Atlantic Precious Metals Review

Atlantic Precious Metals is a small precious metals dealer based in the US. The business was created in 2011, but as of 2022, it no longer seems to be operating. There's very little information available about why the business shut down or what the owner is doing now.

Did this company operate legitimately when it was in business? And did it offer anything that you can't find with the competition?

About Atlantic Precious Metals

Atlantic Precious Metals was founded by Ron Miller in 2011. He said that he wanted to create a family-owned small business that could stand apart from the corporate competition. He believed that the precious metals industry was dominated by too many massive corporations, which prevented people from experiencing a hands-on approach.

There is a different company called Atlantic Precious Metal Refining. Atlantic Precious Metals has no affiliation with them.

When the company was in business, it appeared to work just like a normal bullion dealer. You could either purchase items for your personal portfolio or an IRA. There were storage options available to keep your bullion secure, even in cases of disaster or theft.

Prices would be locked in as soon as the customer confirmed the order. Then you would wire the payment to the company through a bank transfer. The products would be shipped through an insured carrier like UPS, USPS, or FedEx. Since the packages were insured, someone would need to sign for them when they were delivered.

Atlantic Precious Metals did have a relatively limited range of products available. This is typical when it comes to small businesses. Since small businesses don't have the inventory space to hold tons of different products, they buy lots of investment-grade bullion in bulk. That allows them to get lower wholesale pricing.

The company offered coins and bars in gold, silver, and platinum. The exact items available would vary depending on the day and what was in stock.

Contacting the Company

As mentioned, Atlantic Precious Metals doesn't appear to be in business anymore. The BBB has updated their website to note that the company's operations have ceased. But it seems that there has never been official paperwork filed to dissolve the entity.

There's very little customer feedback online. We haven't found any accounts of people trying to get in contact with the business post-closure.

When the company was in business, they had a phone number that you could call for a consultation. They also had an email address that you could contact with your information and inquiry. At that time, the company owner would call you back whenever the time suited you.

While the business did provide a Maryland address to the BBB as its headquarters, it seems to have operated mostly online. There's no record of there ever being a major retail front for the office.

Investment Options

When Atlantic Precious Metals was in business, they gave customers four main options to choose from. You could open different accounts, have your items shipped to different places, and trade your gold and silver.

Physical Delivery

The physical delivery option was for people who wanted to invest a portion of their personal savings into precious metals. Rather than being a retirement account or trade account, this was just a personal investment. As such, you have the freedom to do whatever you want with it.

Some people chose to have their personal investments physically delivered to their addresses. Every package would ship with full insurance, so it would be signed for upon arrival. The insurance lasted until the package was delivered with a signature.

Despite being a popular option, most investment experts don't recommend storing your precious metals at home. Though you might think they're safest there, they're actually extremely vulnerable. Home storage can be damaged by natural disasters, theft, or any number of other issues.

It's a better idea to store your metals in an accredited depository. Which brings us to the second option.

Storage Services

Atlantic Precious Metals offered some storage services to customers. The company doesn't appear to have operated their own storage facility, though. More likely, they partnered with at least one major depository company to help their clients open vaults.

Some of the most popular depository companies are Brinks Global Services and Delaware Depository. Between these companies, there are depository locations in every region of the US, plus in multiple international areas.

Different depository companies have different fee structures. But the best ones all have state-of-the-art security and insurance. Most vaults will be insured for up to $1 billion using Lloyds of London, the biggest insurance company on the planet.

When you used Atlantic Precious Metals's storage services, they would help you set up a vault in a depository. Then they would ship your personal investment there. Vaults might have been segregated, meaning they were open only to you, or nonsegregated, meaning all of the interior assets were mixed.

IRA Services

Like many precious metals dealers, Atlantic Precious Metals appears to have offered some IRA services. But they don't seem to have been as streamlined or comprehensive as with some competitors.

You can use your retirement funds to purchase gold and silver. But to do this, you need to comply with strict IRS regulations. That means having a licensed custodian to take care of your account, a licensed depository to hold your metals, and approved products in the account itself.

Since all the paperwork can be overwhelming, some bullion dealers work to make it easier. But there are other competitors who will go above and beyond, even handling all the custodian communication for you.

The company also had an option to create a precious metals trading account, where you could trade your precious metals online with other buyers and sellers.

Is Atlantic Precious Metals a Scam?

Atlantic Precious Metals does not appear to be a scam. However, the company also doesn't seem to be in business anymore. There is a note on the Better Business Bureau page noting that the company is out of business. As such, it is not accredited and does not have a rating.

There are very few reviews of the company online in general. It's difficult to find any feedback on trusted third party sites like Trustlink and Trustpilot. There have been no official complaints or customer reviews left on the BBB website, either.

This makes it difficult to determine how satisfied the customers were. But there's nothing to indicate that this company was a scam while it operated. Generally, when a company is a scam, there's far more evidence after the fact. This seems to have just been a poorly managed business that shut down, the way many small businesses shut down.