Disclaimer: Many or all of the companies listed here may provide compensation to us. This is how we maintain our free service for consumers. Compensation, along with hours of in-depth editorial research, determines where & how companies appear below.

==> See our full list of the top 5 precious metals investment companies here (for IRAs AND non IRAs)

See if Universalcoin made it on our list this year!

Or Get A Free Gold Investing Kit From Our #1 Recommended Company Right Away Below!

Or continue on with this Universalcoin review...

What Does Universalcoin & Bullion Do?

You can buy and sell precious metals at this company. They offer assistance with helping you to set up IRA accounts because you can make gold and bullions as part of a self-directed IRA. Keep in mind that this company doesn't directly offer IRAs, but you establish them through other companies.

Unfortunately, because Universalcoin offers IRAs through its partners, you can't see an established fee table. The fees will depend on the particular IRA that you signed up with. This bit makes the company seem slightly sketchy, but we wouldn't necessarily call it outright bad. It just seems curious because, with most of the other gold dealers, you don't need this extra step.

Can You Have Gold and Precious Metals Delivered to Your Home?

You can have gold and precious metals shipped to your home. On orders over $99, you receive free shipping, but for orders under $99, you must pay $6 in shipping fees. Provided you pay the fees associated, the company handles the shipping process. When Universalcoin ships gold and bullion, they use the following shipping services:

Credit orders usually receive packages within two to three business days. For bank wire transfers, they ship within two to three business days. Paying by money order will usually have your gold bullion sent in five to 10 business days. They ship within 10 to 15 days for personal checks.

Keep in mind, this shows you a general rule of thumb because, while they tend to ship at this rate, it depends on the demand. In cases where they get flooded with orders, the speed of their shipping becomes a hassle. For a gold dealer, this seems like poor business because they should be more top of it.

Does Shipping Include Insurance?

The shipping on Universalcoin does come insured. Obviously, if you invest in gold or silver, you want to have it covered under insurance. The shipping covers damage or loss that may occur along the way.

Can You Store with Universalcoin?

Unfortunately, buyers can't store their investment with Universalcoin, so you wouldn't buy from them if you wanted to do that. They may not let you store with them, but you can use one of their IRA partners to store your coins. Keep in mind, this comes with fees.

When in doubt, you can always sell the gold that you purchased from Universalcoin back to them. If the need arises when you need the cash, you can sell it back to them. One customer, however, said that when it came time to sell it back, they couldn't reach the company. That's a big deal, and this shouldn't prove as problematic as what it does.

What if I Live in Another Country?

Universalcoin & Bullion only serves the US market. This means that only citizens of the United States can take advantage of these services.

Legitimate Offer from Universalcoin?

While we may not call this the perfect offer because it does have its drawbacks, we wouldn't call Universalcoin a scam either. The company began to offer its services back in 1994. With that kind of track record, you can trust that they have some level of legitimacy to them, or they wouldn't still be around. The other thing is that Universalcoin has a legitimate and physical address. You can find them at 7410 Phelan Blvd., Beaumont, Texas 77706.

Along with having a physical address, Universalcoin offers multiple methods of contact, such as phone and email if you have questions.

Does Universalcoin Offer Good Support?

Unfortunately, while Universalcoin offers email and phone support, they don't include an option for LiveChat. That matters because many customers prefer LiveChat. It serves you much faster if you have questions, and you don't have to deal with being put on hold. The customer service at Universalcoin also tends to be quite helpful if you do experience problems.

Good customer service matters because when you invest with someone, you don't want them to take your money and refuse to resolve issues if they arise.

Not a Perfect Company

We have largely spoken about the good at Universalcoin, but we would like to paint a full picture. We don't think that you should look at this company with only rose-colored glasses because it does seem to have had its problems.

While they opened their doors in 1994, some people have made serious complaints against the company. One of the ongoing themes for complaints against them was that Universalcoin seemed to take forever when shipping their coins. We outlined the above average for shipping, but we would like to point out that many customers complained about the shipping time taking much longer.

Other investors with this company complained about them being pushy with their sales tactics. They didn't give the investors time to make up their own minds. While they may have had the lowest cost for bullion, they tended to use tactics that made them lose credibility. They would, for example, limit one to one coin.

Does the Company Trigger Any Red Flags?

Perhaps one of the biggest things with this company comes from the fact that they don't have many reviews of them online either positively or negatively, which is kind of strange. Scoring five stars does have its merits, but when only one or two reviews gave you five stars, you can't form a logical basis for what the overall experience might look like. This is one of the things that was a definite red flag for me. It's not that I'd say they had bad intentions, but the lack of reviews makes me want to proceed with caution.

One of the reasons that I say this is because some IRA custodians and gold brokers proudly display thousands of reviews from satisfied customers. Universalcoin only shows 10 to 20 reviews and a few of them are serious complaints against the company. That's why it may be wise to proceed with caution. We wouldn't necessarily say that this is the worst company out there, but you may find that you can invest with better companies that offer a better value if you look around more. Overall, we'd call Universalcoin more of a mediocre choice.

What Else to Know About Universalcoin

If you want to buy precious metals, they sell things like gold and silver. However, they don't sell palladium or platinum. You would need to buy from somewhere else if you wanted those metals. The one thing that I love about Universalcoin is that the company offers educational resources to keep you informed on gold and silver. I find that a good thing for the company because it encourages wise investing.

This company chiefly focuses on providing you with rare coins for US investors. That's the main thing that you get with them. The founder behind the company is Michael Fuljenz. Fuljenz's 40 years of industry experience and numerous national and regional awards have given him spectacular credibility when it comes to him leading this company. In total, Fuljenz has received over 35 NLG awards.

Universalcoin heavily promotes its silver and gold American Eagle coins, but you can buy other coins from the company too. Some of the other options available include:

In total, you can choose from 39 pieces of gold at Universalcoin. You can also buy jewelry at this company if you wanted. With each gold coin purchase, they have been assigned a unique barcode to certify its authenticity. Some of the coins will require a call-in order.

The Mixed Reviews Hurt Its Score

One of the things that has made us cautious about Universalcoin, even if we find them good overall, is that they have mixed reviews. You have people who obviously had a positive experience with the company. The people who had positive things to say about the company said that it had the lowest bullion prices, they shipped the product discreetly and packaged it well in capsules.

Many customers also reported that some of the customer service representatives were incredibly knowledgeable about their industry. They could send them in the right direction with their advice. If you have any questions, call them to see what they can tell you.

Supported by the NRA

You will sometimes find this company sells its products with the NRA. Someone who champions the cause of gun rights and would like to support a company that values that would find themselves on equal footing with Universalcoin. In fact, you can buy exclusive NRA coins from Universalcoin.

Pros and Cons

Is Universalcoin a Scam?

With the long track record in business and its legitimate offers, no one called Universalcoin a scam. They probably didn't like the company for its poor services at times, but the overall consensus is that Universalcoin does offer legitimate investment opportunities. They wouldn't be in business this long if they weren't legitimate. If you wanted to invest with them, you don't need to worry that your investment will go to waste. However, there are probably better gold dealers out there.

What's Our Verdict?

Overall, we would rate Universalcoin as three stars out of five stars. We wouldn't call it the worst company out there selling gold and precious metals, but we do see some reasons to exercise caution. For example, a few serious complaints were lodged against the company on a couple of different sites. Ripoff Report even had five complaints against this company.

Still, you did have others who reported having positive experiences with Universalcoin, and we do see this as a legitimate investment. Do we think you could find better options in the market? That's part of what causes us to rate this at three stars as a more average investment choice. It may have its problems, but like a lot of people said, they could invest in gold and silver coins for a lower price than some of the competition. Still, it's probably not your best choice.

Universalcoin is a stable company with many happy customers. No company is perfect, but investing with a good company that has good intentions will protect your investment over the long term, and Universalcoin offers that kind of investment...

You can get a free gold investment kit from our #1 recommended precious metals investment company above, or you can checkout our top 5 recommended companies below...