Which exceptions does the IRS describe?
The IRS lists specified gold, silver and platinum coins described by federal law, state-issued coins, and qualifying gold, silver, platinum or palladium bullion among the exceptions to the collectibles definition. Bullion must meet the applicable fineness condition and physical-possession requirement.
These are legal categories, not approval of every product sold under a retirement label. Have the custodian identify the exact product and why it fits an exception. This site does not supply numerical purity thresholds that its cited IRS pages do not themselves specify.
IRS: collectibles and metal exceptions · as of 2026-11-11
Who must physically possess bullion?
The IRS states that qualifying bullion must be in the physical possession of a bank or approved nonbank trustee. Its IRA FAQ specifically says the requirement also applies to bullion indirectly bought through an IRA-owned limited liability company.
Personal ownership of a safe, an entity registration or Roth account paperwork does not by itself satisfy that rule. Ask who is legally administering the IRA, who physically holds the bullion under that arrangement and how the records identify the account’s assets.
IRS IRA FAQs: investments and custody · as of 2026-11-11
IRS: collectibles and metal exceptions · as of 2026-11-11
What happens if an IRA buys a collectible?
The IRS describes acquisition of a collectible as a deemed distribution in the acquisition year, measured by the collectible’s cost. This is why a product’s eligibility should be established before the purchase rather than inferred from its resale value or precious-metal content.
The Roth distribution rules still need analysis when a distribution occurs. Calling an asset “collectible” does not by itself resolve the taxable portion of a Roth distribution; ordering, qualification and additional-tax rules may also be relevant. This page does not compute that result for a reader.
IRS: collectibles and metal exceptions · as of 2026-11-11
IRS Publication 590-B (2025) · as of 2026-11-11
How is taking a distribution different from storage?
Once metal is properly distributed from the Roth IRA, it is no longer simply being stored as an IRA holding. The IRS states that property distributed from a Roth IRA has basis equal to its fair market value on the distribution date, whether or not the distribution is qualified.
Ask the custodian to distinguish permitted account storage from a delivery that ends IRA custody. Keep the distribution statement and valuation records. A request to move the metal to a home address is not just an administrative address change.
IRS Publication 590-B (2025) · as of 2026-11-11
IRS IRA FAQs: investments and custody · as of 2026-11-11
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