I had an anonymous call last week from a man who asked me if I were a storage facility. “Huh? Do you mean, do I store people’s gold and silver?”
“Yes.”
“No I don’t, nor know of anyone who does. If I did, I wouldn’t tell you, because I think it would be foolish to trust anyone with gold and silver. I don’t know you or how much you want to store, but no matter how much, I wouldn’t trust anyone with my precious metals.” I then went on to tell him some of the following, which I elaborate in detail as an explanation.
When I started in this field for a short time in 1977, it was with a company called ‘North American Coin and Currency,’ in Phoenix. I did well, and after a while, I noticed that my customers were having to wait longer and longer to receive their purchases. There was no huge demand then, and mints were not over-burdened as they currently are. I became so suspicious, that I gave notice and distributed all my customer names to others in the office. Being honest, I obtained them while at North American, so I had no right to take them with me. Others at North American couldn’t understand why I would resign while I was making so much money. My answer was “Because there’s something wrong here, and I think this outfit’s going broke or bankrupt, and people can lose a lot of money.”
North American Coin and Currency went bankrupt in 1982. It lasted about a year after I left. Both heads of the company, Sherman Unkefer and James Clark, went to jail. I didn’t know how much was lost, till as I was writing this, I found out on the internet. $18 million in ‘stored’ gold and silver from 1334 of North American’s customers was missing and never recovered. I was right to resign, and immediately prior to my resignation, I wrote to all of my clients to never store their gold and silver anywhere, but keep it yourself. I hope this prevented any of my people from losing their wealth. Remember, When North American went bust and took $18,000,000 from their customers who had ‘stored’ their metals with them, I was selling gold Krugerrands for about $250. A lot of gold was lost!
Gold and silver coins and bars generally all look alike. If someone stole yours, it could never be proven they were yours, since they not only look alike, but have no serial numbers or title like a car or piece of real estate. That’s their beauty. They are owned anonymously. Since few if any, ever write down serial numbers on U.S. paper dollars, if they are stolen, it is highly unlikely that you could ever prove they were yours to steal. That’s one of the beauties of gold and silver. They can be bought and sold in any nation on earth at any time. There’s always a market for gold and silver! It’s real money and not dependent on any government for its value.
To the caller, after I told him of North American and a few others I know of, I suggested he get himself a safe, that a gun safe makes a nice piece of furniture, and can be bought for the price of a single gold coin. Why not? He agreed. I continued with more advice. (I am always good for that!) “When you go to buy your safe, pick it up in someone else’s’ pickup, never let them deliver it to you, and pay cash for it, not a check.” The reason is obvious, but mostly never thought of by the average person. A delivery will obviously inform seller and delivery man where it went, making a possible target for future robbery. Borrowing some else’s pickup will make a robber track that license plate, not yours, for a possible theft.
If a person starts a storage facility, did they have to borrow money to build it? Could they borrow your metals to sell and pay their debts? North American did exactly that, trying to save themselves from bad business practices, but it didn’t work. They went down and took their clients’ ‘stored’ metals with them. Does a safe deposit box in a bank give total security? No, because if a tax collector or criminal investigator wanted to see your boxes’ contents, a court order may allow it. I am no lawyer, but why not just keep it at home in a safe, and have a lot of guns handy? I have never been robbed or had to shoot anyone, and hope I never will, but if became time to do so, I am well armed and always would shoot to kill and save all that court time!
Gold is such a compact way to store and save wealth. A customer bought 50 gold Maple Leafs from me last week, in five little tubes of ten each, for about $100,000, and he carried them in one hand. A small, heavy safe in a hidden place might do as well if it is heavy enough to prohibit being picked up by two men, but I like the gun safe best. Newer ones are actually a fine piece of furniture, and they’re heatproof till about 1350 degrees. Obviously, your possession of gold and silver are to be known only to your mate, and not even to your kids, unless you get sick or die, and maybe then tell them on your death bed. I have had several calls over the years of survivors who either found or were given the metals their parent had bought, and were surprised and didn’t know what to do with it! One’s possession of gold and silver should not be known to anyone, as it is none of their business. You change the oil in your car, paint your house, and wash your clothes…to protect them. Do the same with your metals, store them safely, tell no one, and enjoy the hidden safety from inflation!
Bury them? OK, if you do so in a waterproof container, as silver doesn’t look too great if it has been water soaked for decades, although it is still good. If you are worried about government eventually trying to confiscate your wealth, bury them near a metal water or sewer pipe to escape a metal detector’s finding them, and of course draw a map or give directions, so after you die, they can find them. I’m not that paranoid…yet. Above all, never tell a lawyer or your lawyer about any of your precious metal holdings, as they are certain to put them into probate when you die, and heaven knows how many taxes will be levied on your descendents. Tell your kids to enjoy their anonymous wealth, and to sell only if they really need the money, not just to ‘cash in’ on the old man’s intelligence. Gold and silver will continue to go up in price forever, as the dollar, as long as it lasts, will continue to lose value, and in whatever may replace it eventually. Someone recently found gold coins minted thousands of years ago while excavating for a shopping center. Gold and silver always seem to be found at the bottom of the ocean in ships sunk hundreds of years ago. Antique gold and silver coins are not good investments. It’s the number of ounces you have that count, not their age. Gold and silver may have their prices ‘go up’ in paper money, but their value remains always.
-Don Stott
don@coloradogold.com