Gold IRA Custodian & Depository Database: Who Works With Whom, Verified
Questions like "who is this dealer's custodian?" and "where would my metal actually be stored?" have precise answers — sometimes. This database records every publicly evidenced relationship between Gold IRA dealers, custodians and depositories, labelled by who said it and when. Where a company deliberately does not disclose, that is recorded as the finding it is. Customers should speak to a financial or tax advisor before making decisions.
Educational only: This database records company-published statements observed on the dates shown. It asserts no verdict about any company, and a relationship existing or not being disclosed says nothing about quality or suitability. Relationships change without notice. Customers should speak to a financial or tax advisor before making decisions. Goldco does not offer tax or legal advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
Of 33 publicly evidenced relationships mapped across 12 dealers, 8 custodians and 9 depositories, only 15 are independently confirmed — and 4 of 8 custodians explicitly disclaim naming dealer relationships at all.
Compiled August 21, 2026 from company-published pages and press materials only — no review-site or affiliate-listicle sourcing. The disclosure gaps are findings, not missing research.
Key takeaways
- Custodian-published depository lists are the gold standard of evidence here — Entrust, GoldStar, STRATA and Equity Trust all publish theirs.
- Dealer→custodian claims almost never get confirmed from the custodian side, because passive custodians have a compliance reason not to name dealers. Expect one-sided evidence on that axis, and read it accordingly.
- The dealer usually picks the depository from the custodian's menu (GoldStar states this outright) — the opposite of what most buyers assume.
- Goldco and Noble Gold deliberately do not name a custodian. Review pages that name one are asserting what the companies themselves do not.
- Depositories publish no client lists at all — every storage edge here comes from a custodian's or dealer's side.
- Every relationship is dated. Companies change partners without notice, and one 2019 press-release relationship already conflicts with the dealer's current website.
How to Read This Database
Every row carries an evidence tier, and the tiers matter more than the rows:
- Independently confirmed — the custodian's own published list or press material establishes the relationship, or both parties state it.
- Dealer-claimed — only the dealer's website says it. Not necessarily wrong, but unverified by the other party, and the table preserves the dealer's own verb: "works with", "recommends" and "such as" are different claims.
- Not publicly disclosed — checked, and no verifiable statement exists. Recorded as an answer, because it is one.
Nothing here is sourced from review sites, affiliate listicles or third-party roundups. If a company did not publish it, it is not an edge.
Custodian → Depository: The Independently Confirmed Map
These are the strongest facts in the database — each custodian publishing its own storage options. Observed August 21, 2026.
| Custodian | Depository | Detail published | Source type |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Entrust Group | Delaware Depository (Wilmington, DE) | Allocated and segregated storage; closed, enumerated list | Entrust precious-metals page |
| The Entrust Group | A-Mark Global Logistics (Las Vegas, NV; Dallas, TX) | Allocated and segregated | Entrust precious-metals page |
| The Entrust Group | Dakota Depository Company (Fargo, ND) | Segregated only | Entrust precious-metals page |
| The Entrust Group | Idaho Armored Vaults (Nampa, ID) | Allocated and segregated | Entrust precious-metals page |
| GoldStar Trust | Delaware Depository (as “Depository Trust Company of Delaware, LLC”) | Commingled all metals; segregated for gold/platinum/palladium and 1000oz silver | GoldStar precious-metals page |
| GoldStar Trust | IDS Group (New Castle, DE; Dallas, TX) | Commingled and segregated | GoldStar precious-metals page |
| GoldStar Trust | Texas Precious Metals Depository (Shiner, TX) | Segregated only | GoldStar precious-metals page |
| GoldStar Trust | A-M Global Logistics (Las Vegas, NV) | Commingled and segregated; same entity Entrust lists as “A-Mark” | GoldStar precious-metals page |
| STRATA Trust | Delaware Depository | “STRATA works with Delaware Depository and Texas Precious Metals Depository” | STRATA gold & precious metals page |
| STRATA Trust | Texas Precious Metals Depository | Same published sentence | STRATA gold & precious metals page |
| Equity Trust | Delaware Depository | “Long-standing and current storage partner” | Equity Trust press release |
| Equity Trust | IDS of Delaware; IDS of Texas | “Added as two additional options” | Equity Trust press release |
| Equity Trust | Brink's Global Services | “Approved three locations” | Equity Trust press release |
One naming caution: Delaware Depository appears under three legal-name variants across these sources ("Delaware Depository Service Company", "Depository Trust Company of Delaware, LLC", or just "the depository in Delaware"). This database treats them as one Wilmington, DE entity and records the variant each source used. Similarly, Entrust's "A-Mark Global Logistics" and GoldStar's "A-M Global Logistics, LLC" are the same Las Vegas operation.
Ownership disclosure: per Equity Trust's own press materials, IDS is owned by Dillon Gage, a Dallas precious-metals wholesaler. A depository is not automatically a neutral third party, and ownership links are worth knowing.
Dealer → Custodian and Dealer → Depository: What Dealers Claim
These relationships are published by the dealer only. The verb column preserves each dealer's own wording, because "stores with", "recommends" and "such as" are materially different claims. Observed August 21, 2026.
| Dealer | Published claim | The dealer's own wording | Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Augusta Precious Metals | Works with Equity Trust Company as preferred custodian; stores metals at Delaware Depository | “Augusta works with” / “Augusta stores metals at” | Dealer-claimed |
| American Hartford Gold | Recommends Brink's Global Services and Delaware Depository | “We highly recommend” / “we like” — advisory, not exclusive | Dealer-claimed (recommendation) |
| Noble Gold Investments | Partnership with IDS in Dallas; a prior Delaware depository option (entity not named) | “Secured a partnership with IDS” | Dealer-claimed |
| Preserve Gold | IDS (Dallas, TX / New Castle, DE); Delaware Depository and TPMD in illustrative “such as” list | “Such as” — illustrative, not confirmed arrangements | Dealer-claimed (illustrative) |
| Reagan Gold Group | Metals stored with Delaware Depository, insured by Lloyd's of London | “Your metals will be stored with” — definite phrasing | Dealer-claimed |
| GoldenCrest Metals | The Entrust Group as preferred custodian; Delaware Depository for storage | “Partners with Entrust Group as our preferred IRA custodian” | Dealer-claimed |
| Miles Franklin | Works directly with Brink's (Montreal/Vancouver + North America) — reads as a private storage product, not necessarily the IRA path | “Works directly with Brinks” | Dealer-claimed (flagged: may be non-IRA) |
| Mint State Gold / Stuppler & Co. | New Direction IRA — stated in the past tense | “Have worked with in the past” — weakest claim in the set | Dealer-claimed (historic) |
A dated conflict worth showing rather than resolving: a December 2019 Equity Trust press release — quoting both companies' executives — announced that Lear Capital had awarded Equity Trust its custodial contract. As of August 21, 2026, Lear's own live FAQ instead names "Self Directed IRA Services, Inc." as its custodian, which is STRATA Trust's former name per STRATA's own corporate timeline, and Lear's current pages do not mention Equity Trust. Whether Lear uses both, switched, or maintains a stale FAQ is not resolvable from public sources. Both records are preserved here with their dates — and the lesson generalises: a press release is evidence as of its date, not a current fact.
What Is Deliberately Not Disclosed
These are checked findings, not gaps. Several companies choose not to name their partners, and that choice is itself information. Observed August 21, 2026.
| Relationship | What the company's own materials say |
|---|---|
| Goldco → custodian | Deliberately unnamed: “you can choose from among the custodians we work with”. A choice, not an omission. |
| Goldco → depository | Publishes favourable coverage of Delaware Depository but nowhere states it uses it. Praise is not a relationship. |
| Noble Gold → custodian | “We'll connect you with a trusted precious metals IRA custodian” — none named. |
| Mint State Gold → depository | “A licensed federal depository” — generic, none named. |
| Miles Franklin → custodian | Not disclosed. |
| Westminster Mint → any IRA relationship | No custodian or depository named; consistent with a primarily retail bullion business. |
| NDTCO → depositories | Describes depository storage generically; names none. States plainly it is a “non-fiduciary custodian… unable to recommend, endorse, or promote a dealer”. |
| IRA Financial → depositories or dealers | None named on its precious-metals pages. |
| IDS → its custodian clients | “Preferred partner for many IRA Administrators” — names not one. Capability marketing, not a client list. |
Why Custodians Don't Name Dealers — the Pattern That Shapes This Whole Database
Four of the eight custodians checked publish explicit disclaimers: New Direction Trust describes itself as a "non-fiduciary custodian… unable to recommend, endorse, or promote a dealer or asset provider"; GoldStar states it "is not affiliated with any precious metal dealers and receives no compensation"; STRATA disclaims due diligence on dealers and affiliation with any dealer.
The logic is structural. A passive, directed custodian administers what the account holder directs. Publishing a depository menu is operationally necessary — customers need to know where metal can be stored. Publishing a dealer relationship would read as an endorsement, which is precisely what these custodians must avoid.
The consequence for any reader researching a dealer: expect the dealer-custodian relationship to be verifiable from the dealer's side only, and weigh it as a one-sided statement. That is not a defect of this database — it is how the market's compliance structure works, and any source claiming custodian-side confirmation of a dealer relationship deserves scrutiny.
GoldStar adds one more inversion worth knowing: "The dealer you buy precious metals from usually determines which depository will be used." The custodian offers the menu; the dealer picks. A buyer who wants a specific depository should raise it with the dealer, not assume the custodian decides.
Entities That Could Not Be Checked
Six entities could not be verified from automated research as of August 21, 2026: Kingdom Trust, Forge Trust and Texas Precious Metals Depository sit behind bot-protection; the Delaware Depository and Birch Gold websites refused connections to our research infrastructure; and First State Depository's domain did not resolve at all at the checked addresses — which may indicate a move or renaming, so it is excluded from the tables above rather than listed on stale information. These are recorded as access results, not findings about any company.
How to Use This With a Provider
The practical value of the map is the questions it arms a buyer to ask: which custodian will administer this account, and can that be confirmed in writing? Which depository will hold the metal, is it on the custodian's published menu, and who chose it? Is storage segregated or commingled, and at which named facility? A provider comfortable answering in writing is providing the confirmation this database shows the public record usually cannot.
The companion pages go deeper on each tier: the depository directory profiles the facilities themselves, the IRS trustee verification method shows how to check a custodian against the IRS's own nonbank trustee list, and the STRATA and Forge Trust reviews cover custodian verification in detail. Whether a provider discloses these relationships at all is one of the ten criteria in the transparency scorecard.
Download the Relationship Database (CSV)
Methodology
- Sources: company-published pages and press materials only — dealer sites, custodian sites, depository sites. No review sites, no affiliate listicles, no third-party roundups, no inference.
- Evidence tiers: independently confirmed (custodian-published or both-ends), dealer-claimed (dealer side only, with the dealer's own verb preserved), not publicly disclosed (checked, nothing found).
- Dating: all observations August 21, 2026 except the Equity Trust press materials, which carry their own publication dates (the Lear release: December 3, 2019). A dated statement is evidence as of its date.
- Name reconciliation: entities appearing under multiple legal names (Delaware Depository's three variants; A-Mark/A-M Global; STRATA's former name Self Directed IRA Services, Inc.) are treated as single entities with variants recorded, to avoid phantom duplicates.
- Maintenance: relationships change without notice. Each table states its observation date, and the database is re-verified periodically rather than assumed current.
How to cite this dataset: "A relationship database of Gold IRA dealers, custodians and depositories compiled from company-published sources, recording 33 publicly evidenced relationships with only 15 independently confirmed, and provider non-disclosure documented as a finding. 401ktogoldira.org, observed August 21, 2026." https://401ktogoldira.org/gold-ira-custodian-depository-database/
Reviewed and edited by Daniel M. — editor, 401kToGoldIRA.org.
Update History
- August 2026: Initial publication — 33 edges across 12 dealers, 8 custodians and 9 depositories; three-tier evidence taxonomy; the Lear/Equity Trust/STRATA dated conflict recorded; six inaccessible entities documented.
FAQ
Who is Goldco's Gold IRA custodian?
Not publicly disclosed — deliberately. Goldco's own page says customers "can choose from among the custodians we work with", naming none. Review sites that name one are asserting what Goldco itself does not publish.
Where does Augusta Precious Metals store IRA gold?
Augusta's own site names Equity Trust as preferred custodian and Delaware Depository for storage. Dealer-published statements, observed August 21, 2026.
Which depositories does Equity Trust use?
Its own press materials name Delaware Depository, IDS of Delaware, IDS of Texas, and three approved Brink's locations.
Why don't custodians say which dealers they work with?
Compliance. Passive custodians avoid anything reading as dealer endorsement; four of eight checked publish explicit disclaimers. Dealer-custodian claims come from the dealer side.
Who chooses the depository?
Usually the dealer, from the custodian's published menu — GoldStar states this outright. A buyer wanting a specific facility should raise it with the dealer.
Are depositories independent third parties?
Not always — IDS is owned by wholesaler Dillon Gage, per Equity Trust's own materials. Ownership is worth checking when independence is claimed.
