I found the following on a silver stacking forum. While the forum as a whole was crap and full of nut cases, this post illustrates how much you need to think about how you store your precious metals.
The post is as follows:
Hello All,
I have seen a couple of threads on storing PM’s at home, but wanted to share my recent experience: my mom was away on a trip for a week, and when she got home she discovered someone broke into the house (criminal was long gone), when I was helping her cleanup I was very surprised to see the places these guys were looking in, so here are some examples (in case you use any of these places):
– Most of the electrical outlets were ripped from the wall (Same with Heating/AC vent covers).
– All furniture that was against a wall was moved (perhaps to look behind furniture or at the wall?).
– Potted plant was emptied onto floor.
– Picture frames were thrown on the floor.
– An old (Tube type) TV and VCR where thrown on the floor, AND their covers were removed.
– Kitchen cabinets were completely emptied (pots, pans, food, etc on the floor).
– Medicine cabinets emptied.
*– In the garage, the chemicals and old paint cans were knocked around (looking for something hidden in paint cans maybe?).
– They looked under the sofa cushions and mattresses.
– The other “usual” places… closets, dresser drawers, etc.
Bottom line… Criminals are not as dumb as many of us think they are, and given enough time they WILL look in those places we think “Criminals will never bother to look”, so think very carefully about storing PM’s in your home.
P.S.
I am starting to think it would actually be safer to just bury your stuff out in the open (backyard or nearby land).
Be safe !!!
You will notice that the criminals looked in all the places that are mentioned in books on hiding and caching, such as How to Hide Anything by Michael Connor and The Construction of Secret Hiding Places by Charles Robinson. These books, and others like them, may be good for inspiration when you want to hide something, but criminals can just as easily download and read those books as you can.
The only real way to protect precious metals (in my opinion) are:
- Tight information security. Never let people know what you have, how much you have, or where you have it.
- Keeping small amounts of PM in different hiding places, at different locations. That way if one cache gets found or stolen, you haven’t lost everything.
Regarding point #2, safety deposit boxes are good. If you can afford them, and if you can access them when you need them. Some might call me paranoid for not trusting the banks to look after my valuables. But at the end of the day, more people have access to a bank vault than a stash in ones home.