September 22, 2009 - Sterling Trust and Goldstar Trust, the two companies that are authorized by the government to hold precious metals for retirement accounts, are holding less gold bullion than they were a year ago, even though the gold price has risen over 19%, and investors are moving more funds into gold every day. Gold bullion is still the most popular IRA product, although IRA specialists at various gold dealers report that the American gold Eagle Proof coin is in particularly high demand.

The label "bullion" encompasses all precious metals items that sell by weight. Whether the item is a coin, bar, nugget, or ingot, the price of bullion is based on the active Commodities Exchange(COMEX) gold spot price, plus an additional government or company-issued premium on each bar or coin. Gold bullion has been a topic of interest with investors as of late, due to the confiscatible status that it has historically held. President Roosevelt confiscated gold bullion from American citizens in 1933, and it was illegal to own gold bullion until President Nixon took the US off the Gold Standard in 1976. If our own US government decides to confiscate precious metals a second time, many experts believe that IRA gold could be taken first, since depository storage makes the bullion easy to find and remove. The threat of a second possible gold confiscation is one of the reasons that many IRA investors are shifting their assets into the non-confiscatible, 24-Karat American Eagle Proof coin. The security and potential profit that Proof coins could ultimately provide is appealing to American investors from coast-to-coast.

Gold rose sharply in Tuesday morning trading, standing at $1015.80 at noon EST. Gold, silver, and platinum spot prices can be found at www.goldprice.net, as well as the latest information and news from the gold market. More information on American gold coinage, including the American gold Eagle Proof, is available at www.gold-eagle.org.

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Jonathan Monroe

Senior Staff Writer - Gold-Bullion.org