How to Safely Store Bullion
We cover timeless and timely methodologies to help you guard and insure your bullion against theft and other potentially nefarious actors.
In the following content, we will cover two highly successful methodologies to safely storing gold, platinum, palladium, and silver coins, bars, and rounds.
1st) We will first discuss home bullion storage tactics and best practices.
2nd) Then we will discuss bank safe deposit do’s and don’ts.
3rd) We will discuss setting up a direct segregated account with secure logistics providers (no middlemen) which we regard as the safest bullion vaulting methodology for bullion buyers and owners.
A mixture of all three and or reliance on one or two options is dependent on one’s bullion ownership size (cost-effectiveness) and risk concerns (local, geopolitical, etc.).
Finally, we will discuss best practices for legal living wills and chain of custody protocols for any large bullion holders in case father time comes all of a sudden
Let us begin.
Home Bullion Storage - Best Practices for Safety & Privacy
Inconspicuously hiding bullion in a home or apartment is nothing new and not extremely difficult. Yet it may be most prudent to use diversification of unseen safely hidden locations to better safeguard your bullion against as many reasonable scenarios and threats as possible.
Common sense says the lesser amount of people who know you own bullion the better.
This may sound cynical but the highest probability of having your bullion stolen is by someone closest to you (acquaintances, friends, house servants, or even family members).
The likely safest way to stash bullion is using various well diversified hidden locations.
Keep, perhaps, only your most trusted loved ones knowing the bullion’s exact hidden whereabouts. One’s physical ownership of bullion at home should remain as unknown as possible in relation to one's circle of acquaintances, servants, and peripheral friendships.
Your imagination and creativity may be the lone limit to your hidden home bullion storage options and tactics.
Home bullion safe(s) can be useful if hidden well and installed with trusted, bonded home safe professionals. Depending on how much you are planning on storing first hand, you might want to consider having 2 hidden safes.
With two hidden bullion safes, you could simply stuff some petty cash in a decoy safe along with some trivial bullion stack you would be willing to lose if the worst were to happen. In the case of a home robbery or invasion, thieves will likely just take the decoy safe contents believing they have made off with all your best tangible valuables.
Other typical home bullion hiding spots include inside furniture, between walls, above room ceilings, deep in attics, under beds, in closets, between floors, or hidden within dresser drawers or wooden furniture structures. Your creativity is key.
The more creative your bullion hiding spot(s) are, the better protected you will likely remain against potential theft because criminals won’t think to search in some “outside of the box” locations.
If you want to brainstorm on potential ideas for bullion hiding spots, try an internet search for ‘secret hiding places for valuables’ or ‘secret compartments for valuables’ and you’ll find a wealth of potential ideas and even products.
Be certain to choose hidden locations that are dry with low humidity if possible. Silver bullion does oxidize easily and can erode in value if a large portion of its value relies on its collectibility or condition. Gold coins that aren’t 24k pure can corrode as well given that 22k gold coins often have copper and even silver mixed into them.
Thus it may be prudent to invest in some desiccant packets to keep hidden bullion items as dry as possible while being stored (especially in damp basements for instance).
Bank Safe Deposit Boxes for Bullion
There are many well-intentioned bullion buyers who choose to take delivery of their bullion and then go right out and rent a safe deposit box at their local banking institution for storage. The issues with this choice are wide-ranging.
First, bank safe deposit boxes are not FDIC insured. They are often limited in size and not cost effective for bulk silver bullion storage. If stored items are somehow stolen either by bank employees or potential thieves, the bank would likely need a separate insurance policy to hopefully make you whole.
Bank safe deposit boxes are also subject to freezes and seizures resulting from tax debts, penalties, court orders, and failure to pay or adhere to the bank safe deposit agreement itself. Lastly, banks are also susceptible to financial system failures or potential ‘bank holidays’ where you may not have access to your holdings when you might need or want them most.
On the contrary, there are some arguments which do make sense for having some bullion in a safe deposit box so long as perhaps a third party private bank safe deposit insurance policy is procured. Given the close proximity most banks are to their bank safe deposit holders, and the security most banks have, there is a case for potentially having some bullion hidden away in a bank safe deposit box so long as one understands the potential drawbacks of such a choice (with or without insurance).
Non-Bank Bullion Depository Options
Earlier in this document, we discussed various fully insured, third party, professional non-bank segregated bullion depositories and secure logistics firms larger bullion owners should consider (as opposed to having too much bullion under one’s own domicile or within one’s local bank safe deposit boxes).
You do not have to be a millionaire bullion holder either. With many secure logistics firm’s prices, you can rather easily justify having about $50,000 US dollar valued bullion holdings or more mostly depending on the minimal storage fees associated. Revert back to this aforementioned section for further suggestions and contact details.
Remember to always minimize risks you must kill all conflicts of interests. Only store directly with professional non-bank secure logistics providers with long successful track records. Steer clear of storing with whomever you buy your bullion from always as potential fractional reserve conflicts of interest can arise with such business models.
Always own and control your physical bullion account direct and outright, unencumbered. With private bullion holdings (outside of IRA holdings, which must have approved custodians), always deal direct with a trusted secure logistics provider you entrust with any safe haven bullion holdings you have. No middlemen.
Bullion in Living Wills
An important final point for anyone with dependents.
Father time can come at any time, no one is guaranteed another day. Morbid as it sounds, accidents do happen.
Make sure your most trusted loved one(s) have an ability to locate hidden bullion holdings in case the worst were to ever happen. Itemizing bullion holdings in a last will and testament is a common practice that can be sealed and only opened in the case of sudden death for instance.
Enjoy your life and your loved ones each and every day.
And of course, plan accordingly.