American Bullion Review

American Bullion in one paragraph

American Bullion, Inc. is a California-based precious metals dealer that pairs a gold IRA rollover product with a direct bullion purchase channel. The public About page states the company was founded in 2009 by two veteran precious metals traders (source: americanbullion.com/about/, checked July 2026). The registered office listed on the Contact page is 12301 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 305, Los Angeles, CA 90025.

The consumer-facing brand is American Bullion. The About copy positions the company as a specialist in adding IRS-approved gold, silver, platinum, and palladium to an existing IRA. It also states that the firm and its agents are not registered as financial advisors or tax advisors, and it prints a past-performance disclaimer at the bottom of the site.

Public phone line is 1-800-465-3472, staffed 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM Pacific time on weekdays. The trade email published on the Contact page is info@americanbullion.com. These identity points are the ones a reader in Texas can verify in one browser session before any further step.

The fees American Bullion prints on its own website

This is where American Bullion stands out from most gold IRA dealers we review. A gold IRA has four cost lines a reader should compare: a set-up fee at the paired custodian, an annual custodian maintenance fee, an annual depository storage fee, and a dealer spread on each coin or bar bought. American Bullion prints specific dollar amounts on two of those lines for two different IRA product tiers.

The FAQ page describes a Precious Metals IRA product carrying a 25 dollar set-up fee and a 160 dollar annual account fee. It also describes a Basic IRA product carrying no set-up fee and a 275 dollar annual account fee. Both tiers include an asterisk that reads: annual account fees may vary if the amount invested is above 100,000 dollars or if the metals are stored in a segregated storage facility (source: americanbullion.com/faq/, checked July 2026).

Two things belong in the same paragraph. Publishing a schedule at all is a positive versus dealers who quote fees only by phone. The schedule is also not the entire story. Dealer spread on each coin or bar is not printed, and a Texas reader should ask for that number in writing before authorizing a purchase.

The home-storage IRA claim and why it matters

American Bullion runs a dedicated page at americanbullion.com/home-storage/ titled Home Storage Gold IRA. The page frames the arrangement as legal when certain rules are observed, using an LLC-owned checkbook IRA structure. The company's own copy states any information stating home-storage IRAs are illegal misleads people (source: americanbullion.com/home-storage/, checked July 2026).

The Internal Revenue Service position is materially different. IRS Publication 590-A on IRA contributions and the trustee rule under IRC 408(a)(2) require that IRA assets be held by a bank, an insured credit union, a state-chartered trust company, or an approved non-bank trustee. In 2021 the United States Tax Court ruled in McNulty v. Commissioner, 157 T.C. No. 10, that gold coins held in personal possession by an IRA owner counted as a taxable distribution.

The gap between the company's framing and the IRS and Tax Court position matters for a Texas reader. If a specialist on the phone pitches a home-storage or checkbook-LLC structure, a reader should ask in writing whether the company will indemnify tax and penalty exposure that would follow a McNulty-style ruling on their own return. Absent that written indemnity, the safer read is that home-storage IRAs remain a live tax risk.

Custodian relationship and where the metal actually sits

Under IRC 408(a)(2), an IRA cannot be self-custodied by the account owner. The metal in a properly structured gold IRA must be held by an approved trustee at an approved depository. American Bullion's Gold IRA page states the company uses IRS-approved Delaware Depository for storage and describes the site as carrying a 1 billion dollar all-risk insurance policy through Lloyd's of London (source: americanbullion.com/gold-ira/, checked July 2026).

Delaware Depository is a real, IRS-approved private depository located in Wilmington, Delaware. It is one of the two most commonly used vault sites in the retail gold IRA industry, along with International Depository Services. Choosing this depository is not, by itself, a red flag. What it does mean is that a Texas reader's metal will physically sit in Wilmington, Delaware, not in Texas.

The FAQ page also names SDIRA Services in the context of the Basic IRA product. That is a self-directed IRA administration model rather than a direct custodian chartered as a trust bank. A reader should ask which specific chartered custodian will hold the account, request the current custodian agreement in writing, and confirm the trustee status before signing anything.

How American Bullion serves Texas investors

Nothing on the public American Bullion site indicates a Texas office. The Contact page lists a single California office at 12301 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 305, Los Angeles, CA 90025, staffed weekdays on Pacific time. A search of the site for "Texas" returns only editorial blog posts, not a physical presence or a state-specific IRA product.

Storage is the Texas-specific question that changes the answer for many readers. The Texas Bullion Depository, a state-chartered vault operated for Texas by Lone Star Tangible Assets in Leander, was authorized by House Bill 483 in 2015 and opened in 2018. American Bullion is not listed among the Texas Bullion Depository's public depositor partners, and the American Bullion site does not offer the Texas Bullion Depository as a storage option (checked July 2026).

For a Texas reader, that means the metal on file will ship to Wilmington, Delaware and be held there. Texas has no state income tax, per the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, so the tax question inside an IRA turns on federal treatment alone. Physical location of the metal outside Texas does not affect that federal treatment, but it does mean the reader will not benefit from Texas state-charter storage.

If in-state storage matters for personal reasons, this is the wedge for the American Bullion decision. If it does not, the Delaware Depository site is genuine, insured, and IRS-approved. Either way, ask in writing whether the paired custodian offers a Texas storage venue at all before authorizing the account opening.

The trust record the company cites

American Bullion's Trust page cites several third-party trust signals. It claims Better Business Bureau accreditation with an A+ rating. It cites a Trustpilot rating of 4.7 out of 5 based on 70 reviews. It also mentions TrustLink and the National Ethics Association (source: americanbullion.com/trust/, checked July 2026).

These are self-reports on the company's own page. A reader should treat them as claims to verify rather than as verified data. The Better Business Bureau profile for the company sits under the Los Angeles regional bureau.

Open bbb.org and search for American Bullion in Los Angeles. On the profile, confirm the current rating letter and the accreditation date. Then note the closed complaint count for the past three years and the past twelve months.

Trustpilot review counts also move over time. Seventy reviews is a modest sample versus dealers who publish thousands of reviews on the same platform. It is not a disqualifier on its own; it is a data point a reader should confirm on the Trustpilot page itself for the current count and star average.

On the regulator side, no United States Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement action against American Bullion, Inc. surfaced in a public EDGAR search under the company name. No Commodity Futures Trading Commission press release naming the company was located in a keyword search of cftc.gov (both checked July 2026). Absence of a hit is not a clean bill of health; it is what a keyword search returned on the date shown.

How to verify American Bullion before you sign

The steps below match the vetting checklist we apply to every gold IRA dealer we cover. Each step is a browser action or a written request a Texas reader can complete in an afternoon, before any wire is authorized.

1. Open bbb.org, search for American Bullion Inc in Los Angeles, and note the current rating letter, accreditation date, and complaint counts in the past three years and past twelve months. Compare against what the company's own Trust page states.
2. Open americanbullion.com/faq/ and confirm the printed fee schedule matches what a phone specialist quotes. If the phone number differs from the FAQ, ask which fee is correct and request it in writing before any account opens.
3. Ask whether the metal will be stored at Delaware Depository or another site, and whether segregated storage is available for your account size. Get the annual segregated storage fee in writing.
4. Confirm the specific chartered custodian on your account. Ask for the current custodian agreement, and check that the trustee is chartered under IRC 408(a)(2) as a bank, insured credit union, state-chartered trust company, or IRS-approved non-bank trustee.
5. Ask if American Bullion offers Texas Bullion Depository storage as an option. If yes, request the Texas fee schedule in writing. If no, decide whether the Delaware-only default fits your preference.
6. If a specialist pitches a home-storage IRA or checkbook-LLC structure, ask in writing whether the company indemnifies tax and penalty exposure under the McNulty v. Commissioner precedent. Walk away if the answer is no.

Worked example: what a 50,000 dollar rollover costs by year five

Balanced pros and cons

When American Bullion is a bad idea for you

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Harry's Coins Editorial. Last reviewed July 2026.

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