American Hartford Gold 2025 Review: Pros, Cons and Alternatives

American Hartford Gold is a competitively priced precious metals dealer headquartered in Los Angeles. It offers a comprehensive selection of precious metal assets, such as silver, platinum, and palladium, in a cash account or gold IRA.

Business Insider’s personal finance team compared American Hartford Gold to the best gold IRAs and found it to be an industry leader for large account balances.

Pros and Cons

American Hartford Gold Pros

• $5,000 minimum to open a cash account
• Offers a buyback commitment with no liquidation fee
• Free consultations available
• Some fees can be waived with larger opening deposits
• BBB accredited business

American Hartford Gold Cons

• High $10,000 minimum required to open a gold IRA
• Fees not easily found on the website (call a representative or enter your contact information to receive more details)
• High fees may eat away at potential gains (includes application, storage, and/or annual fees)

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American Hartford Gold Overview

American Hartford Gold is one of the largest gold retailers in the US, offering a huge selection of investable gold, silver, platinum, and palladium coins and bars. Investors can invest in metals within their retirement accounts to diversify their holdings and protect their portfolios against inflation.

American Hartford Gold’s precious metal custodian is Equity Trust Company.

AHG mainly caters to individuals with 401(k)s, 403(b)s, 457 plans, Thrift Savings Plans, and traditional and Roth IRAs. In addition to self-directed IRAs, AHG offers a cash account that allows you to buy and sell physical gold and silver, with free shipping to your home.

The company provides a price match guarantee and a buy-back commitment with no fees. However, AHG’s fees aren’t transparent on its site. Instead, you have to call a representative.

American Hartford Gold is generally best for investors who want to convert significant portions of their retirement assets to gold or other metals because AHG may waive certain fees with larger opening deposits. It’s also a great platform for IRA rollovers, providing up to three years of free storage, maintenance, and insurance (transfers can take up to five business days).

A different precious metal retailer from our best gold IRA guide may be more suitable for investors who are on the fence about investing in gold, want to find more educational resources or prefer a more digital and automated experience.

Customer support is available over the phone or email Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. PST and Saturdays from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. PST.

Ways to Invest with American Hartford Gold

American Hartford Gold offers a handful of services to investors. The main offerings are its gold IRA and the ability to buy and sell individual gold and silver coins, bars, and other precious metals.

To open an American Hartford Gold IRA or cash account, fill out a form on the company’s website. After completing the required paperwork via DocuSign, the account is typically open within three to 10 business days. If you prefer, you can call the company directly instead.

After the account is opened and funded, you can select the metals that best fit your portfolio and risk profile. You can also schedule a meeting with a representative to discuss all the different metal offerings at no charge.

If you open an IRA, those metals will be physically shipped to a storage facility under your name. American Hartford Gold will ship the metals directly if you open a cash account.

American Hartford Gold IRA

For a $10,000 minimum, you can open a gold IRA with American Hartford Gold. Since you can’t hold the gold yourself, AHG stores are metals in an IRS-approved, insured depository of your choice. AHG recommends Brinks Global Service and Delaware Depository.

Precious metal coins have the value of the commodity itself in addition to their unique country of origin and design. Investing in gold and silver bars is more straightforward and cost-effective, as bars generally have lower premiums than coins. Some IRA-approved coins and bars include:

• Gold St Helena 1-oz Boston Tea Party Coin (also available in silver)
• Queen Elizabeth and Lion Gold Coin (also available in silver)
• Australia Wildlife 1/4 oz Gold Coin (also available in silver)
• Sunshine Minting 1 oz Gold Bar
• Silver Canadian Polar Bear & Cub Coin
• Austrian Philharmonic Silver Coins
• Silver 100 Oz Bar

During the account opening process, AHG will guide you through rolling over one of your existing retirement accounts to serve as the initial funding method. Plans eligible for rollover include a 401(k), 403(b), traditional IRA, Roth IRA, 457 plans, and Thrift Savings Plans. You can also fund the account with cash via wire transfer.

Similar to traditional IRAs with stocks and bonds, there is a limit to how much you can contribute in a tax year. The limit for 2024 and 2025 is $7,000 if you’re under age 50 and $8,000 if you’re 50 or older.

You can track the value of your precious metals online with real-time charts and regularly scheduled statements from an account administrator.

American Hartford Cash Account

A cash account with American Hartford Gold allows you to purchase physical gold or silver directly from the company without opening an IRA. This option may appeal to investors who are not interested in holding precious metals within their retirement accounts, prefer to store them independently (which is permitted with a cash account)f, or wish to buy more than the amount allowed with an IRA.

If you want to sell a portion or all of your holdings back to American Hartford Gold, you can call its service line to receive a price. Then, AHG will send you the proper packing and shipping materials.

American Hartford Gold Fees

American Hartford Gold charges a $230 application fee and $200 annual fee for storage, insurance, and custodian services. You will need a minimum of $5,000 to start investing with a cash account with American Hartford Gold and $10,000 to invest with your gold IRA.

The price of individual precious metal coins and bars varies. You must call AHG for pricing. 

American Hartford Gold Trustworthiness

American Hartford Gold has an A+ rating and is accredited by the Better Business Bureau.  

AHG is also a BBB-accredited business, which means it meets the BBB standards of trust regarding trustworthiness, integrity, transparency, and responsiveness.

American Hartford Gold is free of any major public scandals or lawsuits. 

American Hartford Alternatives

American Hartford Gold is one of many options for investing in precious metals. Let’s compare how AHG stacks up against some other major companies.

American Hartford Gold vs. Rosland Capital

Rosland Capital is a low-cost gold IRA company that offers a similar selection of precious metal coins and bars as American Hartford Gold.

Both companies offer gold IRAs and the ability to receive physical gold and other metals directly. Rosland Capital requires a minimum purchase of $2,000. Other than slightly different fees and minimums in some areas, investors may not see a big difference between Rosland and American Hartford.

However, Rosland Capital is slightly more transparent about its setup and maintenance fees than AHG. It charges a $50 one-time set-up fee, $100 annual maintenance fee, a storage fee of $100 or $150, and a $40 paper statement fee (if you choose to receive paper statements). It also has a smaller minimum purchase requirement. 

Rosland Capital Review

American Hartford Gold vs. Goldco

Goldco is a reputable and trusted gold and silver metal dealer offering a self-directed gold IRA and a silver IRA (a retirement account for primarily investing in silver coins and bars). Both gold dealers provide a robust selection of investable gold, silver, platinum, and palladium coins and bars.

Beginners may prefer Goldco’s “education first” approach to helping clients expand their knowledge of gold IRAs. You can even receive a free gold IRA kit with introductory information on IRAs, gold assets, and wealth protection. However, the minimum investment for Goldco is $25,000. 

American Hartford Gold is the cheaper option, as it only requires an initial deposit to open a cash account and $10,000 to open an IRA. Moreover, investors with larger account balances may prefer American Hartford Gold since certain fees can be waived or reduced after talking with an AHG representative. 

Goldco review

American Hartford Gold FAQs

Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed American Hartford Gold

We evaluated American Hartford Gold using Business Insider’s methodology for rating investing platforms. We examined account options, fees, customer service experience, and investment options and rated them on a scale of 1 to 5. Some investing platforms are better suited for more advanced investors, while others cater to newcomers. American Hartford Gold was examined with a focus on how it performed in each category.

Business Insider’s American Hartford Gold Rating