Silver Rises Over 120% YTD 
Key Takeaways
- Allocated (segregated) storage means specific, identified bars or coins are held in your name, off the depository’s own balance sheet, and legally recognized as your property.
- Standard coins and small bars usually clear a depository’s own check in about one business day. Large bars, like 100-ounce gold bars or 1,000-ounce silver bars, take longer, often several additional business days, since they’re tracked and verified individually.
- Delivery moves through insured shipment. Small orders often travel by USPS, UPS, or FedEx. Larger orders may use armored transport. A signature is required on receipt.
- Reputable depositories carry heavy third-party insurance, often cited near $1 billion in all-risk coverage through Lloyd’s-market underwriters. Named exclusions, like war or terrorism, still apply.
- Metal inside a precious metals IRA is the big exception. Pulling it out yourself turns a tax-deferred asset into a taxable distribution. That rule comes from federal law, not depository policy.
Gold traded near $4,268 an ounce and silver near $62.93 as of this writing [CME], both holding most of a historic year of gains. That price gets a lot of attention. A quieter question gets almost none: if your metal sits in a vault somewhere, what happens the day you ask for it back?
That question is really about on-demand delivery vault gold, and it matters more than the price does. A claim on a balance sheet is not the same asset as a bar in your hand, even if both are priced in ounces. The case for owning physical metal rests on that difference being real, not just something written into an account statement.
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Why Does Ownership Depend on the Right to Take Delivery?
What’s the Difference Between Allocated and Unallocated Storage?
The split between allocated and unallocated storage is not a small detail. It changes what you actually own.
In allocated (segregated) storage, specific bars or coins are set aside as yours alone. They’re often identified by serial number or assay and held off the depository’s own books. The depository cannot lend them out, pledge them as collateral, or lose track of them if its finances run into trouble.
In unallocated (non-segregated) storage, you own a claim to a certain weight and type of metal, pooled together with other customers’ holdings. Both arrangements can be entirely legitimate. But only one of them lets a court point to a specific bar and say: this one belongs to you.
Why Did Goldsmiths Learn This the Hard Way?
This is an old problem wearing new clothes. Goldsmiths in 17th-century London issued paper receipts for gold left in their vaults, and those receipts started circulating as money in their own right. It worked fine, until goldsmiths realized they could print more receipts than they had gold to back.
Most holders never showed up to redeem receipts at the same time, so the gap went unnoticed for a while. That gap between receipts outstanding and metal in the vault is the ancestor of fractional-reserve banking, and it’s why the right to take delivery, not just a favorable statement balance, is what keeps a storage arrangement honest.
What Actually Happens When You Request Delivery From a Vault?
The process is procedural, not dramatic. That is the point. A typical on-demand delivery request runs through four steps.
First, you submit a request naming the specific holdings and a shipping address, usually through an online portal or a signed form. Second, the depository verifies your identity and matches the request against its custody records. Third, staff pull the metal from the vault, inspect it, and package it. No single worker is ever left alone with the metal. Fourth, the package moves out under insured carrier service, with coverage sized to the shipment’s value and a signature required at delivery.
How Long Does Delivery Actually Take?
Timing depends on the depository and on what you’re taking out. Standard coins and small bars usually clear a depository’s own check in about one business day. Large bars take longer. A 100-ounce gold bar or a 1,000-ounce silver bar commonly needs several additional business days, because those sizes are tracked and verified individually rather than as fungible units. Delaware Depository’s own published terms describe this only as “additional processing time,” without a fixed day count, so treat any specific range you see (including this one) as an industry estimate, not a guarantee.
Segregated accounts can add time too, compared to non-segregated accounts, since the exact pieces have to be found and pulled by hand rather than drawn from a shared pool. No fixed day count is published for that difference; it varies by depository and by how much is being withdrawn. None of this counts carrier transit time, which adds on top of the depository’s own window.
How Is the Shipment Actually Insured?
Insurance is the other half of what makes delivery meaningful instead of reckless. Reputable depositories carry heavy all-risk coverage, often cited near $1 billion through Lloyd’s-market underwriters. That protects the metal both at rest and on the road.
Standard exclusions apply, the same as almost anywhere in insurance. Coverage typically carves out acts of war, terrorism, cyber-attack, radioactive contamination, and chemical, biological, or electromagnetic weapons. That’s not a red flag at any one vault.
What’s the Catch With IRA-Held Metal?
Why Doesn’t On-Demand Delivery Apply Inside a Retirement Account?
Everything above describes personally-owned, after-tax metal in allocated storage. Metal held inside a precious metals IRA runs on a completely different set of rules, because a custodian’s own policy isn’t what governs it. Federal statute does.
Tax law (Section 408(m)(3)) says a bank or an IRS-approved trustee must keep physical hold of any bullion inside an IRA. That one rule is why a custodian can’t just mail your IRA gold to your house on request, the way a personal storage account can. Taking that metal into your own hands turns it from an IRA asset into a payout. The full value becomes taxable that day, reported to the IRS on Form 1099-R. If you’re under 59 and a half, that usually means income tax plus a 10 percent early-withdrawal fee.
What Did McNulty v. Commissioner Actually Decide?
This isn’t a hypothetical risk. In McNulty v. Commissioner, decided by the Tax Court on November 18, 2021, an IRA owner kept IRA-purchased coins in a home safe [U.S. Tax Court]. She used a self-directed LLC setup that was sold to her as a legal workaround. The court still treated the whole holding as a taxable payout. The structure didn’t matter. Physical possession did.
The lesson for anyone holding metal in a retirement account is simple. On-demand delivery, in the personal-storage sense above, does not apply to you. What you can do instead is ask for an in-kind payout. That’s a real, well-defined move, but it’s a withdrawal from the account, not a shipment from a vault. GoldSilver has covered the IRS’s custody rules for IRA-held bullion in more depth elsewhere, and it’s worth reading before assuming your retirement metal works the same way your personal holdings do.
What Should You Actually Do With This Right?
Most owners of vaulted, personal bullion never ask for delivery. That’s not a flaw in the system. It’s often the whole point of storage: safety, cover, and quick access, without
keeping a safe yourself. But the value of that right doesn’t come from using it. It comes from that right being real, on terms you understand before you need them.
That’s the real difference between owning metal and owning a promise about metal. A vault that can hand over a specific, insured bar within days when asked is doing just what it promises. A setup where “delivery” is vague or buried in fine print isn’t real storage. Reading your own storage contract now costs nothing. It tells you what you actually own.
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People Also Ask
How long does it take to get physical delivery of vaulted gold?
Standard coins and small bars usually clear a depository’s own check in about one business day. Large bars, like 100-ounce gold bars or 1,000-ounce silver bars, commonly take several additional business days because they’re tracked and verified individually. Carrier transit time comes on top of that processing window.
Is there a fee to take delivery from a depository?
Most depositories charge for insured outbound shipping. Larger or international shipments usually cost more than a small domestic package. Fees vary by depository, size, and destination, so check your specific storage agreement rather than assuming a flat rate applies.
Can I take delivery of gold and silver held in an IRA?
Not the same way as personally-owned metal. IRA-held bullion must stay in the physical possession of an IRS-approved trustee under Internal Revenue Code Section 408(m)(3). Removing it yourself counts as an in-kind distribution. That’s a taxable event reported on Form 1099-R, and it can trigger a 10 percent early-withdrawal penalty if you’re under 59 and a half.
SOURCES
1. Delaware Depository — FAQs: Storage and Shipping Processing Times
2. Delaware Depository — Storage and Transfer Services
3. Delaware Depository — About Delaware Depository
4. U.S. Code — 26 U.S.C. § 408(m)(3): Individual Retirement Accounts
5. United States Tax Court — McNulty v. Commissioner, 157 T.C. No. 10 (2021)
6. IRS.gov — Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498
7. GoldSilver — What Are the IRS Rules for a Precious Metals IRA in 2026?
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Always consult a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions.
