Where to store gold: home safe vs vault

Where you keep gold matters almost as much as what you pay for it. A cheap coin kept badly can be lost; a well-priced coin stored at 2% a year slowly gives back its value in fees. This guide compares the four main options using fee schedules we checked on each provider's own website on 11 October 2026.

What are your options for storing gold?

There are four broad choices. They differ in who holds the key, who pays if something goes wrong, and how fast you can sell.

Should you keep gold at home?

Home storage is the only option with no running cost and no third party. You can see and touch your coins, and you can sell to any dealer without asking a vault to release them. Many first-time buyers start here, especially with small coins such as sovereigns or tenth-ounce coins.

The trade-off is risk. If you keep gold at home, think about three things:

• A proper safe. A safe should be bolted to the floor or a solid wall and, ideally, fire rated. A loose lockbox can simply be carried away.
• Discretion. The fewer people who know, the better. Avoid having parcels marked with a dealer's name left on your doorstep, and do not talk about your holdings online.
• Insurance in writing. Home contents policies often cap valuables and single items. SD Bullion, a US dealer, says most homeowners' policies do not cover bullion at all. Tell your insurer what you hold and get its answer in writing.

Does home insurance cover gold?

Sometimes, but rarely in full by default. Policies differ, so the only safe assumption is that you are not covered until your insurer confirms it. Ask three questions: is bullion classed as "valuables" or "money"; is there a single-item limit; and does cover require a safe of a certain grade? Expect to list higher-value items individually and possibly pay an extra premium. Keep receipts, photos and serial numbers (for bars) in a separate, safe place, because you will need them to make a claim.

Are bank safe deposit boxes still an option?

They are getting harder to find. In the UK, Which? reported that almost all major high street banks have stopped offering safe deposit boxes, leaving Metro Bank as the main high street bank still providing them. Independent safe deposit companies and some bullion dealers now fill the gap. In the US, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported in January 2025 that many big banks are phasing boxes out, and that they typically rent for between $25 and a couple of hundred dollars a year.

The bigger catch is insurance. M&T Bank states plainly that contents of safe deposit boxes are not FDIC insured. Metro Bank tells box holders they may want to make sure their valuables are properly insured to their value. In other words, a box protects against burglary at home, but if the box itself is lost or robbed you rely on your own policy. You can also only reach your gold during opening hours, which matters if you want to sell quickly.

What is allocated and unallocated gold storage?

This is the most important question to ask any vault. Allocated (sometimes called segregated) storage means specific bars or coins are recorded in your name. They are your property, not the vault's, and should be returned to you even if the company fails. Unallocated storage means you own a claim to a quantity of gold held in a shared pool. It is cheaper, sometimes free, but if the provider gets into trouble you may be an ordinary creditor.

The Perth Mint shows the difference clearly in its own fee table: allocated gold costs 1% a year, unallocated gold costs 0%. The Royal Mint says The Vault stores coins and bars on a "fully allocated, segregated" basis. SD Bullion says customers' metals are allocated in their name and kept apart from other customers' holdings. BullionVault holds customers' gold as their property in professional vaults and publishes daily bar lists. Our allocated vs unallocated gold guide explains the legal difference in more detail.

How much do gold vaults charge?

Vault fees are a percentage of the value of your gold each year, usually with a minimum charge. The minimum matters most for small holdings, as the table shows.

Sources: each provider's published fee page, 11 October 2026. VAT at 20% added to Royal Mint fees. BullionVault's minimum is set in US dollars and converted at the 10 October 2026 rate implied by spot (£1 = about $1.32). Perth Mint charges in your account's default currency, set by country of residence; the GBP figure is an equivalent. Costs assume the gold's value stays the same for the year.

Two patterns stand out. First, on £10,000 or $10,000 every provider with a minimum charge ends up charging the minimum, so the real cost is far higher than the headline rate: SD Depository's 0.29% becomes 1.2%, and Citadel's 0.55% becomes 1.8%. Second, the cheapest options either pool your gold (Perth Mint unallocated) or hold it as fractions of large bars you cannot easily take home (BullionVault, Royal Mint DigiGold).

If low running costs and quick selling matter most to you, BullionVault published the lowest allocated rate we found. See BullionVault's current rates, or read our full BullionVault review for how buying, selling and withdrawals work.

Work out your own storage cost

Worked example: what does storing £10,000 of gold really cost?

Using real prices from the GoldVetted price check, 10 October 2026 (spot £3,171.03 an ounce):

• Buy and keep at home. Three 1 oz Britannias from Chards at £3,259.95 each cost £9,779.85, a 2.8% premium. No storage fee, but you need a safe and should confirm insurance.
• Buy and store at The Royal Mint. Three Britannias from The Royal Mint at £3,397.16 each cost £10,191.48, a 7.13% premium. Storing them as a coin tube or bars at 1% plus VAT costs about £122 a year, or about £611 over five years if the price stays flat.
• Buy through BullionVault. £10,000 buys gold held in a professional vault, with 0.5% dealing commission (£50) on the purchase. Storage hits the $4 monthly minimum, about £36 a year or £181 over five years, plus 0.5% commission when you sell.

Over five years the gap between the cheapest and dearest vault route is several hundred pounds on a £10,000 holding. Premiums and selling costs matter as much as the storage rate, so compare the full round trip. Our how to buy gold guide walks through premiums, payment and delivery step by step.

What mistakes do people make when storing gold?

• Ignoring the minimum fee. A low percentage means little on a small holding if a $10 or $15 monthly minimum applies.
• Assuming home insurance covers it. Get written confirmation, and tell your insurer if you move gold in or out of a bank box.
• Choosing unallocated storage without realising. The free or very cheap option is often unallocated. Ask "is my gold allocated to me by serial number or item?"
• Forgetting exit costs. Delivery, handling and withdrawal fees can be high. Citadel charges a $50 handling fee for US delivery, $75 internationally, plus shipping. SD Depository charges $25 per shipment out. BullionVault charges a withdrawal fee in grams, with a 50 g minimum.
• Telling people. Social media posts and casual conversations are a real security risk for home storage.
• No record for your family. Keep a note of where the gold is, account details for any vault, and serial numbers, so your executors can find it.

Gold storage in the US, UK, Canada and Australia

For where to buy before you store, see our country guides: where to buy gold in the US, where to buy gold in the UK, where to buy gold in Canada and where to buy gold in Australia. UK and US readers can also read our UK gold storage guide and US gold storage guide for local detail.

Which storage option suits you?

There is no single right answer. As a rough guide:

• A few coins you want in hand: a good home safe, with insurance confirmed, is often the most practical choice.
• A larger holding you rarely touch: allocated vault storage removes burglary risk at home, at a yearly cost.
• Gold you may trade or sell quickly: an online vault platform is cheapest to hold and quickest to sell, but awkward if you later want coins at home.
• Somewhere in between: many people split their gold, keeping a little at home and the rest in a vault.

Whatever you choose, gold storage is about reducing risk, not removing it. This guide is general information, not financial advice.

Not financial advice. GoldVetted provides general information to help you compare options. It is not personal financial, tax or legal advice. Gold prices go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you pay. Check tax rules with the official source or a qualified adviser before you act.