To grade or not to grade in a Gold IRA? My experience and a question for the group

Helen Turner

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To grade or not to grade in a Gold IRA? My experience and a question for the group

helen_turner💰Established (100-250k)

about 9 hours ago

Key Takeaways

•Curious what everyone else's experience has been with graded coins in their Gold IRA.
•I’ve been building up my Gold IRA for a few years now, got around $180k in it currently, mostly 1 oz American Gold Eagles and Canadian Maples.
•I’ve bought a mix of graded and ungraded coins.

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Curious what everyone else's experience has been with graded coins in their Gold IRA. I’ve been building up my Gold IRA for a few years now, got around $180k in it currently, mostly 1 oz American Gold Eagles and Canadian Maples. I'm based out here in Louisville, got a horse farm to maintain, so I’m pretty practical when it comes to investing – I want something solid that's going to hold its value without a lot of extra fuss.

I’ve bought a mix of graded and ungraded coins. Honestly, when I first started, I was told by a rep that graded coins were 'better' for resale value, more verifiable, etc. So, I bought a good chunk of my initial allocation with some PCGS and NGC MS69/70 coins. The premium for those was definitely higher than the ungraded BU coins, no doubt about it. Now, as I'm looking at my statements, I'm trying to figure out if that extra premium really paid off or if I just sunk more capital into something that might not appreciate significantly more than a plain old brilliant uncirculated coin.

My thinking now is, for a Gold IRA, you're primarily investing in the metal's weight and purity. The numismatic value additions from grading seem less relevant when your main goal is capital preservation and hedging against inflation, which is definitely my strategy. I mean, it’s not like I’m planning on selling these off to a collector who cares about a tiny imperfection only visible under a microscope. When it comes time to liquidate this thing down the road, likely for retirement or to majorly expand the stables, are they really going to give me a significantly higher price for an MS70 AGE vs. an identical MS69 or even just a respectable BU coin?

What are your thoughts on this? Should I continue buying graded coins for my IRA, or just stick to bullion-grade coins and save on the premiums? Has anyone actually seen a tangible benefit from having graded coins in their IRA when it came to a buyback or liquidation?

5 comments

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Best Answer▲ 10 upvotes

janet_cook📊Growing (50-100k)

Totally agree with you on this one! I've been debating the same thing for my own Gold IRA. I'm sitting on about $220k myself, mostly Eagles, and I've always leaned towards ungarded just to keep it simple and avoid the extra fees. Good to hear it's worked out for someone else. Makes me feel pretty good about my decision.

Comments (5)

michelle_collins🏆Advanced (250-500k)Real Investor•less than a minute ago

Man, this is an interesting one. I actually ran into a similar dilemma when I was setting up my IRA a few years back. My precious metals dealer, after we talked through my goals, really pushed for ungraded bullion coins for the bulk of it, pretty much the same stuff you've got. His reasoning was basically that the grading fees just eat into your investment, and for a long-term hold in an IRA, the premium for graded coins usually doesn't pay off unless you're talking about super rare stuff that's more collectible than an investment.

I did end up with a couple of graded pieces, but they were more for my personal collection outside the IRA. Inside, it's all about weight and purity for me. Curious to see what others say though!

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

Interesting perspective. I'm curious, what made you decide on mostly 1 oz AGEs and Maples specifically? Was it just availability or did you prefer those over other eligible coins for some particular reason?

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

I can definitely appreciate the thought process of wanting the "best" for your IRA, and for some, graded coins absolutely provide that extra layer of assurance. However, for a Gold IRA, the grading might be a bit of overkill, IMO. The whole point of holding physical gold in an IRA is often about the intrinsic value and the 'gold is gold' mentality. As long as it's an approved coin and the weight/purity are correct, the numismatic premium from grading usually doesn't apply when you eventually liquidate it back into the IRA custodian's hands. They're typically buying it back at spot, regardless of whether it's a perfect MS70 or just a regular bullion coin.

So, while

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

Hey, cool post! "To grade or not to grade" is a question I've definitely wrestled with too. For anyone else wondering about the graded vs. ungraded debate for IRAs, a good rule of thumb is that the IRS generally considers "proof" coins (which are often graded) as collectibles and thus not eligible for an IRA, unless they meet specific fineness requirements and are *not* rare/collectible editions. So, always double-check with your custodian!

Here's a quick IRS resource on what's allowed: IRS Publication 590-A, Appendix D (scroll to "Collectibles").