A bullion holdings review works from the documents you already have: the invoice from the day you bought, the product description, the custodian fee schedule, and any buyback quote you’ve received. Those documents routinely surface a gap between what you paid and what a dealer will return to you, a gap that surprises most holders once the arithmetic is laid out plainly. This page shows how that review works, what the numbers look like, and how to submit your paperwork at no cost and with no obligation.
What a bullion holdings review actually looks at
Spot price is the baseline, but it’s rarely the number that matters most when you’re reviewing your holdings. The useful numbers are buried in documents: the premium you paid over spot when you bought, the buyback rate a dealer is now quoting, the annual custodian fee on your self-directed IRA, and the storage fee schedule your custodian applies to the account balance.
The Second Opinion Desk works from those documents directly. A purchase invoice review will show the unit price, the product description, the quantity, and sometimes a line item labeled “product premium” or “numismatic premium.” When that line is absent, the premium is embedded in the unit price and has to be backed out by comparing the per-ounce cost against spot on the trade date.
Buyback offer letters are reviewed separately. A dealer’s quote will reference spot and state a discount, sometimes as a flat percentage below spot, sometimes as a fixed per-ounce deduction. The gap between your original all-in cost and the current buyback offer is the figure that tells you the real cost of the transaction from first purchase to liquidation.
For IRA holders, custodian fee schedules and storage cost statements complete the picture. Reviewed together, these documents show what you paid to acquire your metals, what you’ve paid to hold them, and what a dealer proposes to pay on the way out.
This review is educational. It does not constitute investment advice, legal advice, or tax advice.
The gap between what you paid and what a dealer will buy back
Most people who bought gold from a dealer know that resale prices differ from purchase prices. Fewer understand how large that gap can be once you account for the premium paid on entry and the discount applied on exit.
Here is a worked example using hypothetical figures. Assume a one-ounce gold coin purchased when spot was $2,000 per ounce, and the dealer charged a Recommendation: 10% premium, replace that figure with whatever percentage appears on your own invoice.
| Item | Example (state your own assumptions) | Your figures |
|---|---|---|
| Spot price at purchase | $2,000/oz | _____ |
| Premium paid (%) | Recommendation: 10% above spot | _____ |
| All-in purchase price | $2,200 | _____ |
| Buyback rate (spot minus %) | Recommendation: spot minus 2% (dealer’s published policy in this example) | _____ |
| Buyback value if spot is still $2,000 | $1,960 | _____ |
| Round-trip cost (purchase minus buyback) | $240 per ounce | _____ |
Spot has not moved at all in this example, yet the holder receives $240 less than they paid. That Inferred: $240 round-trip cost is the combined effect of the entry premium and the exit discount on a single coin. If spot has also fallen since purchase, the shortfall is larger. If spot has risen enough to cover both, the holder may still be ahead, but that calculation has to be done explicitly, with your actual figures.
The gold and silver overcharge review process at GoldWorth Financial applies this same comparison to your actual invoice rather than a hypothetical one.
Proof coins, numismatic premiums, and IRA-held metals
A bullion coin and a proof coin are not the same product, and the distinction matters at resale. A bullion coin, an American Gold Eagle in standard finish, for example, trades close to its metal content value. A proof coin is a collector edition produced to a mirror finish and sold with a certificate of authenticity. Dealers often charge a Inferred: significantly higher premium for proof coins, on the basis that collector demand will sustain that price.
The resale reality is different. The secondary market for proof coins is narrower than the market for standard bullion, and most coin dealers price buybacks on metal content, not collector presentation. A proof coin that carried a large numismatic premium on entry will frequently be bought back at or near standard bullion rates on exit.
This gap is especially sharp inside a self-directed IRA. The Aberdeen Standard Precious Metals Basket ETF Trust 10-K and comparable SEC-registered instruments price their exposure entirely on metal content, which illustrates the baseline against which proof premiums can be measured. When a retirement account holds proof coins at prices well above that metal-content baseline, the holder is carrying a Inferred: collectible premium that the IRA structure does nothing to protect or enhance.
If the original sales presentation on those coins emphasized appreciation potential, a review of the purchase invoice against current buyback offers will show whether that premium has been preserved or eroded.
IRA custodian fees and storage costs over time
The purchase price is not the only cost of holding physical metals in a self-directed IRA. Custodians charge an annual administration fee and a storage fee based on account value. Over several years, these fees compound into a meaningful drag on net return.
Assume a self-directed IRA with an $80,000 metals balance, an annual administration fee of $200, and a storage fee at Recommendation: 0.5% of asset value per year. Substitute your own fee schedule from your custodian’s current disclosure.
| Year | Admin fee | Storage fee (Recommendation: 0.5% of $80,000) | Total annual cost | Cumulative cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200 | $400 | $600 | $600 |
| 2 | $200 | $400 | $600 | $1,200 |
| 3 | $200 | $400 | $600 | $1,800 |
| 5 | $200 | $400 | $600 | $3,000 |
| 10 | $200 | $400 | $600 | $6,000 |
In this example, a Inferred: $6,000 cumulative fee over ten years comes directly out of the account’s net value, separate from any movement in metal prices. If the balance grows because spot rises, the storage fee grows with it. If spot falls, the fees continue regardless.
The Sprott Gold and Silver Trust annual report filed with the SEC discloses its expense ratio plainly as a matter of course. Self-directed IRA holders deserve the same clarity from their custodian’s fee schedule, and most don’t have it until they ask for the disclosure in writing.
Replacing the figures in the table with your own custodian’s rates takes about five minutes and produces a number specific to your account.
How to submit your holdings statement or invoice for a bullion holdings review
Gather what you have: original purchase invoices, IRA account statements, any buyback quote letters, and your custodian’s current fee schedule. You don’t need all of these. Whatever you have is a starting point.
Documents can be uploaded through the contact form on the GoldWorth Financial site or sent by email. If you’d rather talk through what you have before uploading anything, a call to the 817-area-code number works just as well. There’s no cost and no obligation.
The review comes back as an educational summary of what the documents show: how the premium you paid compares to standard bullion rates, how a buyback offer compares to spot, and what cumulative holding costs look like inside your IRA. It won’t tell you whether to sell, hold, or transfer, those decisions belong to you. Where tax or legal questions arise from the review, those require professionals with full knowledge of your situation.
If you bought from another dealer and have questions about whether the price was reasonable, the sell gold bought from another dealer page covers the broader context.
Key points
- The round-trip cost of a precious metals purchase combines the entry premium and the buyback discount; in the hypothetical example above, those two figures produced Inferred: $240 per ounce before any movement in spot price.
- Proof coins carry numismatic premiums that most dealers do not honor at buyback; the secondary market prices them on metal content.
- Self-directed IRA holders should calculate cumulative custodian and storage fees separately from spot-price performance; in the hypothetical example, Inferred: $6,000 in fees accumulated over ten years on an $80,000 balance.
- A holdings review works from your actual documents, invoices, fee schedules, and buyback letters, not from generic spot-price data.
- The review at GoldWorth Financial is educational only and carries no obligation to sell, transfer, or take any other action.