Numismatic vs. Bullion for Gold IRA - What's the play?

• •Been seeing a few posts lately about folks dipping their toes into precious metals for retirement, specifically gold IRAs.
• •Got me thinking about a debate I've had with myself ad nauseam for years: numismatic vs.
• •At this point, my IRA is probably 70% metals, and a good chunk of that is gold.

Been seeing a few posts lately about folks dipping their toes into precious metals for retirement, specifically gold IRAs. Got me thinking about a debate I've had with myself ad nauseam for years: numismatic vs. bullion. Back in '08, during the whole financial meltdown and before I finally hung up my hat from Wall Street, I started really heavying up on physical metals. At this point, my IRA is probably 70% metals, and a good chunk of that is gold. I'm sitting here in my Upper East Side apartment, looking at a good chunk of my future wealth, and it's mostly in standard bullion coins like ASEs and Canadian Maples.

My initial thought was always pure weight and liquidity. Bullion is easy to value, easy to sell if the need arises (knock on wood, that won't be for a while). I’m thinking long-term here, not trying to flip coins. But I've got this buddy, he's more into the finer details, the historical significance. He's been building a pretty sweet collection of pre-1933 gold coins within his IRA, arguing about potential numismatic premiums growing significantly over time, especially for rarer pieces. He's got a couple of $20 Saint-Gaudens that are truly beautiful, and I can see the appeal from a collector's standpoint. The idea of intrinsic plus value is intriguing, I'll admit.

My portfolio is comfortably in the low seven-figure range, so I have the luxury of thinking about optimization beyond just pure weight. Part of me wonders if I've been too conservative. Is there a point where the added premium for certified numismatic coins becomes a smart long-term play, especially when held within an IRA where capital gains on the premium would eventually be tax-deferred or tax-free? Or am I just overthinking it, and the purity and simplicity of bullion is always the safest bet for what is fundamentally a retirement vehicle?

What are your experiences with this? Has anyone here diversified their Gold IRA into more collectible numismatic pieces? Did you see the value add up beyond just the melt value? Or am I better off sticking to my guns with good old-fashioned bullion and letting the market do its thing for the gold price itself? Specifically, for those with a high allocation in metals for retirement, was adding numismatics part of your strategy, and what were the returns like compared to plain bullion?