ideas for storing precious metals

[craezie]

We have been increasing PM holdings recently, and I have switched to physical over the paper I used to buy (and made a tidy sum on). The only thing as that I don't really know what to do with it to keep it safe. We have people in our home often, and I need to get it out of the drawer, which obviously offers no security. Other than the obvious, which is to buy a safe and put it in there, what are other good ways to store PMs? If you do use a safe, what kind do you use and how do you keep it secure?

[ctb619]

Bury it.

[gls]

I've always been a fan of diversion safes. This one is pretty cool - http://www.amazon.com/StreetWise-HWS-Hidden-Wall-Safe/dp/B002NBE1YU/ref=sr_1_25?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1321643743&sr=1-25 - although you'd have to cut a hole in your wall to install it. When you're talking about larger amounts of wealth, it's easier to hide gold than silver this way, obviously.

[KCIndy]

If you can get your hands on some good high grade military ammo boxes, they're waterproof, airtight, and damn near indestructible. You can hide/store/bury them in a lot of different places, even a few feet down somewhere in the back yard... just sayin...

Of course, you could also consider selling a bunch of your stash and maxing out to the Ron Paul '12 campaign.... ;) ;)

[Steven Douglas]

Look at it solely in terms of the principle involved. What is more impenetrable - a quality, expensive safe that cannot be moved or opened by any but the very best, or a location which cannot be discovered or found? It's not the ATM card or even the bank vault that keeps your account balance safe, but the fact that you are the only person who knows the PIN code.

Some see a "hidden safe" as affording the most protection, but I see the "hidden" part as better than 9/10ths of the security value, and not the "quality of the safe". Because once the location of a safe is known, it's no longer a question of how good that safe is, but only what force is required to retrieve and/or open it. And sometimes that is as simple as a subpeona or a search warrant. In such a case, the cheapest cardboard box in a place that truly is unknown and un-discoverable is infinitely more safe.

Use your imagination. Wherever anyone might think to look, the space of which is finite - avoid that. Wherever anyone might think to look, the space and possibilities of which are infinite - look there.

[Seraphim]

Mine is all with MF Global.

[SL89]

I have mine split up into different locations. Some quite creative. ;)

[Original_Intent]

Creativity is fun. And don't put all your eggs in one basket.

[Steven Douglas]

Creativity is fun. And don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Are you drafting a new Constitution? If so, you nailed it thus far, it got my vote!

[Original_Intent]

I'll throw out a few ideas that I DON'T use. ;D

If you are like me and always have a few obsolete computers around, having a couple in various obvious states of disassembly you can put quite a bit in an empty case. You could also gut an old VCR or similar and put a good bitin the case.

Build a false bottom into a large trunk, put your stash under and then fill the trunk with old clothes or whatever that no one would have interest in.

In a previous home, we had a whirlpool bath with an access panel to the motor.

I like the fake outlet above, but it seemed like pretty limited storage amount. Since you are making a hole in your wall anyway, why not "fill in"?

I don't have a cat, but if I did, I'd put a fake bottom in their litter box, put some kind of liner in to keep any cat waste away from your goods - pretty good bet that would get left alone. Things like that - the more off the wall, the better.

[Steven Douglas]

Not bad, OI!

Here are some ideas - most are not that imaginative, but a few of them are quite good.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/photos/places-to-hide-money/3656844/

[Mahkato]

If you hide your PMs in lots of different places, you will probably lose them to forgetfulness rather than theft. When you die, do your heirs know where to look, or will they sell your house with thousands of ounces of silver sitting behind the wallboards in the bathroom?

[Original_Intent]

If you hide your PMs in lots of different places, you will probably lose them to forgetfulness rather than theft. When you die, do your heirs know where to look, or will they sell your house with thousands of ounces of silver sitting behind the wallboards in the bathroom?

Easy to deal with. you have a large filing cabinet with thousands of papers. you have a folder with some innocent name and full of a bunch of worthless papers. You let your heirs know what folder and in that folder you have a non-descipt piece of paper with the locations. Or you could do many similar schemes, how easy is it to hide a piece of paper? (I mean behind a family picture, or a thousand others.) Then you just let your heirs know the location. If you don't trust your heirs put it (the list) in a safe deposit box and leave the key to your heirs. Or a thousand other ways. You just need to make the master list location, which can be VERY tiny, very secure. you could even put it on a thumb drive and password protect the file. Again, there's almost no limit to what you can do, not be worried about forgetting where you put it, or worried about your heirs being able to find it.

[Bern]

...
Some see a "hidden safe" as affording the most protection, but I see the "hidden" part as better than 9/10ths of the security value, and not the "quality of the safe". Because once the location of a safe is known, it's no longer a question of how good that safe is, but only what force is required to retrieve and/or open it. And sometimes that is as simple as a subpeona or a search warrant. In such a case, the cheapest cardboard box in a place that truly is unknown and un-discoverable is infinitely more safe.
...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iABPKd0vFxQ


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ2YW7-4Gbw

The backscatter technology can also see high density materials like gold, silver and precious metals. Don't skimp on security IMO.

[Steven Douglas]

The backscatter technology can also see high density materials like gold, silver and precious metals. Don't skimp on security IMO.

Good vids, and right to the point. Backscatter technology is but one way of finding something, once it is known where to look. And "property", inside and out, real or otherwise, constitutes a single "known" place to look. Quite finite when you think about it.

I have always thought that the safest place to store precious metals is in the same basic place it came from in the first place - off-site and back in the ground from whence it came. Arg, where is the map with the X? There's more to it than that, of course, but you don't necessarily even have to own the ground that it's stored in. You just need ready access to it, along with the greatest unlikelihood of discovery, accidental or otherwise, for all that entails. And the longer term the storage, the less immediate accessibility is required.