Numismatic vs. Bullion - My Gold IRA Head-Scratcher

Matthew Murphy

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Numismatic vs. Bullion - My Gold IRA Head-Scratcher

matthew_murphy👑Elite (1m-5m)

less than a minute ago

Key Takeaways

•Okay, so I've been wrestling with this for a while now, and I'm hoping some of you seasoned goldbugs can weigh in.
•When I cashed out from my tech startup back in '21, a big chunk of it went into a Gold IRA.
•I’m sitting on about $2.5 million in gold and silver, mostly bullion – Eagles, Liberties, some Canadian Maples, all the usual suspects.

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Okay, so I've been wrestling with this for a while now, and I'm hoping some of you seasoned goldbugs can weigh in. When I cashed out from my tech startup back in '21, a big chunk of it went into a Gold IRA. I’m sitting on about $2.5 million in gold and silver, mostly bullion – Eagles, Liberties, some Canadian Maples, all the usual suspects. I went for the purity and the straightforward market-price correlation. Made sense at the time.

Lately, though, I’ve been hearing more chatter about numismatic coins, especially for IRAs. Not those super rare, ultra-graded museum pieces, but still coins with some collectible value above their melt price. Things like pre-33 gold or certain limited-mintages. My financial advisor, bless his meticulous heart, keeps pointing me back to bullion, citing liquidity and simplicity. But a buddy of mine upstate in Detroit, who's more into the collecting side, swears that a portion of my IRA should be in numismatics for the potential upside beyond just the spot price.

I’m based here in Dublin, Ohio, and honestly, walking into a local dealer here, it's mostly bullion on display for investment. But the idea of having a hedge against a flat spot market, or even some appreciation if certain collectible markets boom, is pretty tempting. My main concern is getting stuck with something that's hard to sell when I eventually need to (hopefully well into my 70s, playing too much golf). And of course, the premium spread – it seems way higher on numismatics. Is that just the cost of entry for potential extra growth, or am I setting myself up to get fleeced?

Anyone here actually hold numismatic coins in their RMD-qualified gold IRA? What's your experience been like with premiums, liquidity, and overall performance compared to plain old bullion? I’m talking about a respectable portion, maybe 15-20% of my total allocation, not going all-in. Am I overthinking this, or is there a genuine strategic play here for a portion of my portfolio?

3 comments

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Best Answer▲ 9 upvotes

robert_thompson💰Established (100-250k)

Hey, interesting post! When you said "mostly bullion - Eagles, Liberties, som," did you mean certain types of Liberties, or were you just starting to list out some other coins?

Comments (3)

christopher_young🌟Ultra (5m+)Real Investor✓ Verified•less than a minute ago

Totally get this feeling! I had a similar "what did I just do?" moment a few years back when I diversified some old 401k funds. The company I went with really pushed some numismatics, saying they had more "collectible" value and potential for higher appreciation.

Honestly, I've watched the bullion perform more predictably, and the premiums on those "rare" coins felt a bit steep in retrospect. It’s tricky navigating all the different advice out there.

robert_thompson💰Established (100-250k)Real Investor✓ Verified•less than a minute ago

Hey, interesting post! When you said "mostly bullion - Eagles, Liberties, som," did you mean certain types of Liberties, or were you just starting to list out some other coins?

ruth_perez📊Growing (50-100k)•less than a minute ago

Interesting take, but I'm not entirely sure I agree on the "bullion is always better for IRAs" front. While the purity and liquidity argument is solid for most investors, if you have a significant chunk like $2.5M and are looking at a multi-decade horizon, a small percentage in carefully selected numismatic coins could actually offer some unique diversification benefits and potentially even outperform bullion over the very long term due to their collector value. It's not about all numismatics, but strategic picks. Just a thought to throw into the mix!

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