Gold - Adding Coins to Portfolio

[Anonymous]

So my FIL bought a lot of gold coins, typically one ounce coins of varying years, countries, etc., which belong to us now.

Before asking our Morgan Stanley advisor who'd clearly love to pad his "accounts under management" number, is there any reason, benefit or disadvantage to having them as a part of our portfolio. Aside from having a better view of what's there and the knowledge of the fluxuating value, I have no real need.

One downside it would seem is that for now they're "hidden", although its not like they pay dividends or we wouldn't be taxed when they're sold, so I don't know how much we're really hiding any of it. It would be mainly for cataloguing it a bit better. Can you even transfer tangable assets into a securities portfolio?

Thanks in advance, and apologies for my horrible spelling.

[Anonymous]

Keep physical control over your gold. It's a hedge. You don't every want to use your hedge, but if you must, you don't want it in someone else's vault.

You haven't indicated the quantity of coins or whether the amount is material to your finances, but it's none of Morgan Stanley's business, really, unless they start pushing you towards gold investments. You're already long.

[Anonymous]

advantage: hedge vs. inflation and worse scenarios.

disadvantage: storage. Do you keep it in your house in a highly-secured safe or do you keep it in a bank vault which has a very low risk of being barred to you/forgotten about?

I would keep them, or maybe sell some part (under 75%) of them if doing so could pay off a large debt or the such.

[Anonymous]

Keep some in a safe deposit box and some at home. You could sell some, but it's always a nice thing to hand down.

We have gold that's been handed down for a few generations -- but this is pretty normal for us (traditional Chinese family; gold consists of 24k jewelry, some Kugerands, etc... gold is a common asset for the old generation that lived through WWII and the Japanese invasion -- it's the ultimate safeguard -- you never know when someone might invade and you have to flee with your gold