What we hold, and who counted it.
Every operator in this category says the metal is there. This is the page where we show the working — including the parts that do not flatter us.
No customer owns metal through us at this time, so there is nothing in the vault and nothing to count. This page is live from the first ounce rather than switched on once the numbers look good — which is the only point at which publishing it means anything.
What this proves, and what it does not.
It proves the arithmetic. What customers own plus what the house owns should equal what is in the vault. That identity is asserted against the ledger every night, and a break is treated as an incident rather than a ticket. The metal bought and not yet delivered into the vault is shown separately, because money in transit is a normal state and hiding it would make the totals look tidier than they are.
It proves two people signed the count. A count is not used until someone other than the person who took it has confirmed it — the database refuses a self-confirmation. One person who can both write the ledger and assert what the vault holds could make any discrepancy disappear; two cannot, without agreeing to.
It does not prove independence. We operate the vault. When the count above says it was produced by us, the honest reading is that our books agree with our own observation — which is worth something, and is not the same as an audit. Engaging an outside attestor is the open item, and the day one is engaged this page will say so without any other wording changing.
We would rather publish that sentence than omit it. The companies whose failures defined this category were not the ones publishing their limitations.
Nobody, yet — and here is the list you should hold us to.
Every established operator in this category answers the questions below with names. We cannot, because none of these relationships exists. The list is published anyway, because the version of this page that omits it is the version that lets you assume otherwise.
- Depository
- None appointed
- Specie insurance
- No policy in force
- Vault rating
- Not applicable yet
- Independent assay
- Not engaged
- Bullion dealer
- Not appointed
- Custody structure
- Counsel opinion pending
Whether the vault is COMEX-licensed and LBMA-accredited, and whether it is somebody other than us. Today we intend to operate it ourselves, which is the weakest possible answer to this question and the reason the rest of this page exists.
Bullion is excluded by ordinary carrier and property cover, so it needs a specialist policy. What matters is the named underwriter, the limit, and whether customer metal is covered separately from ours. No policy has been placed.
Class of construction and monitoring, the thing an insurer prices against. There is no vault.
An outside assayer physically counting and weighing the metal, rather than us counting our own. Engaging one is the open item named above.
Who we actually buy from, and at what execution. Until one is appointed, no metal has been bought for anybody.
Whether your claim on the metal survives our insolvency — the difference between owning bullion and being an unsecured creditor. This is a legal question about documents that do not exist yet, and it is the first thing counsel is being asked.