IRA-Eligible Silver: The Purity Rules, the Depositories, and What Actually Counts

This article reflects IRS rules and depository practices as of September 2026. Verify current custodian and depository details with your specific custodian before making any purchase or storage decision. Nothing in this article is tax or investment advice for your specific situation.

The pitch for a silver IRA is straightforward: hold physical silver inside a retirement account, defer or eliminate the tax on the gains, and diversify away from paper assets. The pitch elides a set of rules that decide whether the silver you buy actually qualifies — and getting those rules wrong turns a retirement account into a taxable distribution, frequently with a 10% penalty on top.

This piece covers what IRC § 408(m) requires for silver in a self-directed IRA, what coins and bars qualify, why the depositories matter, and the case that made “just keep it at home” a legally settled bad idea.

The statutory framework: IRC § 408(m)

Section 408(m) of the Internal Revenue Code is the operative rule. It defines “collectibles” — assets that generally cannot be held in an IRA — and carves out precious metals meeting specific standards. The section was amended by the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 to permit physical precious metals in IRAs for the first time.

For silver specifically, the rule is a minimum fineness of .999 (99.9% pure silver). Silver bars, rounds, and coins that meet this standard qualify. Silver that does not — sterling silver at .925, junk silver coins with 90% silver content, most numismatic coins with historical rather than metal-content value — does not qualify and cannot be held in the IRA.

The general rule for the four permitted metals under § 408(m)(3):

• Gold: minimum .995 fineness
• Silver: minimum .999 fineness
• Platinum: minimum .9995 fineness
• Palladium: minimum .9995 fineness

American Gold Eagles are a named statutory exception — permitted despite their .9167 fineness because the statute specifically authorizes them. American Silver Eagles meet the .999 standard on their own and qualify without exception.

Silver coins and bars that qualify

The IRA-eligible silver universe in 2026 typically includes:

Coins:

• American Silver Eagle (1 oz, .999)
• Canadian Silver Maple Leaf (1 oz, .9999)
• Austrian Silver Philharmonic (1 oz, .999)
• Australian Silver Kangaroo, Kookaburra, and Koala (varying sizes, .999)
• British Silver Britannia (1 oz, .999 since 2013)
• Mexican Silver Libertad (varying sizes, .999)

Bars and rounds:

• Silver bars from LBMA-approved refiners at .999 minimum fineness, common sizes include 1 oz, 5 oz, 10 oz, 100 oz, and 1000 oz
• Silver rounds from approved refiners at .999+

What does not qualify:

• Junk silver (pre-1965 US 90% silver coins, half dollars, dimes, quarters)
• Numismatic and semi-numismatic coins whose value derives from collectibility rather than silver content
• Sterling silver (.925) items
• Silver-plated items
• Rare or graded coins where the premium is driven by condition rather than metal
• Any coin your custodian's approved products list does not include

The custodian's approved-products list is where the practical eligibility question gets resolved. Even for a coin or bar that meets the statutory purity standard, the custodian has to be willing to hold it. Most custodians publish a list; check the list before you buy, not after.

The depository requirement

The requirement that gets missed most often is not the purity standard. It is the storage rule. Under IRC § 408(m) and IRS Publication 590-B, all physical metals held inside a self-directed IRA must be stored at a qualified depository. Not at home. Not in a safe deposit box. Not with the account holder directly. Not “in an LLC I formed for the IRA that has a home safe.”

That last variant — the “checkbook control” or “IRA-owned LLC” structure with home storage of the metals — was tested and rejected in McNulty v. Commissioner (2021). The Tax Court held that a taxpayer's home-stored gold coins held through an LLC constituted a taxable distribution. Penalties in the case exceeded $300,000. The reasoning is durable: the depository requirement exists to prevent self-dealing and to preserve the IRS's ability to verify the assets, and structuring around it through an LLC does not solve the underlying problem.

The penalty for violating the depository rule is severe and immediate. The entire fair market value of the IRA becomes ordinary income in the year of the violation, plus a 10% early withdrawal penalty if you are under age 59½. For a $200,000 silver IRA, that is $200,000 of taxable income in one tax year, plus potentially a $20,000 penalty.

The depositories that custodians actually use

Five depositories that IRA custodians commonly use in 2026:

Delaware Depository Service Company (Wilmington, DE). One of the oldest and largest precious metals depositories serving the IRA market. Offers both segregated and commingled storage. Reported to carry Lloyd's of London coverage. Sources also list a second facility in Boulder City, NV.

Brinks Global Services. Vault locations used for IRA metals include Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, and New York. Class III vault facilities, armed transport, segregated storage available. International network for account holders with multi-jurisdictional needs.

International Depository Services (IDS). Vault locations in New Castle, DE; Dallas, TX; and Mississauga, Ontario. Competitive flat-rate storage. Both segregated and commingled options.

CNT Depository (Bridgewater, MA). Established depository serving both IRA and non-IRA precious metals storage.

Texas Bullion Depository (Leander, TX). State of Texas depository administered by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, with IRA storage available through the depository. Of interest to account holders who prefer a state-administered custody arrangement.

Combined custodian and storage fees typically range from $175 to $500 per year depending on storage type (segregated vs. commingled), metal value, and the specific custodian's fee schedule.

Segregated vs. commingled storage

Two storage structures are available at most custodian-approved depositories:

Segregated (allocated) storage. Your specific coins and bars are stored separately from other investors' metals, typically in a labeled container or vault section. When you take a distribution, you receive the exact items you purchased. Segregated storage generally costs $150 to $300 per year more than commingled and provides the highest level of accountability and transparency. IRS Form 5498 reports the fair market value of segregated holdings annually.

Commingled (unallocated) storage. Your metals are pooled with other investors' equivalent metals at lower cost. When you take a distribution, you receive metals of equivalent type and purity, not the specific items you originally purchased. Commingled storage typically costs 20% to 40% less annually than segregated.

The choice matters more for larger holdings and for account holders who care about specific coin dates or serial numbers. For a straightforward accumulation of American Silver Eagles or LBMA-approved bars, commingled storage is a reasonable cost-effective choice. For a portfolio of numismatic-adjacent bullion coins (which face IRA eligibility questions in the first place), segregated makes more sense if you can hold those coins in the IRA at all.

The custodian: your legal administrator

A precious metals IRA custodian is not the depository. The custodian is a qualified non-bank trustee under IRC § 408(a)(2) who administers the account: executes purchase orders, maintains IRS-required transaction records, files annual Fair Market Value reports on Form 5498, coordinates insured delivery to the depository, and processes distributions.

The custodian does not typically sell metals. Instead, the custodian works with a precious metals dealer of the account holder's choice to acquire IRA-eligible bullion and arranges direct delivery to a depository. The three parties in a typical arrangement — dealer, custodian, depository — are separate entities, each with their own fees.

Custodian fee structures vary. Common models include:

• Flat annual fee (often $75 to $300)
• Asset-based fee (percentage of holdings, common range 0.5% to 1.0%)
• Transaction-based fee (per purchase or sale)

For a growing silver portfolio, a flat annual fee frequently becomes more cost-effective than an asset-based fee as the account grows. Ask about the fee structure before opening the account, not at the first renewal.

The 2026 contribution and rollover picture

For 2026, the standard IRA contribution limit is $7,500, plus a $1,000 catch-up contribution for account holders age 50 and over. Rollovers do not count toward the contribution limit — a rollover from a 401(k) or another IRA can move any amount into the self-directed precious metals IRA without affecting the annual cap.

The rollover path is how most substantial silver IRAs get funded. A one-time rollover from an existing retirement account (traditional IRA, 401(k) from a former employer, TSP, etc.) can move a meaningful position into the precious metals account without the multi-year accumulation the contribution limits would otherwise require. The rollover mechanics require attention — a trustee-to-trustee transfer avoids the 60-day distribution rule that catches account holders who take the distribution personally and try to redeposit it themselves.

What a silver IRA is not for

A silver IRA works for a specific purpose: holding physical silver in a tax-advantaged retirement structure. It is not a good fit for several adjacent purposes:

Short-term trading. The transaction friction (custodian coordination, depository delivery, dealer spreads) makes frequent buying and selling expensive. For active trading of silver exposure, silver ETFs or futures held in a regular brokerage IRA are simpler.

Physical access. You cannot go to the depository and pick up your silver on demand. You can take an in-kind distribution (which becomes a taxable event and ends the IRA treatment), but you cannot use the silver.

Small allocations. Custodian and depository fees have a fixed component. For a silver position under about $10,000, the fees consume a meaningful share of returns. Larger positions absorb the fees better.

Speculation on premiums. Numismatic or semi-numismatic coins where much of the value is in the collectible premium generally cannot be held in the IRA at all. The IRA structure is for silver as metal, not silver as collectible.

The practical checklist before you open the account

Before opening a self-directed silver IRA, verify:

1. The custodian is a qualified non-bank trustee approved by the IRS. Most legitimate custodians publish their IRS approval letter.
2. The depository is on the custodian's approved-depository list and meets the qualified-depository requirements.
3. The dealer you plan to buy from has an established relationship with the custodian, or is willing to work with them.
4. The specific coins or bars you plan to buy are on the custodian's approved-products list. Verify this before you send funds, not after.
5. The fee structure for the custodian and depository is clear in writing.
6. The rollover path for any transferring funds is set up as trustee-to-trustee, not as a distribution to you.

The market has both legitimate custodians and outfits that push high-premium proprietary coins with markups that eat several years of returns. The screen for the latter: any dealer or custodian that emphasizes rare, exclusive, or “IRA-approved government coins” at prices well above spot for their metal content is almost certainly selling you the wrong product.

This article is general information only, not investment or financial advice. Precious metals prices fluctuate, and IRA rules, custodian requirements, and depository practices vary, so confirm the details with your custodian or a tax professional before buying or storing metals in an IRA. Browse our dealer directory to compare pricing across dealers in your area.