Allocated vs Unallocated Gold: What You Really Own (and Vault Storage)

The definitions that matter

These words get used loosely, so pin them down:

• Allocated gold — specific bars or coins, identified by serial number, that are legally yours. The custodian holds them for you under a bailment; it never takes ownership, and the metal is ring-fenced from the custodian's own balance sheet.
• Unallocated gold — a claim on a general pool of metal. The institution owns the gold and simply owes you a quantity. You are an unsecured creditor, not an owner. It's cheaper (often no storage fee) precisely because you're taking on counterparty risk.
• Segregated (fully allocated) — your specific items kept physically separate in space reserved for you alone. This is the strongest form of ownership.

Why it matters: what happens in a bankruptcy

This is the whole point. If a custodian holding your allocated gold fails, your bars sit outside its estate and remain your property — creditors can't touch them. If you hold unallocated gold when the institution fails, your claim is frozen with the company's assets and you join the queue of unsecured creditors, hoping to recover a fraction. It's worth knowing that on the wholesale London market, more than 90% of gold trades over unallocated accounts — the metal you think of as 'in the vault' is very often an IOU. The 2011 collapse of MF Global is the classic cautionary tale of customers discovering, too late, that assets they assumed were segregated had been commingled.

What each costs

On a $50,000 allocated holding, 0.5% a year is about $250; above roughly $50,000–$75,000, flat annual fees often work out cheaper than a percentage. Most allocated programmes also let you convert to unallocated, or take physical delivery, for a fee.

Vault vs home storage

There's a third option that sidesteps the allocated/unallocated question entirely: hold the metal yourself. A quality home safe gives you instant access and zero counterparty risk, though you take on security and insurance. A professional depository — operators like Brink's, Loomis or Malca-Amit — offers monitored, insured vaulting; just make sure the account is explicitly allocated or segregated, not unallocated. For a gold IRA specifically, US rules require metals to sit in an IRS-approved depository — storing IRA metal at home is treated as a taxable distribution. Our storing gold and silver safely guide compares the options.

How to transport gold to a vault safely

This is exactly how a reputable dealer ships to you in the first place — see our discreet, insured shipping guide.

• Fully insured transit from the moment the metal leaves your hands until it's logged at the vault — this is non-negotiable.
• Tamper-evident, unmarked packaging and a documented chain of custody tied to a bar list.
• For US domestic retail, USPS Registered Mail is the workhorse and insures up to $50,000 per parcel; larger shipments need supplemental cover.
• Signature on delivery and reconciliation against serial numbers on arrival.

So which should you choose?

If your reason for owning gold is to step outside the financial system — no counterparty, no custodian chain — then allocated metal you can take delivery of, or hold yourself, is the honest answer. Unallocated accounts suit short-term traders who prioritise low cost and are comfortable with institutional risk. The cleanest version of ownership is simply holding recognised bars and coins yourself. At BTC Mints you can buy allocated gold — LBMA-refiner bars and sovereign coins that ship fully insured to your door, becoming your outright property the moment they arrive. Browse the shop, and remember our 7-day buyback if your plans change.