A number of people are purchasing precious metals like gold, silver and platinum for investment purposes. While such investments can be made even without buying the actual metals, buying the tangible metal gives us a greater sense of security. Whether you own gold coins, bars, or jewellery, keeping them at a place, which can ensure their security is essential for peace of mind.
But then, storing and protecting these metals in their tangible form is a tricky job that needs to be handled carefully. So take a look at the few tips below, and choose the ideal way for storing your precious metals safely.
Storing Your Precious Metals Safely
You can store your precious metals either in a bank, a safe at home or even in your own backyard, as long as you find it secure. But wherever you store them, it is important to ensure that these valuables are easily accessible only to you and come in handy during emergencies.
Store Your Valuables in a Bank
One of the safest ways to store your precious metals is to keep them in a safe deposit box of a bank. Usually, valuables are kept in the bank’s common vault or in a safe deposit box assigned to you, for which the bank charges you an annual fee. The fee can vary from bank to bank, the services they provide and the size of the box.
Despite the charges you need to pay, storing your precious metals like platinum, gold and silver is relatively safer in a bank than in your home. But here are a few things you should keep in mind, when keeping your precious metals in a bank.
- Choose a Reliable Bank – The safety of storing your precious metals in a bank depends on the reliability and reputation of the bank. Rather than choosing a smaller or less known local bank that may or may not have proper security systems, choose a reputed bank that uses solid security measures to protect the safety deposit boxes and vaults.
However, it is important to ask questions and find out if they have reliable storage systems, enough security in terms of guards, CCTV cameras, fire and weather proof safes and trustworthy staff to handle your valuables. If you are not satisfied with their service or protection measures, look for another bank immediately.
- Safeguarding Your Vault Keys – Usually, you get a set of two or three keys when you open a safe deposit box with a bank. To ensure safety of the box, you should always keep the keys at separate, secured places, that only you have knowledge of.
- Bank Safe or Storage Facility – An alternative to storing your precious metals in a bank is to keep them at the precious metal storage depositories, which function primarily to safeguard their client’s precious metals in the vault.
Storing Your Precious Metals at Home
Another option for protecting your precious metals is to keep them safely at home. But to protect them at home, you need to take additional care and ensure that the necessary security measures are in place. Following are the options you can choose from to store your valuable metals at home.
Install a Safe – One way to safeguard your valuables at home is to have a safe installed. The safe you buy should be strong and should have complex security and alarm systems that a robber cannot easily deactivate or damage.
- Security Systems – You can chose from different types of safes such as – the simple key-lock safes, mechanical number combination safes, Digital keypad safes and fingerprint scan safes.
- Size of the Safe – The size of the safe usually depends upon what the amount of platinum, gold or silver you have to store, and the location you want to place it in. Usually, the bigger the safe, the more complex it is.
- How ‘Safe’ is Your Safe? – Your valuables need protection not only from thieves and fraudsters, but also from water, fire, and natural disasters. So make sure that the safe you invest in is weather proof, and protect your valuables from damage.
- Location of the Safe – A safe is most secure when it is concealed. You can conceal a safe in a number of ways, by placing it in an in-built wardrobe, within a wall or fixed to the concrete inside the floor.
The ‘Backyard’ Safe – A number of people who cannot afford to invest in a safe choose to bury their precious metals in their backyards. To bury your valuables, place them in a weather proof container or a small metal deposit box. You can bury the box as it is or put it in another container to make it doubly secure. But make sure to cautiously mark the location where the box is buried, to avoid having a problem to locate it later.
False Wall – You can also store your metals inside a false wall. Earlier, when homes had secret passageways and walls, it was a common practice to hide valuables there. If you don’t have a secret passage, you can have a false wall built in your home. Alternatively, you can also choose the old fashioned way of storing valuables under loose floor boards, which is equally safe.
Whether you store your precious metals at home or in a bank, you should be as discrete as possible to ensure their safety. Discussing them with friends or acquaintances or flaunting them publicly will only increase the risk. To minimize any risks, you can also choose to store smaller forms of the metals like coins, jewelery etc at home, and larger forms like heavy platinum, gold or silver bars in a more secure environment like a bank.