Allocated vs Unallocated Silver

Allocated metal is a named bar or a named lot. Unallocated metal is a claim on a quantity in a pool. Paper silver is a contract that tracks a price. Those three things all get called “silver.” They are not the same asset.

This is a map of the words. It is not a product we sell, not a custody offer, and not a ranking of vaults.

Figure. Three columns: a serial-numbered bar (allocated), a claim on a pool (unallocated), a contract that tracks a price (paper). Qualitative. Not a product grid. Not a live quote. Not advice.

Allocated means a named bar

Allocated (sometimes called segregated) means specific bars or coins are identified as yours — by serial, by sealed box, or by a named lot. You should be able to get a bar list that matches what you sent in.

Allocated metal in a vault is still physical, but you are relying on a custodian’s records and a vault’s door. The metal can be real and still be someone else’s operational problem if the records, the door, or the operator fail.

Audits, allocated records, and the right to inspect or withdraw on stated notice are how you measure that risk. None of those features is a guarantee.

This site does not invent a custody product, an insurance limit, or a storage fee. Those numbers live in a vault’s documents, if they exist, not here.

Unallocated is a claim on a pool

Pooled or unallocated means a claim on a quantity of metal, not a named bar. That can be cheaper. It is a different asset.

If the operator fails, your legal position is a claim, not “my serial-numbered bar in box 14.”

The word “silver” on a statement does not tell you whether you own a serial-numbered bar. Read the paperwork. Look for serials, a bar list, a sealed box, or a named lot. If those are missing, you are reading a claim, not a bar list.

Unallocated is not a slur. It is a structure. Futures, some unallocated accounts, and many exchange-traded products use a claim or a contract on purpose. The job is price exposure or settlement, not a coin you can weigh on a kitchen scale.

Paper silver is not a coin in a box

“Paper” here means a claim or a contract, not a coin in your hand.

Futures, some unallocated accounts, and many exchange-traded products track or settle against a silver price. They are useful for hedging and for people who want price exposure without storing metal. They are not the same as a minted coin or a poured bar that you can weigh.

Physical silver is a specific product: a coin, round, or bar with a stated weight and fineness, sitting in a specific place. Turning a wholesale ounce into that product costs money. That is the main reason a retail invoice is never the spot print. See What spot price means.

If the reason you hold the metal is to hold the metal, the product is the bar or coin, not the ticker.

London and COMEX are not a retail product

In London, the physical market is over-the-counter. Once each working day at 12:00 London time, ICE Benchmark Administration runs an electronic auction that produces the LBMA Silver Price. That benchmark is published in U.S. dollars per troy ounce. The auction is for unallocated silver delivered in London, with settlement two good business days later (T+2).

London Good Delivery silver bars are large institutional bars, roughly 1,000 troy ounces (the official weight range is 750 to 1,100 troy ounces), with a minimum fineness of 999.0 parts per thousand.

On COMEX, part of the silver market is a futures contract. The standard COMEX silver contract (SI) is 5,000 troy ounces. Deliverable silver is typically five bars of about 1,000 troy ounces.

Those two markets stay close to each other because large players can arbitrage between them. Retail buyers do not trade either market. You are not buying a 5,000-ounce futures lot or a 1,000-ounce London bar when you order a few coins.

This is not the London Silver Vaults, the Chancery Lane antique-arcade. That distinction lives on About. The London in this article is the bullion market.

How to read the paperwork

Read the custody sentence first.

Ask whether the metal is allocated (a named bar, a sealed box, a named lot, a bar list you can match) or unallocated (a quantity claim). Ask who holds the key. Ask whether you can inspect or withdraw on stated notice.

Insurance at a vault is usually a vault policy, often all-risk, with a limit, deductibles, and exclusions. Ask who the insurer is, whether you are a named insured or a beneficiary, what perils are out, and what happens if the vault’s coverage is cancelled. A certificate that says “insured” without those answers is advertising. This page does not invent a dollar limit.

If the silver is inside an IRA, storage is not a lifestyle choice. The bullion exception in Internal Revenue Code section 408(m) requires the metal to be in the physical possession of a bank or an IRS-approved nonbank trustee. Segregated versus commingled storage at that depository is an operations and fee choice. Both can satisfy trustee possession if the trustee, not you, controls the metal. You cannot pick up IRA silver “just to look at it.” Taking delivery is a distribution. See Silver IRA vs buying from a dealer and Storing physical silver.

This article is educational only. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell silver, and it is not tax or investment advice. It is not a custody, vault, or insurance product.

FAQ

What does allocated mean?

Specific bars or coins identified as yours — by serial, by sealed box, or by a named lot. You should be able to get a bar list that matches what you sent in.

What does unallocated mean?

A claim on a quantity of metal, not a named bar. If the operator fails, your legal position is a claim, not a serial-numbered bar in a numbered box.

Is paper silver the same as a coin?

No. Futures, some unallocated accounts, and many exchange-traded products track or settle against a silver price. They are not a minted coin or a poured bar you can weigh.

Is the LBMA Silver Price allocated metal?

The auction is for unallocated silver delivered in London, T+2. Retail buyers do not trade that market.

Are you selling allocated storage?

No. This is a map of the words. Not a product, not a vault, not a custody offer.