There are lots of reasons to buy silver—it’s a real asset, the coins are
beautiful, it will likely outperform gold, and it’s more affordable. But that
affordability comes with a catch.
Once you start to accumulate, you quickly realize that silver requires a
lot more storage space than gold. It’s relatively easy to hide some gold
coins in a sock drawer or cookie jar, but those hiding places are impractical
for the same dollar amount of silver.
So how do we store our silver bullion both efficiently and safely? And
should it be stored at home anyway? This video and the article below provides
solutions for those investors that are stacking silver:
Everyone should keep some silver (and gold) in a place that is easily
and immediately accessible. One advantage bullion offers is its high
liquidity in a period of crisis—no worries about bank closures, lack of
access to funds, or internet problems.
So, if you have some bullion close by, you have the ability to fight
through a crisis. On the other hand, if your silver is two days away or
time-consuming to get to, its use as an emergency asset has diminished.
Storing Silver Bullion at Home
As Mike Maloney
pointed out in his book, Guide
to Investing in Gold and Silver, “I believe everyone should have gold and
silver in his or her own private possession, where you can lay your hands on
it, because they are one of the few financial assets that can be completely
private and not part of the financial system.”
This doesn’t necessarily mean you should keep it inside your house. It
means you want some of it readily accessible in an emergency, whether that
emergency be a personal one or on a national scale.
Here are the three factors to consider when storing silver at home:
Factor #1. Space and Weight Requirements
At today’s prices, dollar for dollar, you get roughly 70 times more ounces
of silver than gold. On top of that, silver is a lot less dense than gold. In
fact, pure silver is 84% larger in volume than pure gold. Add those two facts
together and it means that silver takes up as much as 128 times more space
than gold for the same dollar value!
Here’s a couple practical examples of the difference: A one-ounce American
Gold Eagle coin is about the same size as a U.S. $.50 piece, and can fit in
your pants pocket along with your other change, keys, and cell phone. But, a
one-ounce American Silver Eagle coin is significantly larger—your pants
pocket would have to hold 70 of them and they’d weigh almost 5 pounds. The
same is true with larger amounts: you can hold $50,000 worth of gold in one
hand—but it would take 10 large shoe boxes to hold the same dollar amount of
silver!
The difference in weight is also significant: at current prices, $50,000 worth
of gold weighs about 2.6 pounds—but the same value of silver would weigh
almost 200 pounds!
In other words, whether you’re dealing with coins or bars, you’ll need a
lot more space to store silver bullion. It’s also more difficult, expensive,
and cumbersome to transport.
The most popular form of silver is the one-ounce
American Silver Eagle coin. And the most popular order size is what’s
called a monster box—a case of 500, 1-ounce coins, separated into 25 tubes of
20 coins each. A monster box measures 15” X 8.5” X 4.5”. Here’s how big that
is:
A
monster box of Canadian Silver Maple Leaf coins varies slightly (instead
of 25 tubes of 20 coins, it contains 20 tubes of 25 coins), and measures: 10”
X 8” X 5”.
If you’re stacking bars, the most popular size is the 100-ounce
silver bar. The dimensions are roughly the same for most bars—here’s what
one measures from the Royal Canadian Mint: 7.2” X 3.2” X 0.8”. It’s
roughly the size of three or four large Hershey bars stacked on top of each
other.
Factor #2. Personal Comfort Level
How much bullion are you comfortable keeping in your home?
Your two biggest risks are theft and natural disaster. Here’s a checklist
of questions to ask yourself about storing your bullion at home…
• Does more than one person know you own precious metals? If so, who
might they tell, even if it’s innocent? Do your kids know? Depending on their
age and maturity, could they talk?
• Is your income or assets high enough to make you a natural target?
Do you work in the public eye? Have you talked positively about gold and
silver, including on social media?
• Do you have an alarm system? This may not prevent a theft but would
ideally give you an immediate police response.
• Are your hiding spots clever enough? To answer this, “think like a
thief;” how long before a persistent and desperate burglar finds your
bullion?
• If you use a safe, is it fireproof? What level of protection does
your safe have against other natural disasters?
• Is your safe small enough that a thief could walk out with it? If
it’s secured to the floor in some way, how would you respond if a thief found
it and demanded you open it?
• Do you have some decoy bullion or valuables?
• Is your bullion hidden so well that you couldn’t find it if you
forgot where it was? Or would your heirs would have a hard time finding it?
• Keep in mind that insuring your home-stored bullion is costly, and
most home insurance plans may not cover the full value if silver rises a lot
in price. Further, it breaks the golden rule of telling too many people what
you have—insurance agents, office staff, corporate offices, appraisers and
their staff—and don’t forget that they might tell someone! Insuring
your home-stored bullion is a personal decision, but we prefer the privacy.
Indoor storage is practical for small quantities. You can probably think
of dozens of places in your home where no one would think to look.
The trick is to hide your bullion in such a way that it isn’t too
complicated for you or your heirs to find, but is very hard for a thief to
find.
Factor #3. Hiding Tips
Here are a few tips on hiding locations (please note that some of these
come from customer input and are not necessarily what we would recommend)…
Nothing Obvious: No fake cookie jars, rocks, or carved
out books. They’re too common. If you’ve seen your hiding spot in a movie,
find another one. Also, think of places where a plumber, electrician,
gardener or maid won’t stumble across it.
Three Layers Deep: Since most burglars look for things
they can grab and go, a good rule of thumb is to store your silver three
layers deep. For example, a floor safe, covered by floor boards, with carpet
and a china cabinet over it.
Safes: A safe is certainly much better than behind some
books, but keep in mind that no safe is 100% secure. A safe buys you time,
nothing more. If you use a key safe, hide the key separately from the safe.
If you use a combination lock, don’t assume you’re immune from a robbery—a
friend of my father’s told him the story of robbers pointing a gun to his
wife’s head while they asked him for the combination to his safe.
Another consideration is the weight of the safe. One that weighs, say, 100
pounds, could be stolen by one or two burglars with some basic tools like a
dolly or straps. A 300-400 pound safe removes the risk of theft by a single
person. Heavier than 500 pounds and you’re immune from most home burglaries,
unless there’s a group of them with a heavy-duty vehicle and equipment. Don’t
forget that the contents of the safe increase the weight, especially if
you’ve got silver in it. Of course, the heavier the safe the more likely
you’ll need it delivered and installed, which then tips your hand to the
installation company that you’ve likely got a lot of valuables in the house.
Midnight Gardening: The term “midnight gardening” comes
from people who bury their precious metals at night so the digging won’t be
noticed. Here are a couple pointers if you choose to bury your silver.
• Try a container that is airtight, waterproof, and won’t rust.
• Consider how easy or difficult it is to find. If it’s too easy, a thief
could find it. But it it’s too difficult your heirs may have a hard time
locating it. Find a place, on property you own, that you’ll always remember
but isn’t obvious if someone learns you’ve buried something valuable. It’s
probably not a good idea to leave complicated instructions; if you use a
“treasure map,” consider giving part of the instructions to one person you
trust and the other part to a different confidant.
• Also, be aware that metal detectors can detect up to a depth of about 4
feet.
A related option might be to install a safe in the floor of a storage
shed. The advantage here is that you can access your bullion without being
seen, day or night.
Home Security Systems: The more metal you have at home,
the more you need to consider a security system that offers both video
recording and monitoring. You might want to consider a nanny cam; they're not
expensive. There are also an abundance of hidden camera video recorder
systems disguised as alarm clocks, wall clocks, smoke detectors, clothing
hooks, and even light bulbs, which record many hours of surveillance video
and allow you to monitor it live, over the Internet, from anywhere in the
world, on your cell phone or computer. If you go this route, be sure to get a
system with plenty of memory.
Firearms: If you store metals at home and have a safe,
and IF you feel comfortable having a gun in the house, a firearm might be a
way to defend yourself in the event of a break-in while you're home. We don’t
necessarily recommend purchasing a firearm, however, as there a number of
considerations to keeping a weapon in the house.
Decoys: Consider keeping two safes, one of which is cheap
with just a few items in it so the thief thinks he got your stash, and then
the real one well hidden in a different part of the house with your silver
and other valuables.
Diversify: Use more than one hiding spot. But don’t use
so many that you forget where they all are!
Should We Use a Bank Safe Deposit Box?
Easy, simple, and relatively inexpensive—those are the advantages to using
a safe deposit box at your local bank. But consider the drawbacks…
• Your access is restricted. You can only get to the bullion during
regular banking hours. No evening, weekend or holiday access. In fact, during
9/11, some banks were closed for a period of time.
• No insurance against robbery or disaster. Think about the customers
whose safe deposit boxes were washed away with the tsunami in Japan in 2011.
• Lack of privacy. If the government or an aggressive attorney comes after
you, they’ll thank you for the generous clue you provided them of where some
of your assets are stored.
• Also, silver takes up so much space that you’d likely be forced to pay
for a larger box. And it might not be an option at all… a monster box of
silver is too big for most bank safe deposit boxes.
Remember, one reason we own physical bullion is to protect against
the banking system. If you go this route, be aware of the risks and only
place a small portion of your metal there.
What About a Professional, Third Party Vaulting Service?
Once your stash starts to grow, I recommend you consider professional
storage. Your risk grows as you accumulate more metal. You don’t want to be
wiped out if something happened to your stash at home.
The keys to professional storage are that your metal be held: 1.
Outside the banking system. 2. Fully segregated or allocated
in your name. 3. Fully insured. And 4. Easy
online access.
I’m proud to say that GoldSilver’s
program meets all these criteria and more. These are the same vaulting
services Mike and I use. Highly liquid, 100% insured, and can be done online
instantaneously. It’s your most secure option once you have a reasonable
amount of bullion stored at or near home.
The Ideal Solution to Home Storage
The message here is that no storage location is 100% secure (though
professional storage is 100% insured). Therefore, the best way for storing
silver is to diversify your locations. The more you accumulate, the more you
should utilize several methods for storing silver.
Don’t put yourself in a position where you’re left silver-less if
something happens to your stash. Silver bullion is a tangible asset that
serves as inexpensive insurance against all types of crisis. We’re convinced
you’re making a wise decision by owning it. But review your storage methods
to determine the best ways to hold on to your silver.
