Coins and bullion
Metal that should be counted before it is stored
Gold and silver are heavy for their size and look alike once they leave their packaging. A count written down today is worth more than anyone's memory in five years.
A tube of coins in a home safe. A few bars at a parent's house. Loose coins in a bank box whose rent nobody remembers. Metal spreads out over the years, and during a long absence each of those places depends on a different person doing the right thing.
Count it first. Note each item by type, weight, year and mint where it is marked, and keep the assay cards, certificates and dealer invoices. Photograph sealed tubes and graded slabs without opening them. Without that list nobody, including you, can say later whether anything is missing.
Florida Intervault stores metal. We do not buy it, sell it, value it or advise on it, so nobody here has a reason to suggest you trade it. The box sits on a prepaid multi-year term, and the signed inventory carries your count.
Two limits matter. If the metal is, or may be, part of the case (evidence, forfeiture or restitution), ask your attorney before it moves. And a box is not beyond lawful process: the IRS may levy property, including the contents of a box, to collect unpaid federal tax after notice. Source: 26 U.S.C. § 6331 — checked 2026-10-19. Read what the IRS can do with a box and how we respond to court orders.
What matters
- Count and describe every coin, bar and round before anything is stored.
- Keep assay cards, certificates and invoices with the metal they describe.
- Leave sealed tubes and graded slabs sealed, and photograph them as they are.
- The IRS may levy box contents to collect unpaid federal tax after notice.
- If the metal may be part of the case, the attorney decides before it moves.
How we handle it
- We store. We do not buy, sell or value metal, and we give no tax or financial advice.
- Your count goes on a signed intake inventory, and you keep a copy.
- The vault carries a 9R rating, the highest UL vault structure rating, behind two 14,000-pound John Tann doors from England.
- Contents are not FDIC insured, here or in a bank's box. Contents insurance is arranged separately against a declared value.
Where we stop
We cannot tell you what the metal is worth or whether it is exposed to the case. A dealer answers the first question. Your attorney answers the second.
Short answers
- Will you buy the coins if the family needs cash later?
- No. Florida Intervault does not buy or sell metal. If the family decides to sell, they choose their own dealer, and whoever acts for you needs the authority to do it.
- Should I open sealed tubes to count them?
- There is no need. Record each tube as sealed, write down what its label says, and photograph it. The inventory lists it exactly as you describe it.
- Can coins and documents share one box?
- Yes, if they fit. One box holding the metal and the paperwork that proves it is simpler to inventory than two boxes in two places.
Questions people ask about this
More on what to store
Jewelry
Rings, chains and earrings disappear quietly over a long absence. Photograph each piece, list it, and name one person.
Watches
A watch is proven by its serial, box and papers. Keep the three together and record who can reach them.
Deeds, titles and documents
Deeds, titles, wills and tax papers kept in one listed place, with a named person who has authority to use them.
Passports and IDs
Passport, birth certificate and Social Security card listed and stored together, once you have asked your attorney about surrender.
Family heirlooms and photographs
Photographs, letters and keepsakes worth little to a buyer and everything to a family, listed and kept in one place.
Settle it before the date, not after.
A short call is usually enough to know whether a box is the right answer. If it is not, we will say so. Attorneys and family members are welcome to call on a client's behalf.