Editor's note: Several of us at S&A have recommended the purchase of gold and silver bullion, which we've then recommended you hide. Below in our reader mail is a cautionary tale of what happens if you don't follow this all-important advice... and several unique ideas for how to keep your gold safe.
"I followed your advice & bought some gold bullion last year – when it was about $200/oz less than now. What I did wrong is put it in a safe when we moved to our new house. I had read your articles on where/how to hide physical gold... but I procrastinated too long in finding a good hiding place, or at least bolting my safe to the floor. Last week our house was burglarized & they got my safe – along with my tv, computer monitor, & some jewelry. I don't care much about the other stuff, but losing that cash & gold stash hurt.
"EVERYONE PLEASE LISTEN TO WHAT PORTER & CO ARE SAYING & HIDE YOUR CASH & GOLD VERY WELL – TODAY, NOT TOMORROW. With the numb-nuts we have running the show in Washington, crime will only get worse." – Paid-up subscriber GF, August 20, 2009
"Buy some acreage and plant a big enough garden to provide food for a whole year at a time. You can live on potatoes if you have to. When you have acreage, bury your gold and memorize the GPS coordinates. Write the GPS location down and put it in an envelope marked 'to be opened in the event of my death' and give it to your estate attorney along with your will, just in case you die before you spend it all. Since GPS only gets you within about five to 10 feet, leave a metal detector for your kids." – Paid-up subscriber Al
Porter comment: Useful ideas, no doubt. But I'd recommend something a lot easier. Self-storage. It's like having a safe deposit box. But no government authority will know you have it. And nobody is going to ransack an entire self-storage facility looking for gold coins. You can find self-storage facilities in most countries around the world, too. – August 21, 2009
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"It was suggested precious metals be stored in a Storage Unit. I strongly disagree. Too many things could go wrong. And the goods are still behind someone else's gate and key. Not Good. Get a short section of PVC pipe, 2-inch or 3-inch suggested, the 2-inch will fit into the 3-inch I hear, if added strength is needed, and glue on end caps. Bury in a secure, simple, location, tell a few select Loved Ones. No keys, no people, no issues." – Paid-up subscriber WD
Ferris comment: I might try that. In my neighborhood, if you don't pay your storage rent, they give you five days. Then, they auction off your stuff, no exceptions. – August 25, 2009
"Back in the day when ever we would cross the border from Detroit to Windsor on our Bikes we would normaly be pulled to the side and searched. In order to keep possesion of our stash We would put a chrome tube on the Bike that looked like part of the exhaust or fuel line... worked great (until the use of dogs).
"In the spirit of the above post and incase your nieghbor gets curious as to why your burying pipe to nowhere, PVC pipe could also be made to look like part of your homes drain/sewer lines... no need to glue em just friction fit or Glue them if you do not plan on accessing your gold for awhile... PVC is easy to cut with a hacksaw. Just like Border gaurds are not Bike mechanics, Burgulars are rarely plumbers. When I was a kid Dad hid his under dinasaur dung... Always made me find out wich pile he hid it under when it became time to move on." – Anonymous, August 26, 2009
"When burying valuables in PVC pipe, bury the pipe below some other metallic object (scrap iron, old automobile spring, etc.) so anyone using a metal detector will give up on that location when they see the buried junk." – Paid-up subscriber WS, August 26, 2009
"Burglars don't like attics. They are not easy to escape from. If you have an unfinished attic, put your gold/silver between the ceiling joists under the insulation. That blown-in crap is nasty. I don't even like to go looking through the stuff; and it's my own gold! Nevermind when I'm looking for yours! Just kidding. I sure hope the real bastards aren't reading this..." – Anonymous, August 27, 2009
"We have well over Ten Trillion AU not to mention PGM's, all safely secured and all under private control! All owned by off shore ops around the globe!" – Anonymous, August 27, 2009
"From my propane tank to the house, the buried supply line is wrapped with a special tape so anyone in the future could find the line and not dig it up. I carefully dug under the line and buried my PVC pipe full of gold under it. When I checked with my metal detector, it just showed the buried gas line." – Anonymous, August 27, 2009
"I hid it now I can't find it. At my age the first thing to go was my hiding place. Someday someone will get rich tearing down my house and finding those nice shiny coins." – Anonymous, August 27, 2009
"As one reader attested, he buried [his gold] and now can't find it. At least his gold is where it belongs, in the ground. Isn't it ironic that we pay big money to mine it out of the ground only to re-bury and possibly forget it?" – Paid-up subscriber Erich Kellner
Porter comment: I've heard this argument many times. Gold is a "barbaric relic" they say. It's a waste of time and resources to mine gold, then bury it again in bank vaults.
I disagree completely. It's completely illogical to expect the utility of sound money would come from anything easy or cheap to produce. You wouldn't say it's a waste of time and resources to quarry stone, then bury it again for the foundation of a building, would you? Of course not. But really, what's more important? The foundation of a single building or the foundation of our economy and our ability to save, invest, and exchange?
The reason people bury gold in vaults and in their backyards is because it's precious. It holds its value. It is respected universally as a medium of exchange. It cannot be printed. And that's why it's worth mining. – August 28, 2009