U.S. Gold Bureau Review

Precious metals serve as physical assets that contribute to balancing your portfolio. It is  typically recommended to allocate around 10-13% of your total investments to these metals. 

You can also adopt a more conservative method and physically own the gold and silver yourself. There’s also a third option for a more retirement-focused strategy; opting for a precious metals IRA — a popular choice despite market volatility throughout the years.

Regardless of your investing preference, you may think, "Who should I invest with?" When unsure, it is common to consider well-known precious metals dealers like the U.S. Gold Bureau.  But is the firm worth investing in just because it's popular? Does it cater to your specific investing needs? 

To discover the full spectrum of offerings from the United States Gold Bureau, I wrote the following review based on my personal experience with the company and my overall expertise in the precious metal industry. 

U.S. Gold Bureau: A Brief Overview

The key driver behind this achievement lies in the selection of Lone Star Tangible Assets — USGB’s parent company — by the State of Texas to establish and manage the Texas Bullion Depository. 

Notably, this is the country's only state-run precious metals storage facility, which adds to the company's and the storage facility's dependability. 

Furthermore, USGB is also a recognized Precious Metals Dealer by the State of Texas, the Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner, and the Department of Public Safety. 

What Makes the U.S. Gold Bureau Standout?

From my own investment experience and thorough research on the U.S. Gold Bureau — here are some of the company's standout features:

Product Categories 

Unlike most other investment partners, USBG offers a wide range of product selection, including an extensive selection of gold, platinum, silver, palladium, and rare bullion coins listed on USGB's website. The best part about going through all these investment options were the updated prices of all assets listed with each product. 

I found this feature quite helpful because it made it easy to find assets that fit my investment budget seamlessly.

Gold 

Currently, the company offers a wide variety of gold coins and bars, including the following: 

Gold Coins

Gold Bars

International Gold Coins

Pre-1933 Vintage Coins

Silver 

Like gold, the firm sells silver coins from the U.S. Mint and international mints such as the Royal Canadian Mint, Royal Mint, Perth Mint, and Austrian Mint. At the time of writing, their silver collection includes the following:

Silver Coins

Silver Rounds

Silver Bars

International Silver Coins

Platinum 

U.S. Gold Bureau also allows its investors to invest in a variety of platinum products, including: 

Platinum Coins

Platinum Bars

Palladium 

Compared to other precious metals, USGB's palladium collection is quite limited. At the time of writing, the U.S. Gold Bureau has listed the following palladium products on its website:

Besides the products mentioned above, the U.S. Gold Bureau also allows you to invest in a wide range of rare coins, on-sale products, gift items, coin storage boxes, and safes. Moreover, you can also invest in other products like metal verifiers, gold backs, testing apparatus kits, etc.

IRA Investment

Besides the wide range of precious metals and other investment products, USGB also allows you to open a precious metals IRA account. Of course, the focus on their website around retirement investment tips and guidance may make you think otherwise. 

However, communicating with their sales representative allowed me to understand their IRA investment service in depth. You can choose to transfer from a simple IRA to a precious metals IRA or open a new account, with a minimum investment of $35,000 for the latter.

In terms of storage services for precious metals IRA investments, USGB offers 10 of the best storage depositories in the United States. Most of these storage depositories are in Delaware, Texas, California, Utah, and Nevada. 

With the different location options, you can simply select a depository close to your residence, making it more convenient to visit and check your assets physically. 

Sell To U.S. Gold Bureau

Planning to liquidate your precious metals? U.S. Gold Bureau also buys your assets for you at their spot price. You must open a selling account on their website and follow the guidelines below to sell your precious metals to them. 

Select the Precious Metals

After logging into your seller's account, you can choose to sell items to the company from the listed products with the 'Sell to Us' option. USGB's Payouts Catalog allows you to find products through simple filters and check their spot price for an easier search. 

As per their website, you can sell your chosen assets at the spot price they are listed on. However, if the precious metals you wish to sell are not listed, you can still sell them by contacting the team to get a price for that specific product. 

Pack and Ship

After you have chosen the products you want to sell, the firm will verify your identification and instruct you on how to pack your item for delivery. Following that, your assets’ spot price will be secured, and a customized packing slip will be generated for your convenience.

You can then download, print, and apply it to the package before shipping it to the U.S. Gold Bureau's postal address. To sell the assets for the locked price, you must send them via FedEx within 48 hours of obtaining the packaging slip.

Get Paid

Once the company receives your precious metals, which takes around three business days on average, their team will immediately release your funds. This payment generally takes five business days to process, varying on the payment receiving option you select from the following:

Note: The transaction limit for selling precious metals to the U.S. Gold Bureau is $1,000 to $75,000. If the value of the assets you are liquidating is higher, you can contact the company's team for a quote.

How Do You Invest in Precious Metals IRA with U.S. Gold Bureau?

From my experience, investing in an IRA with the U.S. Gold Bureau is quite simple. All you have to do is:

And that's it! Once you have chosen a specific depository, the company will move your assets there, allowing you to track them through your USGB account or by physically visiting the depository.

U.S. Gold Bureau Fee

Regarding precious metals pricing, the U.S. Gold Bureau lists all its assets at the spot price you can purchase them at. 

Unfortunately, I noticed a significant gap in transparency on their website, particularly concerning additional pricing details.The only price that I could find on their website was the $25 shipping and insurance fee for selling assets to them. This price is deducted from the seller's payment.  

I contacted one of their sales representatives to learn more about the company's IRA investment service. Through our conversation, I found that the U.S. Gold Bureau also charges a: 

It is worth noting that the company also charges a storage fee based on your preferred storage depository for holding your assets.

U.S. Gold Bureau Rating on Consumer Review Sites

Pros and Cons

Final Verdict

From its wide product category to easy-selling solutions and a responsive customer support team, USGB stands out in more ways than one. But with these positive aspects, it's also important to consider the downsides. 

The absence of certain information like additional fees and management details is a notable factor that shouldn't be overlooked. Not to mention the alarming customer reviews on sites like BBB and TrustPilot about their sales team's pushy selling approach. 

In a nutshell, I suggest you consider both the positive and negative aspects of the U.S. Gold Bureau before deciding. This way, you can better determine whether the company caters to your specific investment needs and make more informed investment decisions. If you are looking for a better choice, take a look at the best gold IRA companies. My #1 choice is Goldco, which you can read about here.

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