Augusta Precious Metals Review: Best Gold IRA Dealer?13 min read

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One investment vehicle that permits people to save for their retirements is an individual retirement account (“IRA”).

The difference between a standard IRA and a gold or precious metals IRA, is that the former holds paper assets, while the latter involves physical gold or other precious metal assets (e.g., bullion, coins, bars) that are held by a custodian on behalf of the account owner.

While not a perfect hedge against inflation, gold and other precious metals tend to increase in value in times of market volatility and uncertainty.

If you are uncertain about the current market conditions – and thus, you’ve decided that you would like to take action by diversifying your retirement assets – you’ll want to start shopping around for a gold IRA company that will facilitate in the purchase of your precious metal IRA assets.

One of Augusta Precious Metals’s main focuses is forming long term partnerships with its precious metals IRA customers. Everything about the company revolves around retirement investment, customer support, and portfolio management.

Precious metals investment is mostly about peace of mind, and with Augusta Precious Metals, that comes aplenty. But first, my Augusta Precious Metals Review should start with some additional background on the company.

About Augusta Precious Metals

Augusta Precious Metals is a precious metals dealer located in Casper, Wyoming. Though not exactly ancient, Augusta is still recognized as an older mainstay precious metals company, having provided gold and silver self directed IRA services since 2012.

11 years later, it’s virtually impossible to find anyone leaving substantive negative reviews regarding the company. To those who are new to the industry, this is an extremely impressive achievement, which is exactly why Augusta Precious Metals showcases its outstanding customer feedback on its website. And who wouldn’t showcase such a crowning achievement?

Apart from celebrities that endorse Augusta Precious Metals, the two other names that you’ll frequently hear being associated with Augusta Precious Metals are Isaac Nuriani and Devlyn Steele.

Nuriani is the company brass, sporting the title of both CEO and founder. His biography indicates that he has more than 20 years of experience in the precious metals industry, which isn’t difficult to believe given that the company is already 11 years old.

On the other hand, Steele is a Harvard educated economist, adding value to Augusta Precious Metals as its  Director of Education. Augusta Precious Metals takes a somewhat unique and more dedicated approach to customer education than you’ll see in most other precious metals IRA companies.

While Augusta Precious Metals’s educational resources are certainly used by its existing customers, many potential customers also utilize these resources to educate themselves on precious metals and to determine whether it’s an appropriate investment vehicle for their own investment portfolio.

Nuriani adds even more credibility to Augusta Precious Metals by holding a membership in the Industry Council for Tangible Assets (ICTA), a premier organization in the precious metals IRA sector that acts as a watchdog among several other things.

Augusta’s seminars

While most top precious metals IRA companies have some degree of customer education, Augusta Precious Metals undoubtedly takes it to the next level. Steele holds one-on-one seminars where interested parties can join without charge or much commitment.

Here, Steele advances the spread of knowledge and awareness regarding precious metals investment as well as various other economic issues. There is little question that the average person is under-informed when it comes to topics like wealth erosion and the very deliberate goal of central banks to erode the purchasing power of fiat currencies over time.

Visit Augusta Precious Metals online for more information.

These seminars are incredibly valuable to customers and vaults Augusta Precious Metals ahead of its competitors. The concept of going the extra mile is a prominent theme with Augusta in general.

Despite the expansiveness of Augusta Precious Metals’s customer base and the high volume of transactions closed in a given day, customers can still expect to be able to schedule a one-on-one educational webinar with either Steele or a member of his team to guide them through the turbulent financial markets.

Another thing that stands out about Augusta Precious Metals’s customer education service is that they place a lot of emphasis on physical gold IRA scams and the like. How often do you see a company in this sphere put considerable effort into pointing out potential missteps that customers might encounter while investing with other companies in the industry?

Not that often, and there arguably is more than a fair share of less than honorable outfits out there. This knowledge hub section of the website will serve you well even if you decide not to do business with Augusta Precious Metals.

Augusta’s celebrity endorsements 

The precious metal industry is not immune from the sentiment that celebrity endorsements are an important driver of new business. For that reason, nearly every company that takes its gold IRA management seriously goes to some lengths to secure these endorsements in hopes of attracting a wide variety of customers and also to instill faith for those who might be on the fence.

NFL quarterback legend Joe Montana is Augusta Precious Metals’s chief spokesman. Even though Montana was well paid throughout his illustrious career, “Joe Cool” has always been concerned with ensuring that future generations of his family will be financially secure. After an exhaustive search – which ended with conversation with Mr. Steele – Joe felt confident that Augusta Precious Metals was the right company to buy precious metals from. The rest is history!

Another name you might have heard mentioned in relation to Augusta Precious Metals is Mark Levin, host of the Mark Levin Show. Levin was born and raised in the Greater Philadelphia Area, conducted undergraduate and legal studies at Temple University, and later worked for President Ronald Regan’s administration.

After a robust legal career, Levin became a conservative leaning radio/television personality and more recently a spokesperson for Augusta Precious Metals. Levin touts the company’s integrity and says they aren’t just a seller, but also an educator. Not much arguing on that front.

Visit Augusta Precious Metals’ website to learn more.

Augusta Precious Metals Products

If you’ve taken the time to explore the offerings of various gold IRAs companies, you’ve probably noticed that they often branch far and away from IRA-eligible bullion or even gold and silver. Platinum, palladium, rounds, numismatics, various exotic products… these can all be found in the inventories of dealers specializing primarily in precious metals IRAs.

Augusta Precious Metals has a notably different approach. Instead, Augusta Precious Metals offers a comparatively small selection of products, most of them tailor-made for an IRA. Furthermore, Augusta Precious Metals prioritizes gold and silver over platinum group metals.

The inventory itself isn’t as expansive as it could be even when considering IRA-eligible bullion only. While some customers will see this as a downside, others see this as a commitment to retirement investment. While the allure to add more and more products to its offerings is a tantalizing one, Augusta Precious Metals prefers to offer a narrowly tailored group of product offerings.

Having said that, it bears mentioning that Augusta Precious Metals seems to have recently expanded its inventory and made it a little more exotic. You can find quite a few numismatics pieces these days. For your convenience, below is a list of gold and silver that can be purchased for inclusion within an IRA, as well as a list of rare gold and silver coins.

Gold bullion

·        American Gold Eagle, 1oz, 1/2oz, 1/4oz and 1/10oz

·        American Buffalo, 1oz

·        Canadian Gold Maple Leaf, 1oz

·        Austrian Philharmonic, 1oz

·        South African Krugerrand, 1oz – not eligible for an IRA

·        Gold bars, 1oz and 10oz, their choice of mint

Silver bullion

·        American Silver Eagle, bullion and proof, 1oz

·        Canadian Silver Maple Leaf, 1oz

·        Austrian Philharmonic, 1oz

·        America the Beautiful, several varieties, 5oz

·        Canadian Silver 5 Blessings coin, 1oz

·        Silver rounds, their choice, 1oz

·        Silver bars, their choice, 10oz and 100oz

Premium and collectible gold and silver coins

·        American Eagle proof, gold coins, silver coins, various kinds, 1oz;

·        American Buffalo proof, various kinds, 1oz;

·        Multiple Canadian wildlife-themed coins in different weights, mostly gold, listed as limited availability or sold out – these should be IRA-eligible;

·        Multiple British semi-collectible gold coins in different weights, consisting of contemporary coins such as the Lunar series, listed as sold out;

·        Many different 19th and 20th century American gold numismatics coins, available individually or as a 5-set;

·        Commemorative 1984 gold coin; and

·        A lot of “junk” silver coins, individually listed and available in bags (face value of silver coins ranging from $100 to $1,000).

Click here to request your free gold IRA guide from Augusta Precious Metals

What makes Augusta Precious Metals different?

It’s not an exaggeration to say that every company in the precious metals sector has an innate desire to stand out amongst its competitors. While the number of top companies dealing in gold IRAs isn’t particularly vast, the competition is definitely stiff. For this reason, companies need to set themselves apart from their competitors.

Augusta Precious Metals accomplishes this pretty easily. For starters, they offer a lifetime customer support guarantee to those who open a silver or gold IRA with them. A lot of companies dabbling in precious metal IRAs don’t even assign you a representative to assist you with your precious metals portfolio. Knowing your account will be handled by Augusta Precious Metals just as carefully five or ten years down the line as it was on the first day is obviously a major plus.

Customer support and a desire to exceed expectations in this area is a company theme in general. There is even a live chat function available on the website that prompts every visitor to ask any questions they might have about silver or gold IRAs. 

Another primary perk of Augusta Precious Metals is its high degree of transparency when it comes to fees. Augusta Precious Metals charges a 5% commission on the price of a gold and silver bullion item. This commission is disclosed to you while you are agreeing on the prices with a representative.

There are no additional fees (or hidden fees) that you have to worry about when dealing with Augusta Precious Metals. In general, a 5% commission on bullion products is industry standard for a gold and silver dealer. During a time when customers are complaining about premiums of up to 50%, it’s not difficult to see why this is a primary reason to opt for Augusta Precious Metals.

Augusta Precious Metals fees

The straightforward fee structure doesn’t just pertain to markups on products. Here’s what you can expect to pay when opening an account with Augusta Metals, or simply ordering bullion from them:

·        $50,000 minimum to open a gold or silver IRA with the company;

·        $50 account setup fee (which is usually waived);

·        $80 annual custodial fee for account management and $100 annual storage fee (both of these can be waived for up to 10 years);

·        The aforementioned 5% fee on any bullion product you purchase; and

·        No shipping fees in case you are purchasing metals from them (the metals being shipped are likewise insured free of charge).

I was also able to confirm with Augusta Precious Metals that their $50,000 minimum applies to both IRA purchases and regular bullion purchases. Many self directed IRA companies specializing in silver and gold IRAs have a minimum of $1,500, which certainly means that Augusta’s buy-in is significantly larger.

While they focus on gold IRA investment, it’s pretty that Augusta Precious Metals also does a lot of business outside of precious metal IRAs considering the impressive collection of premium coins they offer.

So how can Augusta Precious Metals get away with such a high minimum? Brand name? Clear and low markup? Joe Montana’s endorsement?

Your guess is as good as mine.

Augusta Precious Metals’s Custodians and Storage Facilities

As you may already know, many gold IRA companies subcontract out the custody and storage of their precious metal holdings. From what I understand, both are done for legal reasons, although it might also have a lot to do with convenience.

Augusta Precious Metals has a clear preference for their customers using Equity Trust, with GoldStar Trust Company and Kingdom Trust being two other firms we’ve come across as custodians Augusta Precious Metals works with. These are all some of the top names in the retirement account custody business. However, if you’d like to select another custodian, you may do so.

A storage facility works similarly. On their website, Augusta Precious Metals tells you to ask about the full and current list of depositories. The Delaware Depository seems to be their primary choice, most likely because it’s a top facility, in general.

The website also shares numerous other locations across the U.S. as storage facility options, from Los Angeles to Texas. Many gold IRA investors like to keep their bullion closer to home, and Augusta Precious Metals has no problem with catering to this desire.

Augusta Precious Metals offers to help arrange a visit to the facility of your choosing to inspect your gold and silver bullion, which sits in allocated storage. Both of these points are, again, a major selling point for Augusta Precious Metals.

Customers who store their precious metals assets at one of Augusta’s partner storage facilities will be insured against covered losses by the facility that they selected. These facilities also typically secure an all-risk Lloyd’s of London insurance policy in order to protect customers’ assets against physical loss and/or damage. 

Request more information on Augusta’s website here.

Buybacks and returns

Augusta Precious Metals offers a one-week window to cancel a transaction on premium coins for first-time customers, which might extend further depending on certain laws in a local jurisdiction.

From there, Augusta Precious Metals can either buy back your metals generally or buy gold and silver you might own that you’d like to part with. These guarantees aren’t as straightforward, though, and tend to be evaluated on an individualized basis.

How to open a gold or silver IRA with Augusta Precious Metals?

Most companies that provide precious metals IRA services have a streamlined gold IRA process;  Augusta is no different, and pays special attention to making the process straightforward and painless. The process for opening a gold or silver IRA with Augusta Precious Metals is as follows:

1.      After contacting Augusta, you’ll be assigned to a representative who will share some background information on the company, will walk you through the process of opening an account, and answer any lingering questions;

2.      Thereafter, an Augusta representative will review the current state of the market and discuss how gold/silver was performing in the market;

3.      Once you confirm that you’d like to move forward with Augusta, the IRA team will assist you with completing an application and other required forms;

4.      After completing the initial process and funding the account, the IRA team will introduce you to another team that will assist with purchasing the precious metals that you want to hold in your portfolio and answer questions about the secure depository you want to use to hold your assets; and

5.      Finally, the Augusta Precious Metals team will call you once your order has been confirmed. 

The duration of this entire process can vary by company, the size of the gold IRA rollover, etc. While some companies allege that their process only takes a few minutes, others say that their process can take a few weeks. What does the process actually look like at Augusta? For the most part, customers find Augusta’s process to be very expedient.

It’s important to keep in mind that your IRA will be managed by the aforementioned custodians and your bullion stored by the depositories of your choosing. Therefore, Augusta Precious Metals acts as a kind of intermediary, with the representative you are assigned to being an unofficial portfolio manager that assists you year after year. Most people with standard 401(k) plans are not used to this level of interaction regarding their accounts!

Rollovers of existing accounts are generally preferred to self-funding, though both are an option. Considering Augusta Precious Metals’s lofty investment minimum and legal limitations, however, you’ll probably need a minimum of one existing or inactive IRA or employer-sponsored plan to get things going. From there, you’ll be asked to provide the necessary paperwork to the custodian and can expect most of the account affairs to be managed for you.

Visit AugustaPreciousMetals.com to learn more.

Augusta Precious Metals Reviews – From the Customers’ Perspective

Augusta Precious Metals’s online customer review profile is very good. Starting with the Better Business Bureau (BBB), Augusta received a 4.9/5 star rating based on 111 reviews.

Though the score indicates not every reviewer on the Better Business Bureau website gave them a 5-star rating, there are no complaints, which really speaks volumes. Augusta is also accredited with an A+, the highest possible score, and have been since 2015.

Next up is the Business Consumer Alliance (BCA), where Augusta has a 5 star rating based on 96 reviews. Again no complaints registered on the Business Consumer Alliance, and receives the top rating of AAA. Next, ConsumerAffairs gave Augusta a 4.9/5 star rating based on 129 reviews, the lowest being 3 stars.

Also, TrustLink gave Augusta 5 out of 5 stars based on 283 reviews. Even though it’s the top review and has a company response, Joe Montana’s review still doesn’t stand out that much on TrustLink, making him indeed look like just another customer, which is nice to see.

These are only the most generally relevant websites in this sector: you can look around for other websites, where it’s more likely than not that you’ll come to the same conclusion – customers trust Agusta with their gold IRA investments.

Augusta Precious Metals complaints are hard to come by, but given how invested they are with customer service, I’d suspect that all substantive complaints would be resolved expeditiously to the customer’s satisfaction.

Website customer reviews

In yet another feature of sorts that you won’t run into that often with precious metals dealers, Augusta’s website features numerous video reviews of satisfied Augusta’s customers. These reviews definitely give off a positive vibe and add even more legitimacy to the company.

The reviews on Augusta Precious Metals’s website also go a little more in-depth than a lot of written reviews you can find online, making them a helpful source of additional information for those contemplating opening a precious metals IRA with Augusta Precious Metals.

While Augusta Precious Metals’s customer profile is obviously diverse, you’ll get a feel of what your average precious metals retirement investor is about in case you’re totally new to the whole sector. In the end, it’s clear that customers recommend Augusta Precious Metals.

Pros and Cons of Augusta Precious Metals

Pros

·       Mainstay in the sector, demonstrating longevity by thriving in multiple market cycles;

·       Extensive educational resources that provide the tools to make informed decisions;

·      Lifetime support for customers with questions about the assets held in their accounts;

·       Outstanding customer service team that strives to outwork competitors in the precious metal-centric IRA sector.

·       It’s extremely easy to sign up and fund an account;

·       Very transparent fee structure pertaining to the products they offer; and

·        You may choose the depository of your choice. 

Cons

·        No platinum group metals in their inventory;

·        A fairly high investment minimum ($50,000) that some some may find to be a deal-breaker

Augusta Precious Metals Review – The Verdict

The first question to ask any prospective customer of Augusta Precious Metals is a pretty straightforward one: do you have $50,000 to rollover or transfer into the precious metals IRA?

This investment minimum is either the highest you’ll come across (or one of), and will put off what might be a sizable group of retirement investors. This is probably the largest concern that most will see with Augusta Precious Metals.

Augusta Precious Metals’s unwillingness to include platinum group metals in its inventory comes down to company preference, so I don’t fault them for that business decision. While Augusta Precious Metals can certainly source platinum and palladium for customers, if your goal is to invest primarily in these 2 distinct precious metals, you might want to look elsewhere.

If neither of the aforementioned points are an issue for you, Augusta Precious Metals is a solid choice for a precious metals broker. Great reviews, decent endorsements, excellent reputation, long standing in the industry, many accolades, online webinars… the list goes on and on.

The company’s experience, in particular, is very faith-instilling: you want some kind of reassurance that your IRA will be managed and managed well years or decades down the line, and Augusta Precious Metals can already offer that.

Another nice touch is that Augusta Precious Metals seems to have recently expanded its precious metal offerings. From my recollection, not too long ago, Augusta didn’t dabble in collectibles. These days, however, you can find quite a few numismatics pieces of both gold and silver variety, making them also appealing as a regular bullion vendor.

Final thoughts – Augusta Precious Metals review:

Whether you’re opening an IRA or ordering quality gold/silver bullion and/or physical metals outside of it, I have no reservations in recommending Augusta Precious Metals to anyone who isn’t unsettled by my “Cons” list, above.

Chances are, you won’t regret your decision to open an account with Augusta Precious Metals.