As an educated precious metals investor, I am often asked about my methods of securing such lucrative items. Specifically, those who approach me are interested in how I do business with a commodity (precious metals) that can be easily stolen and melted down. In the old days, a safe, a stagecoach and an armed guard weren’t enough. Today, renting an armored truck is an expensive option reserved for corporations or the filthy rich. Surely I must spend a fortune transporting gold and silver coins across the country.

What I tell them elicits a response that I always enjoy seeing. I nod and say, “Actually, I ship my gold and silver the same way the Hope Diamond was shipped.” That’s the diamond valued at over $200 million. Really. Then, of course, I spend the next few minutes explaining how the Hope Diamond was donated and transported from New York City to Washington DC in 1958. The total cost of shipping was $145.29 and only $2.44 for postage, the rest for insurance.

Sure, that was over 50 years ago, but the reality is that this shipping method is still available. And available to everyone. Few people seem to realize that they have access to such a secure shipping method.

Where is it available? your local post office. That’s right, the Hope Diamond was shipped via certified mail by the United States Postal Service. Certified mail is one of the safest shipping methods available to the public, yet only a few people know much about it.

That is what brings me here, writing this article to share my method. It’s not really a secret, it just seems to have been lost as general knowledge over the years. The postal service has existed for more than 200 years. They have developed a time-tested method of safely transporting items. Registered mail implements a chain of custody that requires an act of God to be broken without anyone knowing who broke it. For starters, shipped items are protected by safes, crates, sealed containers, padlocks, and keys. It’s easy to complain about rising stamp prices, but the USPS has a monopoly on providing safe and insured transportation.

Honestly, I’m more wary of the people around me in line than I am when I drop off my box of gold and silver coins at the post office. I have shipped hundreds of boxes of precious metals over the years and have yet to be disappointed. Certified mail sometimes takes longer than standard shipping, but that’s because of the added responsibility at each step. Everyone, and I mean everyone, who comes into contact with my precious metals box is documented and accounted for.

The cost is minimal for the service offered. Still, it would be nice to tell people that I have a private armored truck or mob ties that make me untouchable. The only reason I can think of why more people don’t know the secret about certified mail is because it’s a steal of a deal. If everyone started using it, I doubt the Postal Service could keep up without losing.

Not my problem though, so the secret is out. I have been buying and selling precious metals: mainly gold and silver coins, in bulk for years. It’s an empowering feeling to open a simple cardboard box and reveal the sparkling treasure inside. My precious metals retirement account enriches me in the long run, but it doesn’t allow me to see my treasure until I retire. I think the feeling of opening a treasure chest is what keeps me in this business.