Summary for Those Who Want a Quick Abridged Answer.

When we questioned various people associated with Goldline about its operations, their responses made us conclude the following about this dealer.

● Goldline is not a scam company.
● We would not recommend doing business with Goldline.

This leaves one of our original questions unanswered “Which companies would we recommend as the best gold IRA companies to do business with if we do not recommend Goldline?”
The main aim of this site is to provide recommendations as to whom we believe are the best overall gold and precious metal companies. In our opinion, these companies are Augusta Precious Metals, Goldco, and American Hartford Gold.

We have rated these companies as the best in the industry because we feel they are more ethical, sustainable, offer better help, support and, customer services, and pricing than all other companies in this sector. These three companies are in a class of their own compared to all the other companies we have reviewed.

The details of each of these companies can be found in their own three separate review documents. To request their review packs, please click the relevant buttons below.

Introduction to Goldline

History of Goldline

Goldline is a precious metal dealer that began operations in 1960. It started as a subsidiary of Deak & Company, a large US-based company. Deak & Company was a firm that a Hungarian immigrant founded in 1939. The Hungarian worked as a US spy before the establishment of the CIA (Criminal Investigative Agency).

Deak and Company was a major dealer in gold coins, bullion, and FOREX (Foreign Exchange). It was one of the foremost companies to start operations in the precious metal market.
By 1980, Deak and Company grew and became one of the largest retail FOREX dealers in the United States. In addition, they also became the biggest gold coins and bullion dealer in the US. The firm grew quickly and bought many assets because of the early gold bubble. Unfortunately, the bubble burst in 1982.

The Crash

As the gold market crashed, the company made another master plan to move from retail to wholesale. It aimed to sell bullion and gold coins to other dealers at discounted prices.

However, a scandal hit the firm in 1984. Some people accused them of bribery and money laundering. It then decided to declare bankruptcy to rebrand and avoid criminal prosecution. At this point, a lawyer from Singapore bought its remains.

Then the new owner sold it to Deak Morgan in Australia. After one year, the Australian company sold it off to New Zealand’s NZI (New Zealand Insurance). Then NZI began to expand ‘Deak and Company’ storefronts. At this point, NZI first changed the company’s name to International Goldline.

In 1987, a global market crash forced NZI to sell International Goldline again to Thomas Cook Group, a London-based firm. Thomas Cook later sold Goldline to A-Mark Precious Metals in 1992. The company’s name, “Goldline International,” had become an established name already.

Between 1992 and 2005, A-Mark Precious Metals changed Goldline International’s leadership team and bought other smaller gold dealers. Then in 2005, A-Mark sold the company to different investors. At this time, Goldline International’s partnership with other companies increased its value to over $50 million.

Two years later (2007), A-Mark repurchased Goldline International. Hence, Goldline existed technically but functioned under A-Mark Precious Metals’ name.

Goldline Business Setup

Primarily, Goldline retailed precious metals through storefronts. They sold numismatic and collectible coins in addition to premium gold, silver, platinum, and palladium coins and bars.
By 2009, Goldline's annual sales revenue was over $800 million, and employed more than 300 people. At that time, Goldline was one of the fastest-growing firms in LA, United States.
Goldline undertook different marketing campaigns to get to this point. They used traditional methods like radio and television. The company also maximized the early stages of the internet for its advertisements. That same year, a former US Mint director acted as its spokesperson.

Goldline’s advertisements on television were through national networks, including Fox News, CNBC (Consumer News and Business Channel), and CNN (Cable News Network). Moreover, it sponsored various conservative shows on radio and television. The company frequently touted Glenn Beck as its favorite customer, and Glenn Beck also acted as its radio sponsor.
However, in 2010, people criticized the firm for advertising its services via conservative TV and radio programs.

Goldline Scandals

The prices of Goldline products and services varied widely. Most of its prices and charges were based on the product types and the condition of the market at the moment. The company’s price variations led people to accuse them of selling collectibles and other metals up to more than twice their prices.

In 2006, it ran into legal issues, and they agreed voluntarily to pay back over $200,000 to a couple that alleged that an account executive pressured them into buying some metals. However, the elderly couple returned all the products they purchased from the firm.

According to a report and publication by Consumer Reports, Goldline pressured some of their journalists to liquidate their assets. Hence, part of the investigations involved in Goldline’s 2006 voluntary agreement was to determine if the company’s sales rep had functioned as a financial advisor without a license since staff team members should not be legally giving investment advice.

A Congressional hearing that concerns precious metals disclosures took place in 2010. At the hearing, Anthony Weiner, a congressman, headed a charge against the company. The charge states that the company was misleading the public purposefully, and it was doing it with the help of conservatives.

The testimony of the people at the Congressional hearing was that there were already sufficient common law principles for making disclosure irrelevant. Hence, after the hearing, no action was taken against Goldline. No one sponsored the proposed legislation concerning the trustworthiness of the company, so the House of Reps did not hear it.

However, as this issue occurred, another investigation began into the company. According to some news stations then, over a hundred clients in the United States have filed some complaints about Goldline's fraudulent sales pitches and items. But things were a bit different this time because another precious metal dealership also had a hand in the fraudulent operations. Hence, it made knowing the number of complaints directed at Goldline difficult.

Interestingly, by this time, Goldline’s BBB (Better Business Bureau) rating was A+, and the other company associated with the fraudulent activities had an F.

The news stations said the company encourages its staff to sell worthless products above their prices by giving them unfair sales commissions. According to the news stations, the people at Goldline's helm of affairs encouraged its sales reps to sell coins rather than bullion.

For example, ABC News referred to a client that reported that one of the company's sales reps encouraged him to purchase coins worth $5,000. After some time, the customer discovered that the coins' actual worth was $2,900. Hence, the salesperson had a huge commission markup that the company kept secret.

Another customer said she bought gold coins from the company worth $13,000, only to discover later that these coins were barely $6,000. Even when the price of gold went up after three years to almost double the price, she still couldn’t sell the products for $13,000. According to her, she felt scammed.

Consumer Reports noticed the repetition of the problems that have to do with Goldline's pricing. For instance, the company once listed a set of Gold Eagle coins for $6,000 on its Goldline website. When clients checked the same coins on other dealerships' websites, they found firms selling the same for around $3,000.

It looked as though Goldline was using TV personalities and its hosts on various talkshow to get the trust of unsuspecting investors. The company made a lot of money from new people in the gold and silver industry that could not research coins and their prices. These people only trusted the celebrities Goldline sold as ideal sponsors.

Furthermore, According to Consumer Reports, Goldline had competitive pricing on some products. Hence it looked like it was based on the period and the particular product in question.
When Goldline received confrontations about its pricing issues, it stated that it needed to sell its collectibles at higher costs than bullion products.

It said that the costs are higher because of the products’ rarity, cost of shipping, and the amount it pays the staff in the compliance department and salespeople.
In addition, Goldline said that it gave people who are purchasing from them transparent details about what they were purchasing before they paid for its products. Hence, the contract contained all the fees and commissions, so the company personally investigated every customer’s complaints.

Goldline Complaint Website

At that time, Santa Monica’s City Attorney created a website for Goldline’s complaints. The website availed the city an opportunity to put together evidence of the potential wrongs of Goldline. As a result of the ongoing investigations from the complaints of people, the City Attorney froze Goldline’s assets in November 2010.

The next year (2011), Santa Monica City laid formal charges against the company. The attorney charged Goldline with 19 counts of theft and fraud. The attorney that accused Goldline said the company uses switch and bait tactics to scam its clients.

After one year (February 2012) from when the attorney laid the charges against Goldline, the company settled. It agreed to an injunction that altered some of its sales practices. The most notable change at that time was that a trusted third party would now verify that Goldline had disclosed all commissions and markup over the phone to its customers.

Goldline also offered to pay back $4.5 million in products to 43 customers that had filed complaints as part of its settlement. Then, the company negotiated for the dropping of all its criminal charges. Hence, no one took any other civil action against Goldline.

However, at this point, the company had already lost its reputation. It had dragged its name in the mud, so they couldn't get back the level of influence they had previously. Goldline still maintains its old website but now functions as another company's subsidiary. It has lost control over the policies that ruined it.

Goldline Management Team

When we called the company to enquire about its management team members, we did not get any response. Hence, Goldline is not transparent about its management team members.
What is Goldline Selling?

Goldline sells various famous IRA-eligible precious metal bars, coins, and bullion. Some of the products you will find in the company's gold bullion catalog are;

● American Gold Eagle
● American Gold Buffalo.

For the company’s IRA-eligible silver products, some of the products that you will find in its catalog are;

● American Silver Eagle
● Australian Kookaburra Silver coin.

Goldline Cost and Fees

Goldline charges its customers more because, according to the agents we spoke to, the company provides more customer services. Regarding temporary changes, it has a "Client Concierge" and "Price Guarantee Program" that answers clients' queries. The company also provides clients with delivery and storage options.

However, the company charges customers for spreads, sales fees, and commissions. In our professional opinion, it is better to get a hold of these figures before you make your purchases, and you can call the company's phone line to reach a customer service rep.

Goldline offers customers free shipping and covers all its shipments properly. Moreover, customers must sign when their products get to them from Goldline.

Goldline has become transparent in its pricing because of the issues it has had in the past. In addition, the company now has comprehensive disclosures. The firm gives customers a 7-day price guarantee who purchase products worth more than $10,000.

Products and Services Offered By Goldline

• Precious Metals
• Gold

Goldline sells various precious metal products. Some of its products include 19th-century coins. They sell some of the rarest precious metals because of how long they have been operating in the industry. You can purchase gold bars of different weights, from one ounce to 1 kilogram.

It also sells IRA-eligible coins with lovely designs. Because of the rare coins in its inventory, the company's gold numismatic coins catalog is very remarkable. The catalog contains Austria gold coins too.
Other Products

The company also sells IRA-eligible and non-IRA-eligible bullion coins in the following categories.

● Palladium
● Silver
● Platinum

Goldline Self-Directed IRA Services

Goldline is not a direct IRA custodian. The company has partnered with famous IRA custodians in the industry to provide custodianship for its interested customers. The IRA service providers it works with are;

● GoldStar Trust Company
● Equity Trust Company

Goldline Storage

When we asked about Goldline’s storage services, the customer care agent we spoke with did not give us a direct answer. The agent only told us that the company works with storage facilities to store its clients’ precious metals in the following locations.

● Las Vegas, Nevada
● Zurich, Switzerland
● Singapore.

Goldline Education

Goldline has a section on its website dedicated to informing new customers about precious metals. The central aim of this section is to tell new investors why they should invest in precious metals. In the company's education section, you will see topics that border around the history of inflation and dollar devaluation. When we asked a new investor with the company what he thinks about its educational materials, he said, "overall, it was a good and insightful read. It looks richer than some of the materials I have come across about precious metals investing."