are subject to strict criteria that dictate which forms of precious metals are acceptable. This is thanks to the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, which added one, a half, a quarter, or a tenth of an ounce of U to the precious metal holdings allowed in IRAs.
You must buy the gold bars after opening the IRA or transfer previous gold bars from another IRA account. If you have any questions about the eligibility of specific products for inclusion in your IRA account, contact your auditor or tax advisor. Additional palladium bars and other products may also be considered approved by the IRA as long as they have a fineness of 0.9995 and above. As with platinum, the fineness of palladium must reach at least 99.95% in order to be included in an IRA.
