IRA-Approved Gold and Precious Metals: The Complete List

IRA eligible gold satisfies the purity standards in IRC §408(m): bars of at least .995 fineness from an accredited refiner, or one of a handful of government-minted coins — American Gold Eagle, American Buffalo, Canadian Maple Leaf, Austrian Philharmonic, Australian Kangaroo. Silver, platinum and palladium have their own thresholds. Everything else — collectibles, proofs, jewelry, most foreign coins — is off-limits inside an IRA. Here is the complete list, and how to verify any product before money moves.

What “IRA Eligible” Gold Means

“IRA eligible” and “IRA approved” are market terms; the tax code never blesses a specific product. What §408(m) actually does is define a category of prohibited investments — “collectibles” — and then list narrow exceptions. An IRA that invests in a collectible is treated as if it distributed the amount invested to you: the amount becomes immediately taxable as income, plus a 10% early-withdrawal penalty if you are under 59½.

The exceptions that make a physical gold IRA possible are: (1) bullion — gold, silver, platinum, palladium — meeting minimum fineness requirements, and (2) certain coins, chiefly US government-minted Eagles plus specific foreign bullion coins that meet the same thresholds. IRS Publication 590-B summarizes the rule for IRA owners; the statute itself contains the exact fineness numbers.

So when a dealer says a product is “IRA approved gold,” the accurate translation is: this product fits one of the §408(m) exceptions. That is a factual claim you can verify in about a minute, and you should — before the order is funded, not after (the checklist below shows you how).

The Four IRA-Approved Metals (and Their Minimum Purity)

*The American Gold Eagle is the famous exception: 22-karat (.9167) yet fully eligible — explained below.

These numbers come straight from the statute, not from dealer marketing. Palladium joined the list when the Pension Protection Act of 2006 expanded §408(m), which is why IRA-eligible palladium products are newer and scarcer than gold or silver. Note that the thresholds are minimums: a .9999 gold bar clears .995 comfortably, while a 22-karat foreign coin such as the Krugerrand (.9167) clears nothing, because foreign coins must independently meet the .995 gold standard.

Also note that four metals are the entire universe. Nothing else — rhodium, iridium, “rare earth” bullion — ever made it into the statute, and no seller’s certificate changes that.

The American Gold Eagle Exception

Here is the cleanest subtlety in the whole rule. The American Gold Eagle is 22-karat, .9167 fine — well below the .995 threshold applied to gold bullion bars and to foreign coins — yet it is fully IRA eligible. That is because §408(m)(3) exempts specific US coins (those described in 31 U.S.C. §5112, which covers the Eagle series) from the fineness requirements. Congress wanted Americans to be able to hold their own mint’s flagship coin in retirement accounts. Foreign coins receive no such courtesy: a Maple Leaf qualifies because it is .9999 on its own merits, not because of where it is popular.

IRA-Approved Gold Bars

For bars, the statute requires qualifying fineness, and market practice adds a second filter: refiner accreditation. Custodians and depositories almost universally accept bars produced by government mints or by refiners on the LBMA Good Delivery List or approved by COMEX/NYMEX (both now under CME Group) — brands such as PAMP Suisse, Valcambi, Argor-Heraeus, Metalor, the Royal Canadian Mint and the Perth Mint.

Common IRA bar sizes: 1 oz and 10 oz gold, 1-kilogram (32.15 oz) and 100 oz gold; 100 oz and 1,000 oz silver bars. Bars ship with assay certificates, and you should keep the pairing intact — a bar separated from its assay card can be harder for a depository to accept.

Two practical warnings. First, legacy bars from refiners that no longer operate (vintage Johnson Matthey and Engelhard stock, for example) are sometimes offered as “IRA eligible”; acceptance varies by custodian because there is no current refiner attestation behind them [verify with your custodian]. Second, a bar’s eligibility never depends on the dealer’s brand label — only on fineness and the refiner’s accreditation.

IRA-Approved Bullion Coins (Quick Reference)

Full buying guidance, premium comparisons and pitfalls for each coin are in our guide to IRA gold coins; the silver side is covered in detail in our silver IRA guide.

What Is NOT IRA Eligible

The exclusion list is longer than the approval list:

• Numismatic and rare coins — pre-1933 US gold ($20 Saint-Gaudens and Liberty doubles), graded “MS-70” slabs, and anything valued for rarity rather than metal content.
• Proof and commemorative coins — even modern US Mint proofs get marketed into IRAs; most custodians decline them because of heavy numismatic premiums [verify with your custodian].
• Foreign coins below fineness — the Krugerrand (.9167), the Mexican 50 Peso (.900) and pre-2013 Britannias (.9167) all fail the .995 foreign-coin standard.
• Jewelry and scrap gold — never eligible at any purity.
• “Collectible” editions of otherwise eligible coins — special finishes, privy marks and low-mintage runs priced above melt.

Why do dealers keep offering these into IRAs? Margin. A collectible can carry a spread several times wider than generic bullion’s, and the seller keeps the difference. If a salesperson insists a graded coin “appreciates faster” inside a gold IRA, that claim should end the call — the IRS classification alone can erase the purchase’s value. Our page on gold IRA scams documents the full script.

The consequences of buying a non-qualifying product are not a slap on the wrist either: the purchase amount is treated as a taxable distribution in the year of purchase, penalized 10% if you are under 59½, and collectible rules apply to any later gain. Our gold IRA rules and taxes guide walks through the mechanics.

How to Verify a Product Before You Buy

A one-minute checklist, in order:

1. Read the stamp. Fineness must be marked on the metal itself (“999.9”, “FINE GOLD 1 OZ”).
2. Check the source. A government mint, or an LBMA/COMEX-accredited refiner, stamped and matched to its assay card.
3. Ask the custodian, in writing. The custodian — not the dealer — decides what your IRA can buy. Get the specific product, mint year and fineness approved before funding.
4. Decline graded or proof versions of anything unless your custodian has explicitly approved them.
5. Compare the premium. If a quote sits far above generic bullion for identical metal content, ask why.

If a product fails any step, walk away — there are dozens of functionally identical eligible products. And once you own eligible metals, the next compliance question is where they live: see our guide to gold IRA storage, because custody rules are the other half of the §408(m) picture. Storage and gold IRA fees are also where the real cost differences between providers hide.