Gold IRA Depositories: Where the Metal Sits, and What Each One Publishes

An IRA’s gold and silver must sit with the custodian or with a depository acting as the custodian’s agent — not with the dealer, and not at your home. The custodian decides which depositories it works with; the owner’s usual choice is between segregated and commingled storage. What each depository publishes differs more than the vaults do: Delaware Depository posts a two-rate fee schedule, Texas Bullion Depository posts tiered pricing, and the others publish no rates at all. Insurance disclosure varies the same way, from a stated $1 billion to no insurer named. Every figure below is stated by the company named, on its own site or a Texas state source, checked September 21, 2026.

Key takeaways

• The physical-possession rule in IRC 408(m)(3) puts IRA bullion in the hands of the trustee or custodian; in the McNulty case, coins kept at home were treated as a taxable distribution.
• Segregated storage returns the same bars and coins you bought. Commingled storage returns equivalent metal from a bulk pool, at a lower published rate.
• Published depository rates run from 0.34% to 1.5% of value a year (Delaware Depository schedule R220301; Texas Bullion Depository non-IRA pricing effective April 1, 2026). Two custodians bill flat annual fees instead: $110–$160 at Equity Trust, $115–$175 at STRATA (checked September 21, 2026).
• Insurance disclosure is uneven: Delaware Depository states $1 billion in all-risk coverage, three depositories name Lloyd’s of London without dollar limits, and Brink’s own pages name no insurer.

Why an IRA needs a depository

The tax code puts the metal in the custodian’s hands. Section 408(m)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code excepts investment-grade bullion from the collectibles rules only when the bullion is in the physical possession of a trustee described in section 408(a). An owner who takes possession breaks the exception. In the McNulty case, the Tax Court treated coins that an IRA bought and the owner kept at home as a taxable distribution. The home-storage arrangement and its history are covered in home storage gold IRAs.

Most custodians do not run vaults. They appoint depositories as agents, and Delaware Depository’s own materials state the same control chain from the vault side: IRA metal is controlled by the trustee or custodian. Which depository holds the metal is therefore a custodian decision first; how custodians qualify and bill is covered in gold IRA custodians. The owner’s decision is the storage terms — chiefly segregated versus commingled. What the IRS allows into the vault in the first place is a separate screen, covered in IRA-eligible gold.

Segregated versus commingled

The difference is what comes back. In segregated storage, the depository keeps your bullion physically apart from other customers’ metal, and the same bars and coins are returned at distribution. In non-segregated or commingled storage, interchangeable products are stored in bulk, and you receive equivalent metal of the same product, not the identical items. Terminology varies by company: International Depository Services offers segregated storage and “allocated” storage, which it describes as co-mingled with other clients’ metal. Segregated and commingled storage are also defined in the gold IRA glossary.

The published cost gap can be wide. Delaware Depository’s fee schedule (revision R220301) lists 0.50% of value a year for non-segregated storage and 1.5% for segregated — a threefold difference. The premium is not fixed across the market: Texas Bullion Depository publishes fully segregated rates for non-IRA accounts starting at 0.49% a year and stepping down to 0.34% (effective April 1, 2026). Where a custodian bills flat fees, the segregated premium is a fixed dollar amount: $50 a year at Equity Trust ($160 segregated versus $110 non-segregated, form FS-0004-05) and $60 at STRATA Trust Company ($175 versus $115) — both fee schedules checked September 21, 2026.

Five depositories and what each publishes

Each depository below is described only by what it publishes; where a company publishes nothing, that is the finding. Entries come from the same September 21, 2026 check.

Depository	Locations	Storage types	Insurance as stated	Published fees
Delaware Depository	Wilmington, Delaware; Boulder City, Nevada	Segregated; non-segregated	$1 billion “all risk” through London underwriters	0.50% a year non-segregated; 1.5% segregated (fee schedule R220301)
International Depository Services (IDS)	New Castle, Delaware; Dallas, Texas; Mississauga, Ontario	Segregated; “allocated” (described as co-mingled)	Underwritten by Lloyd’s of London; no dollar figure published	None published
Brink’s Global Services	Not named on Brink’s own pages	Not stated; pages carry no IRA language	Not named on Brink’s own pages	None published
Texas Bullion Depository	Leander, Texas	Fully segregated	All-risk policy underwritten through the Lloyd’s of London marketplace	Non-IRA accounts: 0.49% a year below $500,000 (minimum $25 a quarter); 0.44% to $1 million; 0.39% to $2.5 million; 0.34% to $5 million; negotiable above (effective April 1, 2026)
Texas Precious Metals Depository	Shiner, Texas	Fully segregated, held as a bailment	All-risk insurance for full replacement value through Lloyd’s of London	No rate table found on its site

Delaware Depository. Vaults in Wilmington, Delaware and Boulder City, Nevada. Segregated metal is kept physically apart from other customers’, and the same bars and coins are returned; non-segregated metal is interchangeable product stored in bulk. The company states $1 billion in “all risk” insurance through London underwriters,. It states it is an SSAE 18 SOC 1 Type 1 audited organization, and its materials note that IRA metal is controlled by the trustee or custodian. Its fee schedule (revision R220301) lists 0.50% of value a year for non-segregated storage and 1.5% for segregated. That is the depository’s direct rate; the storage fee an IRA pays through a custodian can be a flat fee instead.

International Depository Services (IDS). Vaults in New Castle, Delaware; Dallas, Texas; and Mississauga, Ontario. It offers segregated storage and “allocated” storage, which it describes as co-mingled with other clients’ metal. It states insurance underwritten by Lloyd’s of London, with no dollar figure on the site, and publishes no fees.

Brink’s Global Services. Brink’s own precious-metals pages name no vault cities, no insurer, and no audit, and they carry no IRA language. Details about Brink’s that circulate online come from dealer sites, not from Brink’s; this page does not repeat them.

Texas Bullion Depository. A state agency in the office of the Texas Comptroller, created by Texas Government Code Chapter 2116 (House Bill 483, 2015). Its facility is in Leander, Texas, with fully segregated storage. It states an all-risk policy underwritten through the Lloyd’s of London marketplace. Its published pricing, effective April 1, 2026, is labeled for non-IRA accounts, so an IRA may be billed differently through its custodian: 0.49% a year below $500,000 (minimum $25 a quarter), 0.44% from $500,000 to $1 million, 0.39% from $1 million to $2.5 million, 0.34% from $2.5 million to $5 million, negotiable above.

Texas Precious Metals Depository. Facility in Shiner, Texas. It describes storage as fully segregated and held as a bailment — a legal arrangement in which one party holds property for another. It states all-risk insurance for full replacement value through Lloyd’s of London. No rate table was found on its site.

Percentage fees versus flat fees

Which number applies depends on who bills. Depositories that vault directly publish percentage-of-value rates; many custodians bill a flat annual storage fee instead. For comparison: Equity Trust’s fee schedule (form FS-0004-05) lists $110 a year for non-segregated storage and $160 for segregated; STRATA Trust Company lists $115 commingled and $175 segregated (checked September 21, 2026). Delaware Depository’s direct rates are 0.50% and 1.5% of value a year (schedule R220301), and Texas Bullion Depository’s published tiers for non-IRA accounts run from 0.49% down to 0.34% (effective April 1, 2026).

A hypothetical example, with round numbers and no company named: an IRA holds $50,000 of metal. At a 0.50% rate, storage costs $250 a year; at 1.5%, $750. Against a flat fee of $110 or $160 a year, the percentage rate costs more at this balance. The crossover depends on both numbers: at a 0.50% rate, a $110 flat fee and the percentage cost the same at $22,000 of metal — below that balance the flat fee costs more, above it the percentage costs more. Which structure an owner actually pays depends on how the custodian bills, and the custodian’s fee schedule should say which. The rest of the fee stack is covered in gold IRA fees.

What to ask

Each question has a document or a number behind it, and the answers belong in writing before funding.

• Which depository will hold the metal?
• Is storage segregated or commingled — and at distribution, do I get the same bars and coins back or equivalent metal?
• Who insures the vault, and up to what limit? Ask for the insurer’s name and the coverage amount, not a description.
• Who bills storage — the custodian at a flat rate, or the depository at a percentage of value?
• Can I visit the vault or audit my holdings, and what does the depository require to allow it?
• What are the shipping terms in both directions — who pays, who insures transit, and what happens if a shipment is lost?

The gold IRA due diligence checklist lists the documents behind these questions.

Related research

• Gold IRA custodians
• Home storage gold IRAs
• IRA-eligible gold
• Gold IRA fees
• Gold IRA due diligence checklist
• Gold IRA glossary
• Noble Gold review
• Birch Gold Group review