High Purity Coins as IRA Investment
An IRA owner may not generally invest in coins. However, an IRA owner may invest in certain US coins and in high purity “gold, silver, platinum or palladium bullion.” IRC 408(m)(3). My dictionary lists the first meaning of bullion as “gold or silver considered merely as so much metal without regard to any value imparted to it by its form; specifically, uncoined gold or silver in the shape of bars, ingots or comparable masses.”
Does anyone know of any evidence that the IRS considers high purity nonUS coins (such as the Canadian Maple Leaf, 99.99% gold or 99.95% platinum) to be “bullion?” High purity nonUS coins are widely advertised on the Internet as IRA investments.
Permalink Submitted by mk foss on Thu, 2011-07-07 23:46
I read an article this week about investing your IRA in coins. It certainly made the idea unattractive to me. It requires an IRA custodian that will handle the self-directed IRA that has such an investment plus a special trustee who has physical possession of the bullion. Annual fees could run $250-$550 to comply.
The article is by Bill Bischoff in Smart Money entitled [u]Gold for your IRA?[/u]
The article indicates that Canadian Maple Leafs qualify but South African Krugerrands do not.