The Perth Mint Depository review
The Perth Mint is owned by the Government of Western Australia and its depository programme is the only bullion holding in this table carrying a state government guarantee. Unallocated holdings attract no ongoing storage fee; allocated gold, where specific bars are set aside in your name, is charged at 1% a year.
Visit The Perth Mint Depository- Premium
- 1% txn fee (≤$10k)
- Storage fee
- 0% unallocated
- Minimum
- $5,000 per trade
- Custody
- Unallocated or allocated
Our verdict
The zero-storage unallocated programme is genuinely unusual and works well for long horizons, but understand what you own: unallocated is a claim on the Mint's working stock, not a numbered bar. Allocated gold costs 1% a year plus fabrication, and Depository Online will not accept a trade under $5,000 — so this is a programme for larger, patient positions rather than monthly saving.
What it does well
- Backed by the Government of Western Australia — a rare sovereign guarantee
- No ongoing storage fee on unallocated gold, silver or platinum holdings
- Refinery, mint and depository operate under one roof
What to watch
- Depository Online does not accept transactions under $5,000
- Unallocated means a claim on the Mint, not a specific numbered bar
- Allocated gold is 1% a year and allocated silver 1.9%; platinum is unallocated only
- Australian-dollar denominated, with an FX leg for most overseas buyers
Cost structure
| Line item | Cost | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Unallocated storage | Nil | Gold, silver and platinum — no ongoing storage fee |
| Allocated gold storage | 1% / year | Silver 1.9%, pool-allocated silver 0.95%; platinum not offered allocated |
| Transaction fee (Depository Online) | 1% → 0.20% | 1% on $5k–$10k, falling to 0.20% above $1m; under $5,000 not accepted |
| Fabrication | Product-dependent | Unallocated metal attracts no fabrication fee |
Over a ten-year hold, the annual custody line usually matters more than the entry premium. Model both together in the savings-plan calculator.
Cost of ownership illustration
A $25,000 position held at The Perth Mint Depository, charging the entry premium once and the published storage rate each year. The metal price is held flat so the fee drag is visible on its own — it is arithmetic on the tariff above, not a forecast, and it excludes minimum monthly charges, withdrawal fees, tax and FX.
| Holding period | Entry cost | Storage total | All-in cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year | $250 | — | $250 (1.00%) |
| 5 years | $250 | — | $250 (1.00%) |
| 10 years | $250 | — | $250 (1.00%) |
How the platform actually works
The Perth Mint Depository lets you hold metal at the Mint in Western Australia in one of three forms. Unallocated is a claim on the Mint's working stock and carries no ongoing storage fee for gold, silver or platinum. Pool-allocated (silver only) and allocated holdings set specific fabricated product aside in your name and carry a fabrication cost plus an annual storage charge — 1% a year on allocated gold, 1.9% on allocated silver, 0.95% on pool-allocated silver. Depository Online is the retail entry point, and its published fee table does not accept a transaction under $5,000.
The Mint quotes a two-way price on depository holdings, so buying and selling both happen against its own book during Perth trading hours. Because the refinery, the mint and the depository sit under one roof, the chain between refined metal and your holding is unusually short.
What it costs in practice
Unallocated holdings genuinely pay nothing to store — that is the headline, and it is real. Over a twenty-year horizon a zero storage rate is worth several percent of the position against a 0.25%-a-year alternative, which is why this programme keeps appearing in long-horizon portfolios despite a wider entry spread.
Allocated is a different economic product: you pay a one-off fabrication charge to have specific bars or coins made or set aside, then an annual storage percentage — 1% a year on gold, 1.9% on silver. Dealing costs sit on top: Depository Online charges 1% on transactions between $5,000 and $10,000, tapering to 0.95%, 0.75%, 0.50%, 0.25% and finally 0.20% above $1m. Rates and programme terms have been revised more than once, so re-check the Mint's own fee page before funding.
Custody, ownership and security
The Perth Mint is wholly owned by the Government of Western Australia, and the depository programme is backed by a state government guarantee — the only sovereign guarantee in this comparison. That is a meaningful credit enhancement, and it is the reason unallocated here is not the same risk as unallocated at a private dealer.
It is still unallocated, though, and the distinction matters: you hold a claim against the Mint, not title to a numbered bar. If your entire reason for owning gold is to eliminate counterparty exposure, allocated is the structurally correct choice even though it costs more. If your reason is cost-efficient long-term exposure with a state-backed counterparty, unallocated is defensible.
Getting money in and metal out
Funding is by bank transfer or card in Australian dollars. Non-Australian buyers therefore take an FX leg in both directions, which for a ten-year hold may or may not offset the storage saving depending on how the conversion is executed.
Selling is a two-way quote back to the Mint with settlement to your nominated account. Converting an unallocated holding into deliverable product means paying fabrication and then either collecting in Perth or arranging insured shipping — a real route, but not a cheap one from the northern hemisphere.
Who it suits — and who it does not
It suits an Australian investor, or an offshore investor comfortable with AUD, who wants very long-horizon exposure with a government-guaranteed counterparty and no annual drag.
It suits poorly anyone who insists on holding a specific numbered bar without paying extra for it, and anyone for whom the currency leg and the distance to the vault add more friction than the zero storage fee saves.
The Perth Mint Depository: common questions
- What does the government guarantee actually cover?
- The depository programme is backed by the Government of Western Australia, which owns the Mint. It is a credit enhancement on the Mint's obligation to you — relevant mainly to unallocated holdings, where you hold a claim rather than title to a specific bar.
- Why is unallocated storage free?
- Unallocated metal sits in the Mint's working stock, so there is no separate fabrication or segregation to fund. That is also the reason it is a claim rather than a numbered bar in your name.
- Can I convert unallocated into physical metal?
- Yes, by paying a fabrication charge and then collecting in Perth or arranging insured shipping. Overseas delivery costs and any import tax in your own country apply.
- What is the smallest trade the depository accepts?
- The published Depository Online fee table does not accept transactions under $5,000, and the Depository Program applies the same $5,000 minimum trade size. This is not a platform for small monthly contributions.
Is The Perth Mint Depository the cheapest for your order size?
Premium alone rarely decides it. Put your contribution, holding period and storage fee into the calculator and the ranking often changes.