Gold Storage Vault MUST Be Private, Non-Bank
Gold coin storage vault options that are truly trustworthy and affordable are few and far between. While we would all prefer something local for convenient access, a bank simply has to be avoided for a number of reasons.
Various small private facilities exist but you need to be aware of the risks and reputation. Das Safe in Vienna and Cisco Certis in Singapore are not exactly a short drive away for most people.
Other than a handful of such reputable firms around the world where small, private investors have the option of storing Gold coins and bars securely, the other options are the big names in secure vault storage:
- VIA MAT
- Brinks
- Malca Amit
- Rhenus Logistics (Zurich airport)
Unless you are a very well heeled investor storing a high value of metal, you probably are not going to be dealing directly with any of these Gold storage vault providers. Instead, you will be working with an intermediary vendor who (hopefully) adds value in a number of ways in order to differentiate themselves with competing services.
Fully Allocated, Segregated Gold Storage
There are multiple ways to accomplish the goals of most Gold coin storage customers. In the strictest sense of having fully allocated and segregated storage, you would have a specific container of some sort with your name/account number on it with your Gold inside of that. Your individual container would likely be then inside of another container that is segregated to the intermediary vendor you are working with.
A number of Gold storage vendors will say that they have fully allocated Gold but it rarely is actually segregated to you specifically. Now, does that matter? Probably not in the big scheme of things. If you have reason not to trust the vendor and the auditors that make sure your allocated Gold is legally yours then how do you know that they would not just steal it out of your segregated container anyway?
Global Gold is one of the very few Gold coin storage vault intermediaries who offer (as a costly upgrade) actual segregated storage of your metal in a separate container, shelf, palette (yeah, wouldn’t we all like to be in the palette category with our Gold ownership?).
Are Your Gold Coins In Storage Vaults Insured?
While on the one hand, one might prefer your own private safe deposit box at a company like Das Safe so that only you ever touch your Gold. Yet, often we get asked “is my Gold insured?”. I simply do not know how any company like Das Safe could insure your Gold unless you:
- Told them what was in your box (do you really want to do that?)
- Proved that those Gold coins were in your box at the time of [loss] – how do you do that?
On the other hand, most of the intermediary vendors will advertise that your Gold IS insured with them, whether it is segregated or not.
Further, with some companies (Hard Assets Alliance comes to mind), while not every single Gold coin is segregated to you (even though it is fully allocated and your legal property) large bars can be allocated to you and they can inform you what the actual serial numbers of your specific bars are.
Bottom line is that we all hope we never need to find out how well our Gold is insured. When was it ever as easy as just getting a check from an insurance company?
Buying Gold Coins With Vault Storage Options
There are a number of online Gold vendors who sell Gold & Silver with a lesser known option to store those precious metals if you choose. While I imagine those storage facilities are secure – at least in ordinary times – if it is not a large part of their business you may find the fees are less than attractive. And information on the safety of that storage option may be limited and/or hard to find & trust.
Here at BuyAndStoreGold we do our best to review the most desirable options for Gold coin storage vaults that can achieve you objectives of Gold ownership with peace of mind.
The most ardent skeptic can find SOMETHING wrong with each and every one of the options. This is one reason that we personally use more than one option. In fact, we have at least a small account with most all of the ones mentioned on this site.
By the way – that’s how we know what we are talking about. Ask some of those other big name review sites how much of their own hard earned money is at risk with the companies they promote – see if they even answer you.
Where To Send Gold Coins You Already Own For Vault Storage
There are fewer options available to you if you want someone to securely store the Gold coins you already own. That is because they are NOT going to SEGREGATE the coins to your account. If they did, why would they worry (as much) about the condition of the coins/bars? (They still would be concerned with authenticity I am sure.) Or, why would they care if they were a specific Gold product that they carried?
Not For The Small Investor
As we discussed during two of our recent interviews (here and here), many of the options for shipping off your Gold coins to vault storage are really only offered and viable for large investors. Several vendors have used the phrase “a couple HUNDRED thousand dollars worth or more”.
If you are not in that category, you may be interested to note that Hard Assets Alliance is currently scouting the interest of an option to their program that would allow you to do just that – but again, with products they carry.
Bottom Line – Gold Coin Storage Vault Options
When it comes to Gold storage “intermediaries” that we use and review there are some pretty limited options that you will find desirable when it comes to buying and storing Gold coins as opposed to allocated but still fractional bar ownership programs like a BullionVault or GoldMoney.
Hard Assets Alliance – This program is probably the most exciting option as the costs are considerably less than so many other vendors who say they offer similar service. Personally, we find HAA to be quite unique and affordably priced. You pick the specific coins or bars you want to buy, store them in the secure vault location of your choice, then retain the option to have them delivered at any time with just a few days notice. (Low minimums for account opening)
Global Gold – This program as mentioned above DOES have the option (at increased cost) for fully segregated storage. Sending them your current coins is only for the high dollar amounts. (Very high minimums for account opening)
