Gold has always had a guardian.
From the dragon of the myths to the militias of Amsterdam, every age entrusted its gold to a guard. The house tells the story of its own.
The first safe was a dragon.
The Golden Fleece, guarded night and day deep in a sacred wood: the founding myth of the guarding of gold.
“Jason and the Golden Fleece”
To carry it away took a hero and an entire ship. Gold worth that sacrifice deserves a guard to match.
In 2012, the house built its own guardian.
“The Night Watch”
The Amsterdam militia sets out: the city sleeps, the guard keeps watch.
The guard never sleeps.
Yesterday muskets and halberds. Today video, microseismic detection and the time lock, 24 hours a day.
Scrolling carries the offer along, from safekeeping under number to the extra large box. Each size has its price, payable in advance.
Non-nominative box
Insured up to 10 million euros
Small safe deposit box
Medium safe deposit box
Large safe deposit box
Extra large safe deposit box
What keeps watch, while you live.
The dragon has changed
its face.
Four centuries after the Golden Fleece and the Night Watch, the guard continues in Dottignies (Mouscron): a vault certified INCERT grade 3, four sizes of safe deposit boxes from 240 to 350 euros per year, safekeeping under number from 10 euros per month. An identity card is enough; no bank account is required.
The safe deposit box has not disappeared in Belgium. It has left the bank.
Bank vault rooms are closing to the public one after another. Gold & Silver Company took the opposite path as early as 2012, opening in Dottignies (Mouscron) the first private safe deposit vaults outside the banking system in Belgium. Fourteen years later, the vault is still there, on the French-Belgian border, 100 metres from a police station.
In 2012, Gold & Silver Company opened the first private safe deposit vaults outside the banking system in Belgium. The vault in Dottignies (Mouscron) rents four sizes of safe deposit boxes, from 240 to 350 euros per year, without any bank account being opened, on simple presentation of an identity card. Opening a contract takes twenty to thirty minutes, and access to the box is immediate. A non-nominative box, held under number, is also available from 10 euros per month. A Foundry-Refinery approved by the Royal Mint of Belgium, the company is established 100 metres from a police station, on the French-Belgian border.
Vault rooms born before the bank vaults closed
In 2012, when banks still received their clients in vault rooms, opening a private vault was a gamble. Gold & Silver Company took it, against the tide, before the first bank vault rooms closed to the public; the local press of the time kept a record of it. What looked like an eccentricity has become an evidence: every counter that closes proves right the one who built his own.
Fourteen years later, the service is anything but a loss leader. It belongs to the same ecosystem as the company's Foundry-Refinery, its analysis laboratory and its college of experts presented here: what is bought, appraised or passed on in Dottignies (Mouscron) can also be kept there, under the same roof.
What awaits the client behind the strong door
Parking spaces await the visitor in front of a fully filmed building; a private car park is available by appointment, with or without a security escort. Entry is through a filmed intercom, and access to the reception area is granted by facial recognition. An agent is present during opening hours and answers within the minute, by intercom or in person.
The tenant then reaches his box by himself, with his access card, his key and his personal code, composed away from prying eyes. Within the vault itself, a confidentiality booth out of camera range allows valuables to be handled without witnesses. Nobody other than the tenant, and the proxy he may have appointed, knows what a box contains: Gold & Silver Company does not know, by construction.
Access is free during opening hours, without appointment.
The security you can see, and the security that is not described
The vault is installed in a fully armoured room, behind an approved strong door with a time lock, built to the latest standards of resistance to seismic vibrations and certified INCERT grade 3. Surveillance operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: video, motion detection, microseismic detection, opening contacts on every door, panic button. Remote monitoring is permanently ensured by an approved security operator, and the police services, one station of which stands 100 metres away, intervene in less than five minutes.
The list stops here on purpose. The details of the installation, the site's opening and closing procedures and the identity of the operators who watch over it are not published: discretion is part of security, for the vault as for its tenants.
Four sizes, one annual price, no bank account to open
Rental is open to private individuals and professionals, whatever their nationality. No bank account needs to be opened: the rental is independent of any banking relationship, and a valid identity card or passport is enough. Payment is made in advance, for one year or more, in cash within the legal limits or by bank transfer.
Non-nominative box
Custody under number, in a shared secure area
Insured up to 10 million euros
Small safe deposit box
Height 100 mm, width 330 mm, depth 500 mm
Medium safe deposit box
Height 160 mm, width 330 mm, depth 500 mm
Large safe deposit box
Height 210 mm, width 330 mm, depth 500 mm
Extra large safe deposit box
Height 330 mm, width 330 mm, depth 500 mm
From 10 euros per month, payable in advance like any rental, a non-nominative box is also offered: the valuables are kept under number, and not in the client's name, in a shared custody area placed under the same security arrangements. An identity document is presented at subscription, as for the classic formula; the details are set out at the agency, where the team guides the choice between the two formulas according to the need.
- 2012: the first private safe deposit vaults outside the banking system in Belgium; the local press of the time kept a record of it.
- Twenty to thirty minutes to open a contract; an identity card is enough, no bank account to open.
- Four sizes, from 240 to 350 euros per year, payable in advance; non-nominative box under number from 10 euros per month.
- Armoured vault, time lock, facial recognition, 24-hour surveillance, INCERT grade 3 certification.
- Police station 100 metres away; intervention of the police services in less than five minutes.
- Contents known to the tenant alone; confidentiality booth out of camera range within the vault.
Questions about renting a safe deposit box
How to rent a safe deposit box at Gold & Silver Company?
The request is made at the agency, by telephone or through the form on this page. Opening the contract takes three steps: choosing the size of the box, presenting a valid identity document, signing the rental contract. Twenty to thirty minutes are enough to leave with one's key and access card to the premises. The box is accessible immediately after signature, and the secret code is composed away from prying eyes, inside the vault. No bank account to open, no minimum deposit, no client conditions.
Which documents are needed to rent a safe deposit box?
A valid identity card or passport, nothing else. No proof of address, no bank statement, no file to build: the rental contract is sufficient in itself. That is the structural difference with the bank safe deposit box, which only exists as an annex to an account and to the conditions that come with it. The rule applies to everyone, Belgian residents or not, private individuals or professionals.
What can be deposited in a high-security box?
Everything that calls for safe and discreet keeping: documents, contracts, wills, currencies, jewellery, watches, luxury bags, bars and coins. For precious metals, the logic goes all the way: a certified bar acquired at the agency can join the vault without leaving the building, from the purchase counter to the box. Many tenants combine the two services precisely for that.
Are some objects forbidden from storage?
Yes. Foodstuffs, explosives and ammunition, drugs, radioactive or chemical products are strictly forbidden, and the complete list appears in the rental contract, read and signed at the opening. Any breach leads to the termination of the lease without notice. The rule protects all the tenants of the vault: what each one deposits there rests next to the valuables of the others.
When is the box accessible?
During the agency's opening hours, without appointment: the access card, the key and the personal code are enough. An agent is present on site and reachable within the minute, by intercom or in person. The building entrance is managed by a time lock outside those hours. The full opening hours appear in the page footer and on the agency's listing.
Are the contents of the box known to Gold & Silver Company?
No. Only the tenant and, where applicable, the proxy he has appointed know what the box contains. A confidentiality booth out of camera range is installed within the vault itself: everyone handles his valuables there without witnesses, including out of sight of the company's teams. Discretion is not a commercial argument added to the service, it is its architecture.
Is the box declared to my country of origin?
For a tenant who is not a Belgian national, no declaration is made to his country of origin: the arrangement remains anonymous towards it. For a Belgian national, the law requires an entry in the register of successions; it is a formality, and it works in the tenant's favour, since it guarantees that his heirs will find the box when the time comes. On keeping and passing on precious metals, the Gold Guide gathers the useful references.
Can a proxy be appointed?
Yes, free of charge. Any adult chosen by the tenant can receive access to the box, and this proxy can be replaced at any time, on simple request. It is the practical answer to two common situations: organising a relative's access in case of impediment, and preparing a transmission without entrusting one's valuables to an unknown third party.
Can a company rent a box?
Yes. A company's valuables, working funds in currencies, sensitive documents, stocks of precious metals, are protected under the same conditions as those of a private individual. The four box sizes are open to professionals, and the contract is drawn up in the name of the legal entity.
How is the rental paid?
In advance, for one year or more, in cash within the legal limits or by bank transfer. In case of transfer, access to the box and the handing over of the key take place once the amount is credited. One month before expiry, the tenant receives an invitation to renew: the renewal is done remotely, by mail and transfer, or on site at the agency.
Is there a box from 10 euros per month?
Yes. The client then accesses the non-nominative formula: his valuables are kept under number, and not in his name, in a shared custody area placed under the same security arrangements as the boxes. An identity document is presented at subscription, as for any rental, and payment is made in advance. The full details are presented at the agency, where the team guides the choice, according to the need, between the nominative box and non-nominative custody.
How to terminate the rental contract?
By registered letter, with ten days' notice. Any year begun is due, the contract being annual and payable in advance. The box is returned at the agency, key and access card handed back; the tenant empties his box under the same conditions of confidentiality as during his visits.
Is a security escort possible?
Yes. On prior request through the contact form, an escort accompanies the tenant from his vehicle to the premises, from the private car park accessible by appointment. The service is meant for those who deposit or withdraw significant valuables and want the journey between the car and the strong door to be covered with the same seriousness as the vault itself.
Why choose a private box rather than a bank safe deposit box?
Because the bank box presupposes an account, client conditions and counter hours, and because the number of vault rooms still accessible to the public shrinks year after year. The private box reverses the logic: an identity card, a contract, a key. The tenant comes when the agency is open, reaches his box alone and accounts to nobody for what he deposits there. The detailed advantages of this formula for precious metals are set out in the dedicated article.
Further reading
Reserve my safe deposit box today
The form below is enough to start opening a contract; the agency answers as quickly as possible. Twenty minutes on site, an identity card, and the box is yours.