Owning gold has running costs that owning a share certificate does not. It has to be stored somewhere, insured against loss, valued honestly for that insurance to mean anything, and eventually passed on to someone.

The trade-off nobody mentions

Every storage option trades one risk for another. Gold at home is instantly available and free to store, and it is the option a burglar can actually reach. Gold in a bank vault is far harder to steal, costs a fee every year, and is only available during banking hours. Neither is correct in general. The right answer depends on how much you hold and how often you want to touch it.

Jewellery complicates this further, because the entire point of jewellery is to wear it, and a piece in a vault is doing nothing for you at all.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is my gold jewellery covered by home insurance?

Usually only up to a low sub-limit for jewellery as a category, which is often far below what people actually own. Individual valuable pieces normally need to be scheduled on the policy by name and value, which requires a current written appraisal. Check your own policy wording rather than assuming.

How often should gold jewellery be appraised?

Insurers commonly ask for a recent valuation, and because appraised replacement value tracks the metal price, a valuation done when gold was much cheaper will understate what you own today. Ask your insurer how recent they require it to be.

What happens to gold jewellery in an estate?

It forms part of the estate like any other property, and disputes over jewellery are common because sentimental value and monetary value rarely match. A written list of pieces, with photographs and current valuations, prevents most of them.

Where to next

• Back to the main gold guide