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Is American Hartford Gold a reputable precious metals company? In this American Hartford Gold (AHG) review, we'll dive into the company background, leadership, products, online reputation, and more.
For starters, we appreciate the company's transparency in that we can research the company founders and executive staff. Oddly, in the precious metals industry, it's sometimes difficult to find who's behind the curtain running an operation.
As gold customers, what's another thing that we like? Ideally, the company we're purchasing precious metals from isn't just something someone set up strictly to turn a profit.
Ideally, the company heads would know a thing or two about precious metals. Maybe... they'd even be enthusiasts.
Too much to ask? Apparently not. Both of these things are cornerstones of American Hartford Gold, and best of all, this information is not hard to verify.
So how does the gold IRA company stack up against the competition? Let's get into our American Hartford Gold review.
American Hartford Gold
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Executive Summary
Don't have time to read the full review? After digging into the gold IRA company, here's what you need to know about American Hartford Gold.
American Hartford Gold offers a wide selection of precious metals, low custodial and storage fees, and competitive pricing on their bullion bars and coins. With thousands of U.S. customers in their eight years of business, customer reviews reveal a mostly positive reputation.
If you decide to call American Hartford Gold, make sure to ask about their current promotions for new accounts like free silver and their price match guarantee.
1-866-824-5564
Click here to visit American Hartford Gold and request more information today.
About American Hartford Gold
American Hartford was founded by Executive Chairman Scott Gerlis and Chief Executive Officer Sanford Mann. Gerlis' exposure to precious metals and coin collecting began in his formative years, as he tells us. Outside of running American Hartford Gold, the Executive Officer also finds time to work on unrelated real estate and retail projects as well as volunteer with various non-profit organizations in the Los Angeles area.
Now, who's to say that Gerlis isn't just saying his family was into numismatics to make American Hartford look more credible? The inventory, for one. The more we get into it, the more it looks like it really was compiled by someone with a vested interest in physical precious metals.
Mann, as so many CEOs, has a background in New York finance, which likewise gives him solid footing. Baecker oversees the daily operations of the company. Under his guidance, American Hartford Gold has delivered over $2 billion in precious metals for U.S. customers.
Plenty can also be learned about a company from how it treats its employees. That American Hartford found most or all of its office staff important enough to place them on the company's About page in a group picture is indeed telling. The words "family-owned" and "community values" are sometimes used by the company, and we don't believe they're there just as a sales pitch.
American Hartford products
Precious metal IRAs
The company website is almost exclusively focused on gold and silver IRAs, with little mention of platinum and palladium products. Despite the lack of products and scarcely any mention of the two metals, we confirmed that American Hartford can set you up with IRS-approved gold, silver, platinum, and palladium bullion products for your IRA.
Unlike many bullion dealers with massive volumes, American Hartford doesn't "under-emphasize" the service it provides. It shares plenty of information on the website on how to set up a new account, promises support, and even says that the precious metals IRA can be up and running in under a week. Undoubtedly, among the quickest time frames we've come across.
The management and storage of the metals in your IRA is standard for a top-notch company, and we'll cover it in greater detail soon. Their customer support is top notch, while also partnering with top rated IRA storage and custodial providers. Here, American Hartford Gold again shines with how everyone from curious customers to account owners are treated.
Of course, it's the products we're all interested in, right? Besides the IRA itself, American Hartford deals in a variety of gold and silver products that cater to a fairly diverse audience. The straightforward but functional website lists examples of their product listing, so we'll showcase some of their most popular products.
Related: Free Gold IRA Guide - How to Buy Physical Gold and Silver (Tax-Free) with Your 401(k)
Gold
Both the gold and silver sections of their website are more akin to those of a decent bullion vendor than a gold IRA retirement account provider, which is a good thing. Every product is very well detailed, providing you with pretty much everything you need to know about the entry in the inventory.
The only thing missing are the prices, but the "call for pricing" thing is the norm among gold IRA account providers and common for early U.S. gold coins, which American Hartford's precious metals catalogs are hardly lacking. So we don't find it an issue.
The gold bullion selection isn't the widest we've seen, but it's robust nonetheless and reveals a selection of gold IRA-eligible products as well as collector and numismatic coins. Like we said, we wouldn't be surprised if Gerlis is actively involved in the inventory. Here's an overview of what's currently available in the shop:
- American Gold Eagle, bullion and proof, 1oz, 1/2oz, 1/4oz and 1/10oz
- Austrian Philharmonic, no denominations listed
- Canadian Maple Leaf, 1oz
- American Buffalo, 1oz
- Several Canadian wildlife gold coins, different denominations
- Australian Wildlife Gold coin, 1/4oz
- South African Krugerrand, 1oz
- 1984 U.S. Commemorative gold coin, 1oz
- Four different 19th and 20th century numismatics gold coins
- 1oz Sunshine Mint gold bar
- Valcambi CombiBar, 50x1g and 20x1g varieties
Numismatics coins notwithstanding, the year of mintage seems to depend on what's available. Likewise, there are some omissions of popular IRA-eligible coins such as other Philharmonic denominations or more Australian gold coins. And we'd like to see more rounds.
But we're really reaching to cover the few "imperfect" spots in the inventory here. We'd wager that there's something in the inventory to the liking of even the pickiest bullion enthusiast.
Related: Nationwide Coin and Bullion Reserve Review - Company Reviews, Fees, Products, and More
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Silver
It's often the case that the silver inventory of a bullion dealer, and certainly one that deals in gold IRAs, can appear to fall off compared to the gold roster. Not the case with American Hartford. Silver is paid every bit as much of attention to, right down to "junk silver" coins that most companies will group together and barely mention.
As in the case of gold, every silver product has a detailed description and listing on whether it's IRA-eligible or not. The silver products available right now are:
- American Silver Eagle, bullion and proof, 1oz
- Canadian Silver Maple Leaf, 1oz
- South African Silver Krugerrand, brilliant uncirculated, 1oz
- Several Canadian wildlife silver coins, multiple denominations
- Austrian Philharmonic Silver, 1oz
- America the Beautiful, 5oz
- Valcambi CombiBar, 100x1 gram
- 10oz and 100oz silver bars with "various mints" listed, one of which appears to be Sunshine Mint
- Silver rounds, various mints
- A wide selection of 19th and 20th century "junk silver" and the like coins, some detailed and some grouped together
It's so rare to see the silver Krugerrand in a bullion shop's inventory that you can't be faulted for not knowing it exists. That's perhaps all we need to say about the diversity of American Hartford's silver palette.
Related: Visit American Hartford Gold to Request More Information
American Hartford Gold reviews
As you land on the website, you'll be introduced to the company's numerous accolades. These include the fastest-growing gold company by Inc 5000, a top rated gold company by ConsumerAffairs for four years in a row and 4.9 out of 5 stars on TrustPilot. They even provide links to other consumer watchdogs that haven't necessarily given them awards, bolstering their already exceptional transparency. What do the websites say?
In a somewhat curious sight, the Better Business Bureau website has 22 complaints closed in the last 3 years. Why is it curious? Well, for starters, it's among the highest number we've seen, but it hasn't affected their rating, which is 4.91/5 stars based on 502 reviews. Given the number of reviews, the volume of transactions and the A+ accreditation, we're inclined to think this is simply a case of "serve enough customers, and someone won't be satisfied."
But it seems that even the dissatisfied ones ended up being satisfied, as the company addresses complaints, and their rating has mostly been unaffected. We'd further suggest that any doubter in the company's good standing checks the complaints and the replies: nothing horrible in the former and nothing lackluster in the latter.
The Business Consumer Alliance gives them an AA rating with a 5-star rating based on 8 customer reviews, while ConsumerAffairs has a 4.7/5 star rating based on 701 reviews. TrustPilot reveals a 4.9-star rating based on 1,159 reviews. Overall, a great company profile and even better customer relations, by the looks of it.
Related: Top Tax-Friendly States for Retirees - Is Your State on the List?
American Hartford fees, promotions, custody and storage
American Hartford Gold has vetted all of the top self-directed IRA custodians. Currently the company works closely with Equity Trust, a top custodian for gold IRA providers. If you'd prefer to have your account managed by another custodian, American Hartford can still work with you, but if you do end up opening an IRA with Equity Trust, the fees are as follows:
- $5,000 minimum bullion purchase (cash purchases)
- $10,000 minimum account purchase (for IRA purchases)
- An annual average of $180 for custody and storage, which can be waived for several years based on your initial purchase
Other promotions include a price match guarantee, meaning that American Hartford Gold offers to match competitors' prices on any of the products in their inventory, and various free silver offerings. They also offer a free safe that grows based on the size of your purchase up to a maximum of $699 in value.
Call American Hartford Gold to learn about their current promotional offers for new accounts:
1-866-824-5564
Customers are hardly constrained to this as a storage solution, however, as American Hartford works with the Delaware Depository, Brink's and IDS for IRA storage. These are the top storage facilities in the nation that, between them, have vaults in many different states. Most IRA providers partner with a single depository, making storage another strong point when it comes to dealing with American Hartford.
Free shipping with insurance on every purchase doesn't hurt, either.
Request Your Free 2024 Gold IRA Guide:
Protect Your Retirement Savings with Physical Gold & Silver.
Gold buyback program
Below every product listing, American Hartford tells us that they provide a buyback guarantee. Upon closer inspection, it seems that this buyback guarantee is somewhat conditional in the sense that buyback eligibility is gauged individually. Based on the ratings from real customer reviews, however, we'd say that it comes pretty close to a guarantee.
Related: Visit American Hartford Gold to Request More Information
American Hartford Gold Competitors
We always recommend comparing two or more gold IRA companies before trusting any one with your hard earned savings. Below are a few other highly rated gold companies you may want to consider for your precious metals IRA.
Whether you decide to do business with American Hartford Gold or a competitor, it's always smart to compare different companies and review costs to ensure you're paying a fair price on your precious metals. It's also smart to compare promotional offers and other incentives for opening your new account.
Who recommends American Hartford Gold?
While some companies opt for a single celebrity endorsement, others like to have a more diverse group of famous figures promoting them. In the case of American Hartford, even just having Rudy Giuliani, the former Mayor of New York City, would be enough to get attention.
The company, however, is endorsed by several other figures mostly falling in the conservative speaker category, some more famous than others. From Fox News hosts to Epoch Times associates, there's a little something for everyone, we'd say.
American Hartford Gold is trusted by:
- Lou Dobbs
- Bill O'Reilly
- Rudy Giuliani
- Liz Wheeler
- Megyn Kelly
- Rick Harrison
- Dana Loesch
- Rob Carson
- and more...
American Hartford Gold review – Verdict
The most we can hope for when it comes to a bullion vendor, and certainly a gold IRA provider, is "what you see is what you get". And from there, we can hope ever so slightly that what we see isn't off-putting or is, better yet, pleasant.
However deep one gets into the company's profile, history and reviews, there really isn't that much to interpret as off-putting. Complaints mostly seem to be the result of misunderstandings and are, without exception, promptly addressed. That's not an industry standard: plenty of companies don't respond to reviews or complaints to begin with, or only do so in a bare-minimum capacity.
What we see with American Hartford definitely appears to be what we can expect to get. A company run by people with experience in running a business, analyzing the economy and even numismatics. An outstanding selection of coins, with the inventory laid out in a manner that might entice those averse to precious metals to consider them. And, perhaps most importantly, a friendly and individual approach.
What makes this all the more remarkable is that the Los Angeles-based company has processed the amount of transactions it has without making any customer service compromises. How many companies have completed over $2 billion in transactions and overwhelmingly receive 5-star positive reviews, gold industry or otherwise? This kind of customer feedback isn't accumulated by chance or coercion, but rather meticulous tending to every customer they're dealing with regardless of what they're buying and how much of it.
Considering that both the account minimum and the purchase minimums are fairly low, we see no reason not to recommend American Hartford to anyone with an eye on buying precious metals.