Patriot Gold Group Review: Fees, Minimums, Custodians, Complaints

Is Patriot Gold Group legitimate, and what does it charge?

"Legitimate" asks for a verdict, and no single page can honestly give one. What we can do is show what Patriot Gold Group says about itself, what independent records we could open, and what we could not check. Where we found nothing in a database, we name the database and the day.

On fees, the company's website says "No Fees for Life on Qualifying IRAs." That is a headline, not a fee schedule. On the pages we read, we found no dollar amounts, no definition of "qualifying" beyond a brochure footnote about minimum account value, no minimum account size and no name for the custodian (the company that legally holds the IRA). A brochure on the company's website says the company will reimburse rollover fees and pay storage and insurance fees "for the life of the IRA" on qualifying IRAs. It does not say which fees that covers beyond those, and it does not describe the price you pay for the metal itself. We come back to each gap below.

Who is Patriot Gold Group?

Patriot Gold Group sells gold and silver coins and bars, and describes IRA-eligible gold and silver coins and a "Precious Metals IRA." Its home page lists "Invest in Gold," "Invest in Silver" and "Open a Precious Metals IRA" in its menu, and says it offers bullion, exclusive coins and proof coins. This section is the company describing itself.

Offices. The home page and contact page list 3010 Old Ranch Parkway, Suite 350, Seal Beach, California, and the page information also shows 12121 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 208, Los Angeles. The phone number is 800-974-4653. Phone hours are listed as Monday to Thursday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific time, and Friday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Founding. The About page and home page do not state a founding year, and the About page's meta description refers to "three decades of expertise, knowledge and experience," which does not fit "Established 2016." A January 2020 brochure on the company's site says "Established 2016." The BBB profile, as shown in a screenshot, lists a business start date of 3/14/2016 and an incorporation date of 5/9/2017 (details below).

People. The About page names Jack Hanney as chief executive officer, Mike Celano as a senior partner and co-founder, and Charley Chartoff as a senior partner and principal, along with several account executives and associates. It says the senior partners "held upper level Senior Management roles at the largest Retail and Wholesale Precious Metals firms nationwide," and that the company works "directly with the owners." We did not verify any of these career claims. The page also says Hanney has "written over $140 million in business as CEO," which is a sales figure from the company, not a measure of customer results.

Licenses. The About, Contact and Anti-Money Laundering pages do not list any license or registration number. They do show logos for PCGS, NGC and the NRA, without text explaining what each logo means. The Anti-Money Laundering page says the company will "designate a competent individual to serve as its Compliance Officer," but it names no one and gives no legal entity name. These pages give no registration number to look up.

Quick facts at a glance

How does a Gold IRA with Patriot Gold Group work?

A Gold IRA is a self-directed IRA that holds physical metal instead of mutual funds or stocks. Under federal law, an IRA's acquisition of a collectible is treated as a distribution of its cost, but bullion is excluded from that treatment if a bank or approved nonbank trustee keeps physical possession of it, according to the IRS page on investments in collectibles. In practice, the setup involves three roles.

• The dealer sells you the metal. Here, that is Patriot Gold Group.
• The custodian is the company that legally holds your IRA, keeps the records and sends the tax forms. Patriot's pages do not name one.
• The depository is the secure vault where the metal is kept. The brochure names two it calls popular choices.

Our guide to the custodian, the dealer and the depository explains why this matters.

What does Patriot say about the process? Its IRA page says: "Hold your metals in a self-directed Precious Metals IRA," and that once your account is funded, "we will help you buy and store your precious metals." It says its "401(k) and IRA Rollover department will guide you step by step through the tax-free transfer process." The home page claims "Lightning fast 24-hour account setup" and a "3 step" process, and the brochure says funding a new self-directed IRA can take "as little as three days." The pages do not say what documents are needed, who the custodian is, or what "account setup" covers. For the general rules, see our overview of how a Gold IRA rollover works and our guide to rolling a 401(k) into a Gold IRA.

What does Patriot say the fees are?

The brochure is dated by its file name to January 2020. We do not know whether its terms are still current, so ask the company whether it still applies and in what form.

The IRA page compares its offer to funds, saying "The average actively-managed fund carries an annual expense of 1.3 percent." That comparison uses a fund fee, not a cost of this account. It does not tell you what you would pay at Patriot.

Questions to put to the company in writing:

• Who pays which fees, and does the company pay them directly or credit them back to you?
• What counts as a "qualifying" IRA? Is it tied to a minimum balance, a type of metal, or a length of time the account stays open?
• What does "for life" mean: your life, the life of the IRA, or the life of the program?
• What happens to the offer if the account is transferred away or the program changes?

A dealer's reimbursement of account fees does not mean the account costs nothing. Custodians and depositories set their own prices. See custodian fees, storage fees and hidden fees.

What is the minimum, and who does it leave out?

Patriot's pages say a minimum applies but do not give the amount. The IRA page headline includes "(Minimum Account Required)." A brochure footnote says "Minimum account value required, excludes most bullion, bars and rounds," and says to call for details. The contact form on the IRA page offers amount ranges that start at "$2,500-$20,000," but those are labeled as ways to customize an information request, not as minimums. We did not treat them as minimums.

Because the figure is not published, we cannot tell you whether the program is meant for small or large accounts. Ask for the minimum in writing, and ask which products count toward it. See minimum investment.

Who is the custodian, and is it on the IRS list?

We could not tell, because the pages we read do not name one. The brochure says a rollover usually does not require contacting your current custodian, but it names no new custodian. The IRA page says "Hold your metals in a self-directed Precious Metals IRA" and gives no further detail.

That matters because bullion held in an IRA must be kept by a bank or an approved nonbank trustee, according to the IRS collectibles page. The IRS publishes a list of approved nonbank trustees and custodians; at the time we opened its page, the current list was titled "Nonbank trustees list as of April 1, 2026." We did not search that list, because without a named custodian there was nothing to look up. Our guide on custodian requirements explains what the law asks for.

Before you send money, ask Patriot in writing which custodian would hold your account, and then check that company's own regulatory page and fee schedule. Do not rely on this page for custodian facts.

Where is the metal stored, and is it insured?

Patriot's pages mention storage in several ways, and they do not match perfectly. The IRA page says "Hold physical gold tax deferred in a Private Storage IRA or in your own hands." The home page says "physical delivery or Private Storage." The pages do not explain what "Private Storage IRA" means, and we are not describing or endorsing it. Whether any IRA structure that lets you keep metal at home is allowed is a tax question, not a marketing one. A tax professional can answer it for your situation.

The brochure says clients choose from available depositories in the United States, and calls Brinks Global Services USA and "the DDSC (Delaware Depository)" popular choices. It says metals are kept in a private depository, "segregated, secured storage," and insured by Lloyds of London. The About page says vault storage is "in different parts of the USA" and lists no locations. These are the company's statements, and the brochure is from 2020.

On the Delaware Depository home page, we read addresses in Wilmington, Delaware and Boulder City, Nevada, and the statement "Delaware Depository is a SSAE18 - SOC1 Type1 audited organization." We did not find an insurance statement on that page. That does not mean there is no insurance. It means we could not confirm it from the depository's own page, so ask for policy details in writing. We did not open Brink's own pages, so we make no statement about that company. See segregated and commingled storage, IRA metals insurance and how to verify your metals.

What do you pay for the metal itself?

One cost to understand is the gap between what a dealer charges you for metal and what it would pay to buy that metal back.

Two terms help here. The spot price is the current market price for one troy ounce of the metal. A dealer sells above spot (the added amount is called the premium or markup) and buys back below spot. The difference between the selling price and the buyback price is the spread. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) makes the same point in its customer advisory on buying physical metals: "A dealer will always sell metal above the spot price and buy it back below the spot price." The advisory also says "If fees are not available in writing before your purchase, that is a red flag," and it suggests asking "how much you would receive if you had to sell back the metal tomorrow."

What does Patriot's website say about this? On the pages we read, nothing specific. We found no premium, no spread figure and no price list. The home page has a request-a-quote link and a price ticker, but neither is a published markup. The risk disclosure page does not address spreads either.

Here is a simple example of why it matters. It is made up and is not Patriot's actual spread. Suppose you buy $50,000 of coins, and the dealer's buyback price for the same coins is 5% below what you paid, with the market price unchanged. You would receive $47,500. The buyback price would have to rise about 5.3% to get you back to $50,000. That is why we suggest asking for the sale price, the spot price at the time of the quote and the current buyback price, all in writing, for every product you are quoted. Our guide to dealer premiums, markups and spreads shows how to compare quotes.

The IRA page also mentions "Free Silver Coin With Phone Qualification." The page does not say what the phone qualification involves or what the coin is worth. Ask whether the cost of any free item is built into the price of what you buy. The CFTC advisory suggests asking how salespeople are paid and asking for all fees, costs and commissions in writing before signing.

What does Patriot say about buying back your metals?

We found no buyback policy on the pages we read. The IRA page mentions only that "Profits are tax-deferred when the proceeds from the sale remain with your custodian for reinvestment," which is a tax statement and not a buyback promise. The risk disclosure page does not describe a repurchase program, and we found no terms of sale.

Without published terms, we cannot say whether Patriot repurchases metals it sells, at what price basis, with what fees, or how fast. Those are questions for the company, and the answers belong in your written agreement. See buyback policies and liquidation costs and liquidity risk.

What does Patriot say about risks and performance?

The risk disclosure page says prices can fall as well as rise and "you may lose money." It says the company "does not guarantee any specific return, profit, or protection against loss," that "Precious metals are not FDIC insured," and that the company does not act as a fiduciary and does not give legal, tax or investment advice. It describes metals as a long-term holding, suggesting three to five years, and says they "should make up no more than twenty percent of buyer's available investment funds." That 20% figure is the company's suggestion, not a rule.

Other pages read differently. The home page says "Gold and silver have significantly outperformed the Dow Jones Industrial Average for the past 12 years," with no source or period cited. The brochure contains testimonial return claims and forward-looking price statements, and its file name suggests a January 2020 date. The "USD vs Gold and Silver" page, whose page metadata shows February 2018, shows annual price changes through 2017 and a banner that reads "BEFORE THE DOLLAR COLLAPSES." We found inconsistencies between its text and its own table: the text says gold climbed 242% "over the last 20 years," while the table labels 242.0% as a 10-year figure. We do not repeat the company's forecasts. Nobody can reliably predict future metal prices, and a past gain says nothing about a future one. Our guide to price volatility shows how much prices have moved.

What do the ratings and awards mean?

Patriot's pages display several ratings and awards, and they differ from one page to another.

We did not open ConsumerAffairs or Trustpilot, so we cannot confirm any of these ratings, how reviews were collected, or whether the company paid for a listing or badge. Treat each item as the company's statement. The home page also presents a political commentator as an endorser. An endorsement is not evidence about fees, service or safety.

The In the Media page lists radio interviews and videos dated mostly 2019 and 2020. It does not say whether any are paid or editorial. Our guides on how review sites make money and on fake and incentivized reviews explain how to read ratings.

What does Patriot's BBB profile show?

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is a nonprofit that publishes business profiles, customer reviews and complaint records. We could not open BBB's pages directly. The figures below come from screenshots of Patriot's BBB profile, reviews and complaints pages, viewed by the site owner on October 15, 2026. We cite the BBB profile address linked from Patriot's home page.

A few points help you read this table. BBB's lists of products and categories are supplied by the company, and the profile's "About This Business" text reads "This business offers gold and silver buying services." The profile lists the product term "Private Storage IRA," which we do not describe or endorse and which this page does not treat as allowed under IRS rules. Management listings on BBB and on the company website do not match exactly. BBB lists "John Hanney" as a member, while the company website names "Jack Hanney" as chief executive officer. They may be the same person, but we did not confirm that.

BBB's Complaints tab showed 0 complaints per the screenshots viewed on 2026-10-15; BBB profiles generally cover a three-year period. We do not read that as "no complaints anywhere."

The customer-review average is a different measure from BBB's letter grade. On the reviews page, the newest visible reviews were dated from 04/17/2026 to 07/25/2026 and were all five stars, and Patriot Gold Group posted a reply to all ten visible reviews. Those ten reviews are not a sample of all 60, and company replies are the company's statements, so we draw no conclusion from them.

What do the website terms say?

We looked for a terms of sale or terms of use page and did not find a link to one on the home or contact pages. The three legal links we found were the risk disclosure, the privacy policy and the anti-money-laundering program. The privacy policy says it is reviewed annually and has no arbitration clause; it describes only a process for privacy complaints. We have not seen the document you would sign to buy metal, so we cannot say how it handles arbitration, cancellation, refunds, venue or time limits for claims. Ask to read it before you send any money. We are not lawyers, and none of this is legal advice. A lawyer you trust can review any agreement.

What public records did we check?

Our methodology lists the records we look for on every company. Here is what happened for Patriot, with the date we searched.

Two cautions apply. First, a zero in the CFPB database means that no complaint under that name appeared in that database on that day. Second, a general web search is not a search of a court docket or a regulator's records. A search that finds nothing does not prove nothing exists.

We make no claim that Patriot has, or has not, been the subject of a lawsuit, regulatory action or complaint outside the records above. If you want to run these checks yourself, our guide on how to verify a dealer walks through BrokerCheck, NFA BASIC, state regulators and court records, and our enforcement database will list any cases we find in orders and complaints we have read.

What should you ask Patriot Gold Group before you sign anything?

These questions come from regulators' advice and the gaps above. Ask for answers in writing.

1. What are the sale price, the spot price and the buyback price for each product I'm quoted? Ask for all three at the same time.
2. Which custodian would hold my account, and what is its current fee schedule? Ask for a copy with its revision date.
3. What exactly does "No Fees for Life on Qualifying IRAs" cover, and what does "qualifying" mean? Ask what you would still pay and what happens if the program changes.
4. What is the minimum account value, and what products count toward it? The brochure says the minimum "excludes most bullion, bars and rounds."
5. Which depository would hold my metals, is storage segregated, and what are its fees and insurance terms? Ask for the depository's documents, not only the dealer's description.
6. Do you buy back what you sell, on what price basis, and with what fees and timing? Ask for the policy in writing.
7. What are my cancellation and refund rights? Ask to see them before you send money.
8. How are your representatives paid? The CFTC suggests asking this directly.
9. Which legal entity am I contracting with, and where is it organized? The website uses "Patriot Gold Group," and BBB lists an LLC.
10. May I see the full sales agreement before I send any money? Read it, including any arbitration or venue terms.

Our full checklist is in the guide on how to evaluate a Gold IRA company.

What are the risks that apply no matter which company you pick?

No dealer, custodian or depository can remove the basic risks of owning physical metal. Gold and silver prices go up and down. You can only sell at a dealer's buyback price or to another buyer. Counterparty risk, meaning the chance that a company you depend on fails to do its part, is discussed in our counterparty risk guide. Metals are not FDIC insured, as Patriot's own risk page notes. We do not predict prices, and nothing on this page is a forecast.

How does this compare with other companies?

We publish every company review on the same set of fields so you can read them side by side, and we don't rank them. Our Lear Capital review and Orion Metal Exchange review use the same structure. A set of side-by-side pages is planned, including Goldco vs Patriot Gold Group and Noble Gold Investments vs Patriot Gold Group. For the wider picture, start at Gold IRA Companies Compared.

How was this page researched, and when will it be updated?

We opened Patriot's home, IRA, About, risk disclosure, In the Media, contact, privacy, anti-money-laundering and "USD vs Gold and Silver" pages, and a PDF brochure from its website, on October 15, 2026. We also opened the Delaware Depository home page, the IRS page on approved nonbank trustees, the CFTC's customer advisory and the CFPB complaint database. BBB pages could not be opened directly; the BBB figures come from screenshots viewed by the site owner on 2026-10-15. Each is cited above with the access date. Anything that came only from Patriot is written as Patriot's statement. We could not open Patriot's "request a quote" form, any terms of sale, or third-party review sites.

Fees, terms and company information are reviewed every three months under our update policy, and sooner if a regulator announces an action or a reader reports an error. If you see something here that is out of date, please tell us through our corrections page.

This page is general information, not personalized advice. Decisions about your retirement savings depend on your own situation, so talk with a qualified financial planner, tax professional or attorney before you act. Our advertising disclosure explains how this site is funded.