What is the early withdrawal penalty?
Congress built IRAs for retirement, so it discourages early use: take money out of a traditional IRA before age 59½ and you generally owe ordinary income tax plus an additional 10% tax on the distributed amount.
For a metals IRA, 'distribution' means anything leaving the account, cash from a sale inside the account, or the physical metal shipped to you. Holding the coin in your hand doesn't change the tax character.
Are there exceptions?
The code lists specific exceptions, certain medical, education, first-home, disability, and substantially-equal-payment situations among them. Each has strict conditions, and the details matter enough that this is tax-professional territory, not brochure territory.
Roth IRAs work differently: contributions (not earnings) can generally be withdrawn at any time, since they were already taxed.
How does the penalty show up in practice?
It most often appears as a surprise: someone takes metal out of an IRA at 55 to 'keep it safe at home' and discovers a tax bill the following April. If you're considering any distribution before 59½, price the tax first, it changes the math of the entire decision.