American Hartford Gold Review (2024) BBB Ratings & Complaints, Annual Fees, And More!

Thank you for visiting our American Hartford Gold review (2024). In this in-depth review, we have taken a close look at American Hartford Gold and their gold IRAs, BBB ratings and complaints, gold and silver inventory, and more to see whether American Hartford Gold is a legit precious metals company.

That said, let’s get back to our American Hartford Gold review. Feel free to use the TOC list to jump straight to any section:

A company’s industry reputation is one of the most critical aspects when judging whether they are a legit and reputable precious metals dealer, so let’s jump straight into American Hartford Gold’s reviews and ratings.

American Hartford Gold Reviews

Online reputation is an area where American Hartford Gold really shines. In today’s digital era, it is very easy for dissatisfied customers to go online and leave negative reviews all over the internet.

But we are happy to report the reviews for American Hartford Gold are overwhelmingly positive.

American Hartford Gold BBB

Here’s a sample of the company’s BBB ratings and BCA ratings, plus customer reviews from other popular watchdog sites.

• Firstly, the American Hartford Gold BBB page has 504 reviews, perhaps the most we’ve seen of a gold IRA company. The aggregate rating from these reviews is 4.89 out of 5 stars, and close to no bad feedback.

• The Business Consumer Alliance gives them an AAA rating,  and they have 5 out of 5 stars on the website based on 9 customer reviews.
• On ConsumerAffairs, their profile has a 4.7 out of 5 star rating based on 860 reviews. By the looks of it, the 3-star ones and below seem to be few and far between.
• The Trustpilot profile is perhaps the biggest head-turner, as it has a 4.8 out of 5 star rating based on 1245 reviews. We weren’t kidding about there being a lot of feedback. Here, 91% of reviews are 5-star ones and 8% are 4-stars.

American Hartford Gold Complaints

It’s not easy to make your negative feedback look good, but they mostly pull it off. American Hartford Gold complaints aren’t exactly absent, with 24 complaints closed in the last 3 years on the Better Business Bureau page.

However, most of these complaints have a few things in common. They came as a result of a misunderstanding as opposed to the customer feeling ripped off or hard-done-by.

Likewise, American Hartford is quick to respond in a friendly manner, even to some complaints that might seem like they don’t warrant opening a suit.

BCA lists 3 complaints with a 100% satisfaction rate, meaning they were resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

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American Hartford Gold Introduction

American Hartford Gold is a bit of an oddity among the gold IRA companies we’ve reviewed but in a good way. Once a company in this sector starts expanding, it can be increasingly difficult to get a familiar feel when working with them. That’s even if their customer support is some of the best out there.

With American Hartford, that’s not the case. We’ve come across gold IRA companies that will list key personnel, but sometimes they omit this altogether. American Hartford Gold goes the opposite route. A single visit to their website will tell you exactly who’ll be helping you with your retirement account or brokering the metals.

With this brief introduction, let’s now take a closer look at the company.

What Is American Hartford Gold?

When it comes to experience on behalf of the founders of a gold IRA company, anything in finance is generally good. But if you can work with a company whose key people have been involved in precious metals before opening their doors, all the better.

This is precisely the case with American Hartford Gold, whose President Scott Gerlis comes from a family with an interest in numismatics, coin collecting, and the like.

We don’t need to tell you that such a background is going to go a long way when it comes to how products are treated, and indeed, as we gloss over the inventory, we’ll see that Gerlis’ claims of being a coin aficionado are very much valid.

Aside from managing American Hartford, Gerlis is also professionally involved in real estate and retail. The firm’s CEO, Sanford Mann, has what one might call a more traditional background in finance, having worked as an economist in New York before partnering with Gerlis.

Despite “only” being in business since 2016, the California-based company has processed over $1 billion in transactions. A massive figure that is corroborated by the sheer amount of reviews they have compared to even some of their top competitors.

American Hartford Gold Celebrity Endorsements

American Hartford Gold has successfully secured notable endorsement deals with prominent conservative figures. Some of these respected personalities include commentator and TV host Bill O’Reilly, politician and lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and reality television personality Rick Harrison, who proudly recommend our company to their audience. These endorsements are a testament to the trust and credibility that American Hartford Gold has garnered over the years.

Additionally, the company is also ranked #1 for Inc 5000 in the Precious Metals Vertical.

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American Hartford Gold Annual Fees And Pricing

American Hartford Gold is very transparent when it comes to its fee structure, with the lack of markup being perhaps the only exception. It’s fairly common practice for precious metal IRA brokers to not have product prices listed.

However, we still wouldn’t mind seeing prices just based on the general strength and variety of the company’s inventory. Product pricing aside, the fee structure is as follows:

• No fees on shipping, which is covered by insurance
• No fees for the first year in IRAs with a minimum account purchase of $50,000
• No fees for the first three years in IRAs with a minimum account purchase of $100,000
• $10,000 investment minimum for gold & silver IRAs
• By the looks of it, a $5,000 overall purchase minimum when buying precious metals from their website

In general, a very competitive fee structure. American Hartford also reveals that, together, annual fees for custody and storage rarely exceed $180.

If you are ready to take action, >>>>request your FREE Investor Kit (plus receive up to $10,000 in FREE SILVER on qualified purchases).

What About Storage?

When it comes to storage options, it’s definitely a case of “the more, the merrier”. You want your IRA provider to offer as many storage facilities in as many states as possible. It’s very common for gold investors to want their bullion close to home.

Here, American Hartford again shines as one of the better gold IRA companies we’ve come across. They work with three of the biggest bullion depositories in the form of the:

• Delaware Depository
• Brink’s, and
• IDS.

These three have facilities spread in many states, from Texas to Nevada and from New York to California. While you might not be able to store bullion in your specific state, we’d wager that you can find a depository that’s somewhat nearby.

Promotions And Buyback Program

A good buyback program doesn’t hurt, and while American Hartford’s isn’t a no-questions-asked one, it can’t be that bad judging by customer feedback. As they tell us, they assess each buyback request individually. They also offer free shipping and insurance to their clients, which is unique.

Furthermore, their promotions are fairly novel. The one most customers seem interested in has to do with free silver, namely in the form of a free silver coin offered to those who sign up on the website. Or even up to $1,500 in free silver in some cases.

Depending on how much a customer orders they’re also eligible to receive a free safe of a varying size, with the largest being valued at $699. So, in other words, free storage.

With that said, let’s take a look at American Hartford Gold’s precious metals inventory next.

Gold And Silver Inventory

Since we’ll cover what one might call their primary product, the precious metal IRA, in a separate section, we’ll go over the bullion they offer here. One thing to note is that the website says you can open either a gold or silver IRA with the company.

The lack of platinum and palladium products in their inventory would seem to suggest that the company doesn’t deal in platinum group metals. However, we’ve found this to not be the case, and that all four metals are available for placement in their IRA.

Still, those looking to buy their precious metals from American Hartford will have to be satisfied with gold or silver. It won’t be difficult, we’d imagine, considering how varied the product options are.

Gold

We did say that Gerlis lives up to his reputation as a numismatist, and we meant it. The coin selection alone is more diverse than that of most competitors, and each product is described in fairly intricate detail.

We have mainstays like American Gold Eagles in four denominations, American Buffalos, Canadian Gold Maple Leafs, and Austrian Gold Philharmonics.

From there, the coin listings get progressively more exotic. Gold coins like the American 1984 Olympic Commemorative, numerous contemporary IRA-eligible wildlife-themed Canadian and Australian coins, 18th and 19th-century numismatics pieces, and so on.

While there are some notable IRA-eligible exceptions from the list, we don’t really want to fault the company based on the overall strength of their listing.

As for gold bars, the currently available options are the Sunshine Mint 1oz and the Valcambi CombiBar. Not exactly the most diverse selection, but it should be satisfactory to most, especially given the exceeding popularity of the CombiBar.

Silver

Have you ever browsed through the so-called junk silver category on a bullion seller’s website and wondered what it contains? Well, you won’t have such troubles here, as American Hartford took the time to group these non-IRA-eligible but very much collectible silver coins.

Catering to numismatists further, there is also an entire section dedicated to pre-1964 coins. When it comes to investment-grade denominations, American Hartford doesn’t disappoint, either.

There are American Silver Eagles, Canadian Silver Maple Leafs, Canadian and Australian wildlife silver coins, and more. The silver coins available in their inventory range in weight from 1oz to 5oz.

As strong as American Hartford’s gold offering is, the silver one manages to beat it. Aside from a greater selection of coins, there are also plenty of nice rounds to choose from and a lot of options for those interested in silver bars.

There seems to be some inventory dependency when it comes to the mint of issuance in regards to silver bars, however.

If you are ready to take action, >>>>request your FREE Investor Kit (plus receive up to $10,000 in FREE SILVER on qualified purchases).

How To Open An IRA With American Hartford Gold

As we said, American Hartford lets you open either a gold or silver self-directed retirement account through them. For the most part, the process of opening a gold IRA is uniform among all the companies in this sector.

There will be some variations, such as certain companies boasting short timeframes, but for the most part, it’s the same. That being 4 easy steps:

• Step 1: Request this Free Guide or reach out to an American Hartford representative, who gives you the ins and outs of having a gold IRA
• Step 2: The representative puts you in touch with the custodial company that American Hartford is partnered with
• Step 3: Your new custodian will work with existing custodians to transfer or rollover any number of existing or inactive employer-sponsored retirement plans and IRAs
• Step 4: Once the account is set up, which can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, you can place physical precious metals in the account however you see fit

One of the cornerstones of all companies in this sector is to have nice and friendly personnel that will guide you through this process, and American Hartford Gold is no exception.

All of the reviewers praise how their employees conduct themselves and how easy they are to work with regardless of the customer’s investment experience.

While the company doesn’t “officially” offer investment advice, you can expect their representatives to be available to guide you with whatever choice you might need help with for as long as your new IRA is active. The custodian, along with the storage facility, will take care of the back end and manage the paperwork.

>>>Get Your FREE 2024 Information Guide Today!

American Hartford Gold Pros And Cons

To give you a quick overview, here are some pros and cons of American Hartford Gold:

• Billions of dollars of precious metals have been delivered to thousands of
  satisfied customers
• Remarkable palette of gold and silver bullion, especially for a gold IRA company
• Transparent and competitive fee structure
• An exceptional amount of positive reviews
• Price match guarantee and buyback commitment
• 100% free IRA rollover – Free maintenance storage & insurance for up to 3 years
• $1,500 in free silver
• Ranked #1 for Inc 5000 in the precious metals vertical
• Endorsed by Bill O’ Reilly, longtime Fox News television host and political commentator
• “America’s Mayor” and Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, is a client and sponsor of American Hartford Gold
• Free insured shipping

• No price listing on their products with unclear markup
• No platinum group metals currently available in the inventory
• No international shipping
• Some complaints, though hardly off-putting

Verdict: American Hartford Gold Review (2024)

The verdict of our American Hartford Gold review (2024) is that the company lives up to being one of the best gold IRA companies in the industry despite its rather short time in business.

For all of the fancy stuff they offer, gold IRA companies mostly boil down to dependability. If you can get a feeling of personalized customer support, all the better. The larger a company gets, the more difficult this is to achieve. When you get to over $1 billion in sales in just 7 years, it’s easy to see how this kind of approach can take a back seat.

We’re glad to say that, by all accounts, American Hartford hasn’t fallen prey to this “expansion neglect”. It appears that the President and CEO have leveraged not only their experience in finance and familiarity with numismatics but also their sense of community and family.

While there is a seemingly large amount of American Hartford Gold complaints, this is one of the cases where it pays to read through each complaint carefully. They tend to come off as a result of someone being quick on the complaint to trigger more so than malpractice with the company. And despite the huge client base, we haven’t even come across reviews of customers complaining about rude representatives and the like.

Furthermore, the company has delivered billions of dollars of precious metals to thousands of satisfied customers, which speaks for Gold Alliance being a trustworthy gold dealer.

As it stands, American Hartford is both a great gold IRA provider and a bullion vendor one shouldn’t overlook. The fact that rare coin collectors and enthusiasts can find plenty to their interest in a precious metals IRA company’s inventory is very telling. Likewise, those looking to open an IRA through a company they can rely on won’t find themselves lacking.

All in all, not much in terms of downsides and plenty to suggest that American Hartford Gold is one of the top companies in the industry.

>>>Get Your FREE 2024 Information Guide Today!

American Hartford Gold Alternatives

If you want to look around a bit more before making a final decision on what gold IRA provider to choose, we have reviewed and rated the 8+ best gold IRA companies of 2024. You can request their gold IRA kits directly from the reviews table below:

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Company	Reviews	Annual Fees	Investment Minimums (IRA)	Preferred Custodian	Free Gold Kit
		$0	$25,000	Equity Trust
		$0	$50,000	Equity Trust
		$180	$10,000	Equity Trust
		$100	$10,000	Equity Trust
		$80	$2,000	Equity Trust
		$180	$10,000	Equity Trust
		$0	$10,000	Equity Trust
		$0	$10,000	Equity Trust

Stina Pettersson Senior Editor

Stina is an entrepreneur who's passionate about personal finance, investing, and digital marketing. She's been a writer in this space for over a decade.

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