You can own precious metals in an IRA LLC. Using your Easy IRA LLC, you can purchase some of the most popular metals like gold, silver and palladium bullion. However, an IRA LLC cannot purchase any type of metal that the IRS deems as a collectible. Collectibles are one of the items specifically listed as prohibited by the Internal Revenue Service.
Internal Revenue Code Section 408(m) lists the coins and precious metals that you can purchase with an IRA or IRA LLC. These rules generally provide that precious metals owned inside of an IRA LLC must meet certain fineness requirements and must be produced by an approved and accredited refiner.
Examples of precious metal that ARE permitted in an IRA include:
Gold
- American Eagle bullion and/or proof coins
- Austrian Philharmonic bullion coins
- American Buffalo bullion coins
- British Britannia (new .9999+) bullion coins
- Australian Kangaroo/Nugget bullion coins
- Canadian Maple Leaf bullion coins
- Bars, rounds, and coins manufactured by a refiner/assayer/manufacturer accredited by NYMEX/COMEX, NYSE/Liffe, LME, LBMA, LPPM, TOCOM, ISO 9000, or a national government mint and meeting minimum fineness requirements
Silver
- American Eagle bullion and proof coins
- British Britannia (new .9999+) bullion coins
- American America the Beautiful bullion coins
- Canadian Maple Leaf bullion coins
- Australian Kookaburra bullion coins
- Mexican Libertad bullion coins
- Austrian Philharmonic bullion coins
- Bars, rounds and coins manufactured by a refiner/assayer/manufacturer accredited by NYMEX/COMEX, NYSE/Liffe, LME, LBMA, LPPM, TOCOM, ISO 9000, or a national government mint and meeting minimum fineness requirements
Platinum
- American Eagle bullion and proof coins
- Isle of Man Noble bullion coins
- Australian Koala bullion coins
- Bars, rounds, and coins manufactured by a refiner/assayer/manufacturer accredited by NYMEX/COMEX, NYSE/Liffe, LME, LBMA, LPPM, TOCOM, ISO 9000, or a national government mint and meeting minimum fineness requirements
If any of the coins listed above have been graded for their condition by a certification organization, like the Professional Coin Grading Service or NGC, they will typically be defined as collectibles by the IRS and are thus not allowed in an IRA.
There are also minimum fineness requirements:
- Gold .995+
- Platinum .9995+
- Silver .999+
- Palladium .9995+
While Gold American Eagle Bullion also only have a fineness of .9167, they are specifically excepted from the fineness requirement and ARE permitted as an IRA investment.
Additionally, small bullion bars (i.e., bars other than 400-ounce gold, 100-ounce gold, 1000-ounce silver, 50-ounce platinum and 100-ounce palladium bars) must be manufactured to exact weight specifications.
Examples of precious metals that are NOT permitted in an IRA include:
- Austrian Corona and Ducat
- German Mark
- Belgian Franc
- Hungarian Korona
- British Sovereign and Britannia
- Italian Lira
- Chilean Peso
- Mexican Peso and Ounza
- Columbian Peso
- South African Krugerrand
- Dutch Guilder
- Swiss Franc
- French Franc
- Rare or Collectible Coins
You may notice that South African Gold Krugerrand Coins are not a permitted IRA investment. This is because they only have a fineness of .9167 so they do not meet the minimum fineness requirement.