Tom Dyson discusses The Four Best Places to Keep Your Gold. For those who prefer owning the physical metal as opposed to gold ETF’s and other gold derivative products, this is an informative piece.
1. Bank Safety Deposit Box
A bank safety deposit box was the first solution Michael mentioned. It is the easiest. Boxes cost as little as $50 a year. If you’re already a customer of the bank, they may even offer it to you for free.
But I have a problem with banks. What if they go bankrupt? You don’t want to get stuck banging on a locked door when you need your coins in a hurry. Second, Michael says the Feds can force banks to divulge information about your security box. They can force the bank to tell them whether or not you own a box. Then the Feds can issue a subpoena and force the bank to open it.
2. Individual Retirement Account (IRA)
For those individuals who already have an IRA and want to diversify their holdings into precious metals, this solution may work well.
To qualify for inclusion in an IRA, the gold must by pure, 24-karat gold. The Feds make one exception to this rule: They allow you to put the U.S. Eagle, a 22-karat gold coin, in your IRA.
I see a couple of big problems with buying gold in your IRA. First, you can’t put coins you already own into an IRA. You have to make a fresh purchase. Secondly, you don’t have access to the coins. A qualified custodian must keep them on your behalf.
3. Private Security Vault
Private security vaults in this context are different from banks. The companies that operate private security vaults are generally not chartered as banks, but operate as independent businesses.
Another option is to send your gold overseas to a private security vault. I like this idea. You keep your gold where it’s out of reach of the U.S. government. These private vaults don’t qualify as financial institutions, so you don’t have to report them as foreign accounts when you file your taxes. Michael recommends Safes Fidelity in Geneva and Das Safe in Vienna. These are the two safest, most confidential vault businesses in the world. You can send them your gold through the mail. Just make sure you use registered insured mail. Or you can take it there yourself.
This is an excellent solution for those with the means to travel to and from the vault. But in a real SHTF where there is a complete breakdown in society, it will be difficult, if not impossible to leave the USA, go to another country, and then bring your gold back to the US safely. Gloom Boom & Doom publisher Dr. Marc Faber recommends that American citizens hold their gold outside of the USA because of the potential for a repeat of FDR’s 1933 gold confiscation. With an opposing view, Mr. Howard Katz, as outlined in his article Confiscation of Gold believes that the current situation will not lead to confiscation as it did in the 30’s.
4. Hide Your Gold at Home
But of all the places Michael suggested, hiding gold on your property was my favorite solution. You have instant 24-hour access to your gold, and you don’t pay any storage charges. The key is, it has to be safe.
One option is to install a safe or a gun locker in a discreet part of your house. Make sure you secure the safe to the floor so a thief can’t carry it out of your house. Or you can bury the gold in your backyard or a friend’s backyard. You can buy waterproof coin tubes online or go to Home Depot and buy a PVC tube and caps to seal the ends.
OPSEC, or operational security, would be critical if this is the method chosen. If it is TEOTWAWKI, having your precious metals on hand for immediate use could be a life saver. Home access to your PM’s will allow you to dig them up quickly, put them in your BOB (Bug Out Bag) and move them quickly to your BOL (Bug Out Location).
So, before you actually buy gold or silver, take how you will secure it into consideration.
Ok say you buy this gold and society crumbles. Who is going to be giving you market value for this gold and what good is it going to be? I would think the dollar would be a more common trading tool. Ill admit I am ignorant. If anyone can explain please do.
Comments…..It is known as barter.
Joe, the first thing I’d recommend if you’d like to learn about the value of gold vs. an inflated(or inflating) paper currency, is watch this timely video on the current situation in Zimbabwe
what happened in Zimbabwe is that the government essentially printed and printed Z dollars in extreme levels. this caused so much paper currency to hit the market, that you had tons of currency chasing few goods, therefore, the price of each good exploded.
Insofar as the US Dollar is concerned, if you just take a look at the price of a glass of coca cola in, say, 1950, it may have been a nickel. Today, that same glass may cost you between $1 and $2 depending on where you buy it. My point: As the Federal reserve expanded our paper money supply, more money was chasing essentially the same amount of goods. This led to an increase in the price of those goods. this is a basic example of inflation.
Today, we are printing trillions and trillions of dollars. The theory goes, that at some point in the future we will see a rise in the price of goods that far exceeds what we have seen up to this point. since the Federal Reserve was created, the dollar has lost roughly 95% of its purchasing power! Today, we are printing much much faster than ever before, and some estimate that in just a couple years we may see price increases in goods of 70% or more.
Imagine a situation where the price of goods are increasing 5%…20%….60% every month. If all you have is cash, you are going to be broke very very quickly.
The purpose of gold is to counter this. some argue gold is no longer money, but if you look at central banks around the world (china, India, russia, and even the US) they know the importance of gold, that is why they want to acquire it. Gold has been money for literally thousands of years. the Byzantine empire used it as currency, the romans used silver, spain, england, and even right here in the US our coins, up until 1964 contained silver. Precious metals, for reasons I don’t want to get into here, have always had value. It has been the primary medium of exchange for centuries and will likely remain the primary medium of exchange for centuries to come.
where does gold get its value? Well, this would be based, more or less, on its available supply and its demand by central banks and private investors.
Let’s say the entire world collapsed, straight up. Initially gold may not be that important to the average guy on the street (or in his hideout), but eventually, when commerce and trade resume, the medium of exchange will likely be barter items (food, services, etc.) and gold. My view is that so long as central banks, governments and people in very high places put a value on gold, that value will filter down to the average person on the street that is holding it. while you may find absolutely zero value in it, someone else does, thus making it tradeable, monetary instrument.
when phantom dollars, back by nothing, producing nothing finally become worthless, it will no longer be a viable trading tool. Therefore, having some sort of backup monetary unit for yourself would be ideal. whether that is gold, food or some special skill you possess is up to you.
A little bit of each won’t hurt.
Hopefully that gives you a basic explanation.
Thanks for reading.
Mac
Comments…..You might want to consider getting some “junk” silver coins. Silver is still relatively cheap.  If you stop and think about it, we have used real silver coinage in our monetary system heretofore. It would not require any conversion and can and I would think be able to be used and valued based on the going rate of silver at the point of usage (or demand)
Joanne, great reco on the junk silver. While silver/gold 1 ounce coins/bars are good to have for wealth preservation, junk silver like half dollars, quarters and dimes will be an excellent bartering tool because of the small denominations.Â
They can easily be used as a monetary unit even if the USD gets destroyed in the future. With junk silver, one should be able to acquire basic goods like food, water, gas, etc.
Apmex is a convenient online store to buy junk at fairly decent prices:
http://www.apmex.com/Category/17/90_Silver_Coins_Rolls__Bags.aspx
For those with a tight budget, check out the $10.00 (40 count) 90% silver quarters  and also the $5 (50 count) 90% dimes.
You can order one of each set for a total of $230.00 right now. (Nov 13, 2009)
If we have a true currency crisis (which I expect), does anyone know where we can find a list of possible government responses that could negatively impact those who own gold and silver? For example, I worry that they may decide to discourage ownership with onerous reporting requirements. Or, if a person needs to convert some of it to currency, they could impose heavy taxes on capital gains so that there will be little or no benefit to owning it. Or, what if they make owning gold or silver illegal?  Nothing would surprise me anymore.Â
Thank You very much for the reply. It was very clear.
Mac,
So I would presume you own gold/silver?
Chris,
Yes. A variety of gold and silver assets.
Gary, i think you just started the list of possible government responses!
The other day I thought that perhaps they may even raise capital gains taxes on precious metals type stocks to obscene levels. In fact, they may just do this for all stocks in the future.
Like you said, nothing is out of the realm of possibility at this point. When governments go broke, they break their citizens as well.
One SHTF Plan visitor, Bob Ketchen, posted this comment on another gold article:
“The US does not have to take anyone’s gold , all thay have to do is OUT LAW its use as legal tender !!! If you cannot pay debts if you cannot purchase with gold it becomes useless . No need to take it . Give the sheeple x number of days to turn it in for dollars and there you go ,  all done with gold .”
Perhaps one of us should put together an article on it! It looks like we have five possibilities thus far, and I am sure there are more.
Mac
Where does the average person go to buy gold or silver?
Chris, there are several options for buying precious metals. Most Common:
1) You can buy directly from a coin dealer in your area.
Honestly, I do not do this very often. I am not trying to rag on dealers here, but I have found that most dealers charge high premiums on silver/gold. Unless you are buying in bulk and know how to negotiate the prices, you may end up paying more.
The Benefit: when you pay in cash with a local dealer, the transaction is off the books and no one knows you were there. This is the most private method, as there is no paper trail linking your purchase with your name, address, etc.
2) Buy online. There are several online dealers.
http://www.apmex.com
http://www.kitco.com
http://www.nwtmint.com/
My personal favorite is Apmex. They seem to have the best prices, often run specials and offer discounts depending on the amount you purchase.
CON: Your purchase will need to be paid for through electronic means (usually and for convenience). This means you have to pay with a credit card or a direct wire transfer (it’s quite easy). I believe you can also pay with a check/money order, but don’t quote me on that. Note that in addition to the cost of the precious metals and the premium you pay, you will need to cover shipping and handling. Sometimes, the price ends up being almost as much as buying from a local dealer.
Benefit: It is very convenient and they have so many varieties of precious metals to choose from that it’s like going into a toy store!
3) Local coin shows.
If you are in a big city, there may be a coin show every few months. Because there are so many dealers, you can usually get “rock-bottom” prices. The benefits are the same as #1.
4) Volume purchasing
If you are looking to buy in volume, say, over $10,000 worth of PM’s at a time, check out http://www.tulving.com . Absolutely the best prices you will find anywhere.
Hope that helps!
Mac
Appreciate it. I am just torn whether to buy some now. Alot of people are saying its going higher but I also worry buying at such a high price now. I have read others saying these prices won’t last.Â
Chris, I am right there with you right now. I am trying to decide whether i should enter some gold positions in the GDX ETF and Goldcorp and a junior miner working in China.
Will it continue higher, or will there be a “correction?”
Tough call to make.
One cross-question I am asking is, “will the stock market crash, and why?”
Right now, the US Dollar seems to be very much correlated (inversely) to the stock market. I suspect if we have a dollar rebound, which is something I have posted about here for the last couple months, I think gold will drop along with the market — at least a little bit. I am not sure if gold has become THE safe haven asset yet.
Are people putting money into gold because they fear inflation? or because they fear instability in government?
If it is the former, then a dollar UPWARD correction should lead to a price decline. And it could be significant, like we saw in 2008.
If it is the latter, then we may see gold drop a little on initial dollar strength, but there should be more buying as the price drops to the new resistance level at around $1000. (More on this in a future post this week, with comments from Marc Faber)
My strategy thus far has been to continue to accumulate. Though, I will admit, I have not bought any precious metals related assets since gold crossed $1000.
At this point, I think I am waiting for a pullback.
In my mind, it is not out of the question for gold to drop back to $900, or even lower.
But, I’ll be kicking myself if it moves to $1500 and beyond. But so be it.
Whatever the case may be long-term, I am a firm believer that gold will surpass $2000 at some point in the next several years, therefore I am not selling at all, no matter what happens going forward. If we are in the middle of a massive collapse/currency crisis, which I think we are, I would not be surprised to see gold at $5000 or higher as forecast by Peter Schiff and Bob Chapman. Of course, I cannot give you a time frame. Could be 2011…could be 2012… could be 2016.
If I didn’t have any precious metals assets, I might pull the trigger with some of my funds right now… and perhaps wait to see what happens with the rest. I would be very hesitant about going “all in” right now because of the very reasons you cited.
Please do not take this as investment advice. It is simply an opinion and the final decision is, of course, yours.
I would encourage you to check out the articles from Mr. Howard Katz, located here:
https://www.shtfplan.com/category/howard-katz
Mr. Katz seems to have a very good handle on gold, the economy and where we are going.
Also, I will be putting up a post regarding gold by Martin Armstrong some time in the next day or two, which I would highly recommend. (In fact, I would recommend everything from Martin Armstrong: http://www.shtfplan.com/category/martin-armstrong including his article from August 9th discussing $5000 gold.
NEVER put your gold in a bank deposit box!
After what we have seen of late that is the LAST place
I would stash my gold & silver coins.
The Fed, IRS, local and state goons can walk into ANY
bank at ANY time and seize their contents for ANY reason.
And after what we’ve seen over the last couple of years I
wouldn’t put it past them for a second.
A “bank holiday” can be declared (like the Great Depression)
after which all safe depsoit boxes are seized.
Leinholders can also seize your bank assets if they have a
claim and the bank will bar you from access to your box.
I have a a fake wall in my basement behind which I store
my gold & silver ingots, coins, etc. in a fireproof/waterproof
safe…and it’s goonproof!