How to Store IRA Metal at the Texas Bullion Depository

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The path from an old 401(k) to Leander in plain terms

Storing IRA metal at the Texas Bullion Depository is a three-party workflow. You never touch the metal, and you never ship it yourself. Your self-directed IRA custodian holds legal title on behalf of the IRA. Your gold dealer is the one that ships bullion into Leander. The depository receives, verifies, and stores it under insurance.

The chain runs in a specific order. You open a self-directed IRA with a custodian that coordinates with the depository. You fund the account, usually through a rollover from a workplace plan or a direct transfer from another IRA. You then place a metal order with a gold dealer. The dealer ships the bullion to Leander with your IRA account information on the internal paperwork.

The depository verifies the shipment against the deposit record and confirms it with the custodian, not with you directly. Once accepted, the metal enters segregated storage under the IRA's title. From that point forward, storage, statements, and any future distribution or in-kind delivery all route through the custodian.

Who does what: dealer, custodian, and depository

Three parties handle three separate jobs. Understanding the split reduces the risk of a paperwork mistake that would slow the deposit or trigger a taxable event.

The custodian is the IRS-approved entity that holds the IRA. For a Texas Bullion Depository IRA today, that is Equity Trust Company, per the depository's own IRA storage page. The custodian opens the account, receives your rollover or transfer funds, cuts the payment for the metal purchase, and takes legal title on behalf of the IRA. The depository plans to add more custodian partners over time.

The gold dealer is your metal broker. You choose the specific coins or bars to buy, and the dealer sends the invoice to your custodian for payment. Once paid, the dealer ships the metal to the depository's fulfillment address in Leander. On the internal paperwork the dealer writes your Texas Bullion Depository account number so the vault staff can match the shipment to the correct IRA holding.

The depository is the vault. It receives the package, inventories and photographs each item, and confirms the deposit with your IRA custodian. Once accepted, the metal enters segregated storage. Insurance under the Lloyd's of London policy takes over the moment the deposit is accepted at Leander.

The IRS-eligible metals you can send to Leander

The IRA channel is limited to bullion the Internal Revenue Service allows in a retirement account under Internal Revenue Code Section 408(m). The federal fineness rules are the gate. Anything below the fineness threshold, or bought for a numismatic premium, does not belong in the IRA even if the depository can physically store it in a non-IRA account.

Gold must reach .995 fineness or higher. Silver must reach .999 or higher. Platinum and palladium must reach .9995 or higher. Bars must come from a NYMEX or COMEX approved refiner or an LBMA or national-mint accredited producer. The American Gold Eagle and the American Silver Eagle are IRA-eligible by statute even though the Gold Eagle sits at 22-karat fineness, roughly .9167.

Common IRA-eligible options include the American Gold Eagle, the American Gold Buffalo, the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf, the Austrian Gold Philharmonic, and one-ounce or larger LBMA-good-delivery gold bars from approved refiners. Off-limits items include rare or graded numismatic coins bought for collectible value, pre-1965 United States silver junk coins, and the South African Krugerrand, which sits at .9167 fineness and lacks a statutory carve-out.

Step by step: seven moves to route IRA metal to the depository

The workflow below tracks what you actually sign, transfer, and confirm. Read it once end to end before you start, because a step out of order can turn a rollover into a taxable distribution.

1. Open a self-directed IRA with a custodian that coordinates with the depository. Today the named partner on the depository's IRA storage page is Equity Trust Company. Ask the custodian to confirm in writing that they route to the Texas Bullion Depository.
2. Fund the account with a direct rollover or a direct trustee-to-trustee transfer. A direct transfer avoids the 60-day rule and the 20 percent mandatory federal withholding that hits an indirect 401(k) rollover. Your custodian handles the paperwork with the outgoing plan or IRA.
3. Choose your gold dealer and place the metal order. Tell the dealer this is an IRA purchase for a Texas Bullion Depository account. The dealer needs your custodian's payment instructions and your depository account number to complete the ticket.
4. Sign the purchase authorization and let the custodian pay the dealer. The custodian cuts the payment from IRA funds. You do not send the dealer money personally, and no distribution is triggered because the IRA never leaves the custodian's control.
5. The dealer ships the bullion to the depository fulfillment address in Leander. Packaging is nondescript, and the internal paperwork includes your depository account number. The depository recommends the dealer fully insure the replacement cost of the shipment on the way in.
6. The depository verifies the shipment and confirms it with the custodian. Staff open the package, inspect and photograph each item, then confirm the contents with your IRA custodian, not with you directly. IRA deposits follow this custodian-confirmation path by design.
7. The metal enters segregated storage and insurance takes over. From this point on, your holdings show inside the custodian's account statements. Storage, ongoing reporting, and any future in-kind distribution or sale all route through the custodian.

Fees on the IRA channel are negotiated, not published

The depository maintains a public tiered fee schedule on its pricing page. That schedule applies to non-IRA accounts only. The depository states plainly that storage fees for IRA assets are negotiated between the custodian, the gold dealer, and the depository contractor. In practice, the number you see on your custodian statement can differ from the published rate.

You still want to know the non-IRA schedule, because it sets the anchor for what a reasonable segregated rate looks like. The chart below shows the current published tiers by average daily value on non-IRA accounts. Use it to gauge whether your IRA quote is close to those numbers or noticeably above them, then ask your custodian to explain the delta.

Beyond storage, you should ask about custodian administration fees, wire fees, dealer markup on the metal at purchase, and any shipping and handling on future outbound movements. Storage is one line inside the total cost of holding bullion in an IRA. The setup fee side is thin at the depository itself: no account setup fee and no withdrawal fee appear on the non-IRA schedule.

Segregated storage, insurance, and what your paperwork should say

IRA storage at Leander is segregated. Segregated means the specific bars and coins purchased for your IRA are tagged to your account and returned to you piece for piece on a future distribution. There is no commingling with other depositors, and no equivalent-metal substitution on withdrawal. The depository states this plainly on its IRA storage page.

Insurance is underwritten on the Lloyd's of London market. Coverage runs on daily market-value updates and applies to theft, fire, flood, and natural disasters. Coverage begins the moment the depository accepts the deposit at Leander. Transit insurance from the dealer into the depository is a separate matter and is usually included in the dealer's shipping quote.

Two paperwork lines are worth checking before the first shipment. First, the metal must be titled to the IRA custodian for the benefit of your IRA, not to you personally. Second, the depository account number must appear inside the shipping paperwork so the vault can match the package to the correct IRA holding. A mismatch here can slow the deposit or send it back.

Estimate the long-term drag from recurring storage fees

Storage is one line inside the recurring cost of holding bullion in an IRA. Custodian fees, wire fees, and dealer markup at purchase also matter. The calculator below models the drag from recurring fees over your holding period. It is a planning tool, not personalized advice, and dealer markup at purchase is separate from what the tool models.

Worked example: a Houston reader routes a partial rollover to Leander

The Texas no-income-tax angle and what it does not do

Texas does not levy a state personal income tax. That prohibition sits in Article 8, Section 24 of the Texas Constitution, which requires a statewide vote to authorize any such tax. For a Texas resident, distributions from a traditional IRA are taxed at the federal level only. Roth IRA qualified distributions are federal-tax-free and, in Texas, state-tax-free by default.

The exemption follows the resident, not the vault. A Texas resident whose gold IRA sits at a Delaware depository still pays federal tax only on distributions. A resident of a high-tax state whose gold IRA sits at Leander still pays that state's income tax. Where the metal sleeps at night does not change the state tax outcome.

Real reasons to store IRA metal inside Texas are different and worth naming plainly. State agency oversight through the Comptroller of Public Accounts is one. Physical proximity to Leander for family and heirs is another, especially for readers in the Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas corridors. Support for a state institution is a third. None of these are tax reasons, and none require you to be a Texas resident to matter.

When storing IRA metal at Leander is not the right choice

Frequently asked questions

By the Harry’s Coins Editorial team. Last reviewed June 2026.