In the past few years, many people have turned to buying gold and silver for the first time …
Some concerned about the erosion of their purchasing power as the dollar is devalued, and some concerned about the collapse of the US financial system in the face of sharply rising government debt.

If you are thinking about buying physical precious metals now, several factors should be considered in deciding which form to buy and where to store it.
Keeping your silver and or gold bullion safe from theft will of course be the most important reason for obtaining secured storage when you’re buying precious metals. The other primary concern is your “ease-of-access” to your precious metal assets.
Let’s review what storage options for physical precious metals are available in detail.

Some sellers of bullion coins or bars will store your precious metals for you;
Some dealers will only ship to you or to a depository you designate.

Those mints and/or sellers who will hold your precious metals for you, may hold it in allocated or unallocated accounts.
The distinction is very important.
 

Precious Metals Depositories

 

Precious Metals Depositories are private vaults operated by companies where you can have your coin or bullion stored either on a monthly basis or long term on an annual basis. These vaults are 100 percent secure and will include insurance to cover against theft, fire or other natural disasters. You will find depositories located in the United States as well as other countries such as Zurich Switzerland, Hong Kong or London. Two well known precious metal depositories are Brinks and Via Mat.

There are three different types of storage options available that include non-segregated storage, non-segregated allocated storage and fully segregated storage.

Non-Segregated Storage

Non-segregated storage means your gold or silver coin or bullion will actually be stored along with other people’s gold and silver in the same vault in the same place. For example your investment might be a fraction of one 400 ounce gold bar. Someone else might own the rest of that bar or a group of other people will own portions of that same bar. Your investment is not clearly defined by a certificate of ownership. Although this is the cheapest storage option for insured vault storage available, it is not a recommended choice because you really do not want your metals mixed with other people’s metals.

Non-Segregated Storage/Allocated

This means that while your metals are stored with other people’s metals the metal you own, is only in your name. You are issued a certificate of ownership. This clearly states where your metal is located and by serial number what portions of a bullion bar or bars is yours. Therefore your metal investment is clearly defined. If you cannot get allocated storage do not use this type of storage. On the other hand if it is allocated then you will have the benefit of safe, secure, insured storage but at a reduced storage price. Do understand however you’re sharing your space with other people’s investments. This is a very good option for someone looking to save money in storage fees but still have a very high level of safety and security for their investments.

Fully Segregated Storage

With Segregated Storage your gold or silver coin or bullion will be stored in an individual section or area of the vault and your gold or silver separate from or not mixed with precious metal owned by anyone else. You will have a certificate of ownership designating you as the owner of the metals stored in a specific location. This is the best option for precious metals storage available, however at a higher cost.
 

Conclusion: Securing Your Precious Metals

 
It is important that the storage arrangement you choose satisfy your investment goals. As you have discovered in reading this, there are considerations that are different from those that affect buying stocks. There are also opportunities for profit and security that are unique to precious metals.

If you live in N.America, there are several precious metals depositories in or near Wilmington, Delaware, that will hold and insure material in segregated accounts for individual customers. An advantage to many N. American buyers is that Delaware does not levy a sales tax on material shipped to a Delaware depository, nor a personal property tax on stored material, nor a sales tax on storage charges.

If you want to maximize your security and access to precious metals held in your own name, there are several prestigious, highly-reputable, non-bank depositories in London, Zurich, HongKong, and Australia that will hold your physical assets for you.
We will list a few of those non-bank precious metals depositories in future articles.

To see more great articles on precious metals investing,
simply go to the side-bar on the right side of this page,
look for “Blog Categories” and select “precious metals” from the drop-down menu.