My neighbor John has been collecting gold coins for the past 20 years. Upon buying a coin, he would place it in the safe deposit box he and his wife, Caitlin, rented at their bank.
John put the gold there for an obvious reason: security.
A thick steel door safeguards hundreds of stacked metal boxes. The boxes are protected by a two-key system.
The bank gives you one key to use in combination with a “guard key” held by a bank employee. In addition, you must provide personal identification and sign the register every time you visit the bank to access your box.
If your bank uses a keyless system, you will instead be asked to scan your finger or hand.
A few weeks ago, Caitlin decided to go to the box, count the large stack of coins and calculate their value (roughly estimated at $100,000). She and John are retired now and thinking about tapping into their nest egg.