Texas does a lot of things that I think are just for posturing and maintaining their image, but I rather like this:
On Friday, Gov. Greg Abbott signed legislation that will create a state-run gold depository in the Lone Star State – one that will attempt to rival those operated by the U.S. government inside Fort Knox and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s vault in lower Manhattan.
“The Texas Bullion Depository,” Abbott said in a statement, “will become the first state-level facility of its kind in the nation, increasing the security and stability of our gold reserves and keeping taxpayer funds from leaving Texas to pay for fees to store gold in facilities outside our state.”
There’s the story that when a couple nations approached the US about repatriating their gold from the US depository there was some…concern…that the gold was ‘unavailable’. I’d be very interested to know if Texas gets to take their gold back or if some excuse will pop up about how they have to get it back over a lengthy period of time (if at all).
This is why I don’t believe in any of this we-hold-your-metals-for-you scams, or any paper representations of precious metals. If you have a certificate that says you own 100 oz. of gold in a repository in California, you don’t own anything except a piece of paper. If you’re going to go down the road of owning precious metals, then own precious metals…not a piece of paper saying you own gold or silver. Promissory notes with questionable redeemability is the whole reason we buy gold and silver to begin with.
I (usually) get my PM’s from the Metals Pimp. You may have your own ‘guy’, but if you don’t you might wanna give the Pimp a holler.
H/T to Ryan at TSLRF (which apparently is just TS these days).
We had a PM IRA for a while. Never felt comfortable with just holding paper. Prices went up, cashed it out early, paid down on the mortgage. Good outcome and no more worries. Would not do it now though. Too much risk .
Very happy with the Metals Pimp.
Prompt, dependable, forthright over a long period.
Thanks for the recommendation.
I also had a good experience with the Metals Pimp. Ultimately, though, he is not significantly more competitive than one or more of the local bullion dealers in my immediate area.
If I lived in a more rural location or otherwise wanted to start conducting this type of business exclusively by mail, I would certainly give the MP some more of my business.
I’ve used your MP a few times and enjoy the experience. I am not a big price checker on the stuff, admittedly. But I like his stock. As for the Texas gold…we know how to spell hypothecation. We’ll take ours now, please.
I suspect that the German gold was not recovered from NY, since no word of it seems to have made the news. Apparently, their gold was converted into paper shares by the bank that was supposed to be holding it, and it is long gone. The US certainly doesn’t have enough gold to replace it.