Six rules for keeping your precious metals stash safe and secure

With crime on the rise, it is becoming increasingly important to make sure your personal valuables – including especially your precious metals – are held securely.

Money Metals Exchange staff have heard numerous horror stories from clients who have had some of their bullion holdings stolen from inside their own houses.

The culprits often turn out to be people who were known by the victims and invited into their home. Common perpetrators of in-home thefts include caregivers, housekeepers, and contractors.

Sometimes, sadly, relatives or acquaintances take advantage of the trust they are given and steal from those close to them.

Rule #1: Don't talk about your precious metals holdings

Gold and silver bugs tend to be enthusiastic about their precious metals holdings. They are rightfully proud of their decision to convert spare Federal Reserve notes into sound money.

They are also often eager to help educate others about precious metals markets and sound money principles.

There's certainly nothing wrong with spreading the
word about gold and silver!

Where some precious metals holders go wrong, however, is when they decide to talk about the details of their personal holdings.

Nobody outside your household needs to know how many gold Krugerrands, silver Maple Leafs, or platinum Eagles you may own – or where you may be storing them.

Rule #2: Don't assume a home safe deters thieves

Most home safes are not as “safe” as people think they are. A safe that is plainly visible in an obvious location such as a master bedroom closet practically announces itself to thieves as the place to find your valuables.

Any burglar who has some tools, some skills, and some determination can break into a typical home safe. But in the moment, a burglar may find it easier to just remove a safe from a home and figure out how to access its contents later.

A safe should be hidden from view, in a non-obvious location. It should also, ideally, be embedded in concrete or attached to other structural elements. Another approach is to hide your valuables in this clever book safe.

Rule #3: Don't assume insurance will cover your losses

A typical homeowner's or renter's insurance policy covers losses of personal property inside a home. However, certain types of valuables including precious metals are excluded from most coverage – unless a special rider is purchased.

It may be more cost effective to obtain insurance on precious metals holdings when they are held in a secure bullion storage facility (see Rule #6).

Rule #4: Don't put all your (golden) eggs in one basket

For convenience and for immediate access during an emergency, you’ll want to store some of your precious metals at home.

But not all of them.

The old adage, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” applies. A single point of access for your entire bullion stash means it is potentially vulnerable to a single security breach.

Having multiple storage locations in your home or around your property makes it less likely that an individual criminal will be able to loot all your valuables.

Having at least one other storage location far removed from your home will ensure that you never suffer a total loss even if your property is invaded and ransacked from top to bottom.

The risks to keeping valuable tangible assets at home include not just burglary, but fire, flood, and other disasters that could render your home destroyed or inaccessible.

Rule #5: Avoid bank safe-deposit boxes

Bank safe-deposit boxes seem to offer a high level of security. And while they are unlikely to be burglarized, other risks remain.

For one thing, many banks specifically prohibit the use of safe-deposit boxes for storing money, including precious metals coins and/or bullion.

Holders of safe deposit boxes at banks are often surprised to learn that the contents of their box are not insured. Worse, banks have a history of working with regulators and may well be complicit in any government scheme to declare a bank holiday and “bail-in” or confiscate assets.

Banks are financial institutions. One of the reasons, presumably, that you decided to move some portion of your wealth into hard money was to protect yourself from risks within the financial system.

You therefore don’t want to make the mistake of leaving your bullion in some way beholden to it.

Rule # 6: Store some of your bullion in a secure vault outside your home

A commercial vault facility has far stronger and more sophisticated anti-theft systems in place than you ever could have inside your home.

When it comes to physical security, a professional vaulting service such as Money Metals Depository cannot be matched.

Our facilities offer armed guards, Class 3 vaults, multiple perimeters, state-of-the-art electronic security, dual controls, and fully segregated storage.

Plus, you get insurance coverage that’s automatically included on your entire bullion holding – and at a rate that’s way lower than homeowners insurance riders will generally cost.

Owning physical gold and silver with Money Metals Depository gives you the convenience of not having to take delivery of your bullion or send it anywhere when you want to sell.

You can also open a precious metals IRA account that consists of eligible coins, rounds, or bars stored in a secure vault on your behalf.