
United States Precious Metal Review Summary
In this United States Precious Metals review, we researched everything about US Precious Metals - from pros, cons, pricing, fees, custodians, and more - so you don’t have to. Are they the best gold IRA company and how do they stack up against their competitors? Despite being in business for over 20 years, there are barely any United States Precious Metals reviews. We gave them 3 out of 5 stars.
Team
Pricing
SUPPORT
Security
Selection
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It took us a while just to figure out that US Precious Metals offer a gold IRA aside from their over-the-counter bullion products.
The website has practically no information, which is strange for a well-standing business and especially one that has operated for decades.
Still, we'll try to cover all the details we have found on United States Precious Metals and go over their products to give you an idea of what you might expect.
Key points from our review:
- Primarily a bullion dealer whose IRA offering appears secondary at best
- Wide selection of physical precious metals, yet the product clarity is mixed with a lack of company transparency
- A decent, but not spectacular buyback program
Important Warning - Before you read this review:
Buying gold for your retirement is a serious decision that should not be undertaken lightly - at stake is nothing less than your financial security and scams are common in this space. Always discuss investment decisions with your financial advisor and family members before making decision and make sure you are working with a reputable gold dealer.
Take a look at our top rated gold IRA firm here, or get educated on common gold IRA dealer lies and scams here.
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United States Precious Metals Pros and Cons
Pros
Cons
What Is US Precious Metals?

Like a good part of the company, its history mostly comes up as a blank. As the Better Business Bureau tells us, they opened their doors in 2001, making their tenure in the precious metals sector longer than 20 years. It's longer than most competitors and, given their good rating on the website, certainly instills faith.
The BBB website also tells us that the company is owned by one Nathan Camp. Franky, we shouldn't rely on the BBB to get this information. Most companies have a fairly laid-out background on their website, which United States Precious Metals lacks.
Their "About" section is almost bizarrely vague and low on detail for a company this long in the business. Interestingly enough, while most competitors avoid saying they offer investment advice, United States Precious Metals doesn't mind doing this. They go on to say that their specialists can instruct you when it comes to every aspect of precious metals investment.
Aside from revealing that the company operates out of Texas, that's seemingly all the information you're going to get. Some sources say they have two more offices, but not a brick-and-mortar facility that one can visit. In short, we'd definitely like to see a little more company background from a name that's this notable.
United States Precious Metals Products

In order to find out that United States Precious Metals precious metals IRA, you'll have to do some digging. Most gold IRA companies have this up-front and easily-visible on their website.
In the case of United States Precious Metals, their gold IRA offering is pretty much concealed under "IRA-eligible". There, you're instructed that some physical precious metals can make it into an IRA and, like we said, given as bare-bones of a description of their process as you can get.
No custodian or storage facilities are listed, which is highly uncommon. We'd imagine that the Texas Precious Metals Depository comes into play in the case of the latter, but again, having to do guesswork here is pretty strange.
The company definitely doesn't mind focusing on overall precious metals dealership, with their products listed in each of the four precious metal categories along with a BestSeller one. Despite seemingly offering precious metal IRAs, they have prices listed on all of their products, which is a positive addition that even some straightforward precious metal dealers lack.
Their product selection is extremely varied, and they mention that every graded coin they sell got its mark from either the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) or the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC).
Best Sellers

The BestSeller category, or the most frequently sold coins, is split into four subcategories: Vault Picks, New Issues, Deals and Back in Stock. A little strange, since all of these products are well-suited for a vault.
Vault Picks include things like a standard issue American Eagle and some "junk silver" coins. New Issues, curiously enough, include gold and silver coins seemingly with mintages dating back to 1986. The Deals category has most of the aforementioned products, so it's presumably products on which they charge the least amount of premium over.
The same goes for their Back in Stock category. As one glosses over these four and notices the same products, it feels as if they could have been grouped together in a more seamless manner. In what will become a recurring theme on the website, all of the products are listed with their prices. Again, this is a huge plus when so many companies sell precious metals without any kind of product transparency.
Gold

There is a bit of confusing categorization starting here and moving onwards to the other section. The Gold section is exceptionally well laid-out, listing numerous bullion and proof modern issue gold coins in multiple denominations, 19th century gold coins and gold bars. It even lets you select the bars based on the country or mint of issuance.
The primary problem is that most of the products are absent. United States Precious Metals appears to suffer from constant inventory depletion, which would explain their Back in Stock section. It can therefore be difficult to get an idea of what's available in the first place, as most categories are empty.
In general, bullion and proof American Eagles and Buffalos appear to be available. Bars, as well as rounds, seem entirely absent. We'd much rather see them place an "Out of Stock" on the product listing than remove it altogether, leaving an empty category that has us scratching our heads.
Silver

American Eagles and America the Beautiful 1oz coins have their individual listing, as do a few "junk silver" coins and bars from multiple mints. Unfortunately, all of the products aside from non-IRA eligible silver coins and 2 varieties of American Eagles appear to be missing from the inventory.
This includes Credit Suisse, Pampa Suisse and Valcambi silver bars, along with undefined products from four mints: the Royal Canadian Mint, the Perth Mint, the Royal Mint in the U.K. and the Mexican Mint.
Letting customers choose products based on the country of issuance only to find the inventory empty is definitely a bit of a letdown and will leave some visitors to the website wanting.
Platinum
Based on what's listed in terms of categories, United States Precious Metals offers four denominations of American Platinum Eagle coins, along with bars from three refineries.
This would be an excellent choice if there were any products available. As it stands now, the platinum coins and bars category is completely empty, having been depleted for the time being. If platinum and palladiums are your thing, you might want to check out Provident.
Palladium
Aside from the U.S. Mint's American Palladium Eagle, United States Precious Metals seems to have also offered the Canadian Maple Leaf palladium coins and three different brands of palladium bars in the past.
In the present, all of these categories are empty. We're left to wonder when they might be back in stock, what their prices were and so on. The more one browses through the company's products, the more one sees just how few products are actually available compared to the detailed listings they provide.
United States Precious Metal Reviews From Around The Web
For a company that's been in business for over 20 years, we'd like to see a little more when it comes to customer feedback. Competitors have hundreds or even thousands of reviews on websites.
In the case of United States Precious Metals, the primary consumer watchdog profile they have is on the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
Although the company's website claims that they have an AAA+ rating on the website, they in reality have an A+, which is nonetheless the highest mark. Perhaps they've confused it with the Business Consumer Alliance, a watchdog website where their profile is entirely absent. On BBB, we can see a 5/5 star rating based on 1 review, which has good things to say about the company.
The 2 closed complaints they have in the past 3 years appear to have been mostly the result of a misunderstanding, as they haven't affected their rating. ConsumerAffairs is likewise missing the company's profile.
The only other relevant website with their reviews we've come across is TrustPilot, which has a 3.7 rating based on 1 review, even though that review is a 5-star one. How that happened is a mystery we'll leave for you to figure out.
Best Alternatives of United States Precious Metals
There's a ton of great alternatives to US Precious Metals, and in this section we'll cover our favorite and why we think they're the best for gold IRAs.
It really all comes down to what you're looking for. Let me explain:
If you're looking for gold and silver ETFs, stocks, etc., you should checkout a company like Fidelity. If you're looking for a low minimum investment, check out Birch. Amazing customer service? Go with American Hartford.

# 1 - Augusta Precious Metals (Most Trusted)
Augusta Precious Metals is our top gold IRA company recommendation. They have a great reputation, are great for high networth individuals, and have been around since 2012. They are almost completely focused on precious metals as their name suggests. Augusta Precious Metals is extremely well rated by both the Better Business Bureau as well as the Business Consumer Alliance.
We gave Augusta Precious Metals 5 Stars based on a number of factors, including: Team, Pricing, Support, Security, and Selection.
Pros
Cons

# 2 - American Hartford Gold (Best Customer Service)
American Hartford Gold is easily one of the most trustworthy gold IRA dealers, with near pristine ratings and reviews online, great product inventory, and super a super helpful team with great customer service. It's obvious they care about their customers. On the other hand, if you're looking for platinum or palladium, you're out of luck. We gave AHG 5 out of 5 stars.
We gave American Hartford 5 Stars based on a number of factors, including: Team, Pricing, Support, Security, and Selection.
Pros
Cons

# 3 - Birch Gold Group (Best Choice For New Investors)
Birch Gold Group is a company with almost two decades of history. They’re gold IRA specialists with a great reputation that charges low fees and has an excellent as well as easy buyback program. Birch Gold Group is recommended for new investors since they’re easy and efficient to work with, have low fees and you can start a gold IRA with them for as low as $10,000.
We gave Augusta Precious Metals 4.5 Stars based on a number of factors, including: Team, Pricing, Support, Security, and Selection.
Pros
Cons

# 4 - Lear Capital (Trusted and Established)
Lear Capital is one of the oldest names in the gold IRA industry. Founded in 1997, Lear has made a name for itself for many years as a trusted provider with a solid reputation in customer support and account management. We recommend them for all your gold IRA needs, but if you're looking for platinum or palladiums, look elsewhere.
We gave Lear Capital 4.5 Stars based on a number of factors, including: Team, Pricing, Support, Security, and Selection.
Pros
Cons
Now let's cover Augusta Precious Metals and look at why we think they're the best all around precious metals investment firm.
Why Augusta Precious Metals is our preferred choice
Just comparing the two companies' reviews will quickly tell you why we'd have a lot more peace of mind working with Augusta Precious Metals.
Augusta has hundreds and hundreds of reviews on consumer watchdog websites, all positive.
It has a detailed company background and plenty of information about the company, letting you know who you're doing business with. It's highly dedicated to customer education, with online courses held by their co-founder detailing the benefits of owning physical gold as just one example. These are available even to non-customers who might want to open a gold or silver IRA with Augusta.
On that subject, while we've had to do some digging to find out that United States Precious Metals offers gold IRAs, they're very much what Augusta revolves around. For the latter, acting as gold dealers is mostly secondary as they place a far greater emphasis on helping you manage your retirement investments.
Even though Augusta doesn't list product prices, they tell you what the markup is and are transparent about custody, storage and much more. And despite United States Precious Metals having as many categories as it does, the options available to those looking to purchase metals from Augusta are greater.
United States Precious Metals FAQs
Clear and competitive pricing are some of the main reasons that come to mind. It's highly unusual to see product prices on things like 19th and 20th century coins, but United States Precious Metals has them laid out nonetheless. Likewise, the reviewers we've managed to come across have had good things to say about how the company handles business. All of the graded coins they sell are also graded by top numismatics entities, which is another bonus.
There is a bit of strangeness when it comes to United States Precious Metals' buyback, or rather, their Money Back Guarantee. The website tells you that they offer a 30-day buyback, but when you navigate to that part of the website, it goes on to say that the buyback is available for a week. There also appears to be fairly stringent criteria that the customer needs to fulfill: in other words, buyback requests seem to be judged individually instead of being all-inclusive. In the absence of negative BBB reviews, however, we'd say that this program works well enough.
One part of the website says that they do, but the buyback section says that the Money Back Guarantee doesn't cover shipping costs. Whether this translates only to the coins that are shipped back to the company, or whether only some of their orders are eligible for free shipping, is left to the customer's guess. We'd say that most, if not all of their orders come with free shipping, but that you'll have to cover the returns.
Despite the considerable amount of digging you'll have to do to find this out, it appears that United States Precious Metals does offer a gold IRA. Based on the product choices, this IRA can presumably also hold other precious metals. It really makes us wonder why this product doesn't have its own section on the website but is rather listed in "IRA-eligible" bullion as an afterthought. Nonetheless, the company swears that opening a precious metals IRA with them is a quick and smooth process.
United States Precious Metals Review - Verdict

We mentioned peace of mind before, and it's a factor that can't be overstated. When opening a retirement account, you want to work with a company that's as up-front as possible. Clear company background, extensive reviews, some kind of manifesto that tells you more about the people that'll be managing your account.
United States Precious Metals has definitely neglected this part of precious metals dealership, which is why we've continuously made Augusta our top choice of IRA providers. Not only is no part of the company unclear, but their dedication to what they're doing can be felt in every part of their approach.
However, if you like the products that are available, which seem few and far in-between these days, we see no reason why you shouldn't go with United States Precious Metals.
The available coins are popular, in good condition and have competitive prices listed. On the other hand, if you're aiming to open a gold IRA where you fully expect the company to place you first and guide your hand, along with offering a lifetime support guarantee, you might want to check your other options.
The seemingly total absence of a fee structure pertaining to their IRAs is just one of the many things that has United States Precious Metals trailing behind the competition by some margin. Close to no customer education and a fairly negligible company profile are another.
Overall, we'd say they make for a good choice for a "Vault Pick" bullion vendor, but a less than ideal one for those wanting a fully-supported retirement account.