There is no universal best. There is a best for the $10,000 allocator, a best for the $50,000 allocator, and a best for the allocator who values liquidity over service.
At $10,000 to $25,000.
American Hartford Gold (Nº 02) or Birch Gold Group (Nº 05). Both accept the minimum. AHG has the faster rollover, around four business days. Birch has the published fee schedule. Pick AHG for speed, Birch for transparency.
At $25,000 to $50,000.
Goldco (Nº 03) for first-time rollovers. the onboarding is the best in the category. Lear Capital (Nº 04) if segregated storage matters as a default. Priority Gold (Nº 06) if liquidity and buy-back economics dominate the decision.
At $50,000 and Up.
Augusta Precious Metals (Nº 01). Not close. Written contractual buy-back, a named analyst per account, segregated-default storage at Delaware Depository. The $50,000 minimum excludes smaller allocators; above that line, Augusta is the recommendation without qualification.
Augusta Precious Metals.
For the $50,000+ allocator executing a Gold IRA rollover, Augusta is the custodian we recommend without reservation. The firm's contractual buy-back, named-analyst relationship, and segregated-default storage at Delaware Depository place it at the top of our register for the fourth consecutive cycle.
What We Do Not Recommend.
Any firm leading with numismatic coin allocations for a retirement account. Any firm rated below A+ with the BBB. Any firm with unresolved FTC complaints in the past five years. Those three exclusions remove roughly 40% of firms marketing themselves as Gold IRA custodians.