If you’re looking for a safe place to put your investments, Chad Venzke has a suggestion: Dig a hole in the ground four feet deep, pack gold and silver in a piece of plastic PVC pipe, seal it, and bury it.
如果你想找个安全地方来存放你的投资，文兹克有个提议：在地上挖个洞，大概四英尺深，把金银放在一段PVC管中，密封好，埋进去。
The 30-year-old central Wisconsin resident trusts no one but himself to store and protect his gold and silver—not banks, not investment funds, and certainly not the government. It’s precisely because of this suspicion of institutions that he invests in those metals to begin with. In case of emergency, "you always want to have your precious metals within arms reach," he says. 这个30岁的威斯康星中心居民相信除他以外没人会这样储存黄金和白银——不存入银行，不放入投资基金，当然更不可能是政府。他如此谨慎是因为他刚开始投资贵重金属时就不信任这些机构。为以防万一，“你总是希望你的贵金属放在触手可及的地方，”他说。
Venzke is hardly the only investor who wants his precious metals nearby at all times. A pound of gold worth about $24,000 can easily fit in a pocket; how to protect it is a decision that carries expensive consequences. Do-it-yourself investors who don't trust banks must find creative storage options, whether burying gold in the yard, submerging it in a koi pond, stashing it behind air-conditioning ducts, or placing it under carpets. All these options are debated in online gold and silver investor forums. They're also debated and demonstrated in youtube videos, including one by Venzke that has been viewed more than 7,000 times. 文兹克不是仅有的希望自己的贵金属一直在自己身边的投资者。一磅价值2,4000美元的黄金能轻而易举地放在口袋里；决定怎样保护它们非常重要，否则稍有不慎就会带来严重的后果。那些不信任银行，信奉“自食其力”的投资者必须想到一个有新意的点子来放置金银：将黄金埋在院子里、投入鲤鱼池中、藏在空调通风管内，或者放在地毯下。所有这些方法都在金银投资者论坛上争辩过优劣。他们也在Youtube上争论过，包括文兹克的方法在内至少有超过7000个想法。
MOUNTING HOARDS 储量上升
While there’s no way of knowing how many investors take Venzke’s advice, there are growing piles of precious metals in, under, or near American homes. From mid-2010 to mid-2011, U.S. investors bought up more than 100 tonnes of physical gold coins and bars, up from 15.2 tonnes in 2007, according to the World Gold Council. (A tonne, or metric ton, is 1,000 kilograms.) Worldwide bar and coin demand rose 37 percent during the mid-2010 to mid-2011 period, according to the Council, even as demand from exchange-traded funds backed by physical gold, and similar products, fell 84 percent. 尽管没有办法统计究竟有多少人采用了文兹克的方法，但目前在美国庭院附近的贵金属数量正在上升。据世界黄金协会的统计，从2010年中期到2011年中期，美国投资者购买了超过100吨的金币和金条，而在2007年仅售出15.2吨。全世界的金条金币需求在2010年到2011年期间上升了31个百分点，即便交易所基金的黄金需求同期下降了84%。
The notion of keeping one’s gold in a safety deposit box—inside the banks many gold aficionados find so untrustworthy—is anathema to many gold bugs. Venzke, who predicts "runaway inflation" and a crisis leading to a "new form of currency within this decade," worries that the boxes won't be accessible if banks shut down in a crisis. "How are you supposed to get your stuff out of there?" he asks. 将自己的黄金放在银行保险箱中这种打算在许多黄金迷看来很不靠谱——这受到许多“金甲虫”（黄金投机者）的厌恶。文兹克预言将会发生“恶意通货膨胀”，并且认为在一次危机后将导致“10年内产生新货币形式”。如果银行在这次危机中倒闭，保险箱中的黄金将不会再“万无一失”，到那时你该怎么拿走自己的财产？
For those storing gold and silver in or around their home, the most immediate danger isn’t a crisis or a dip in metal prices. It’s theft. The FBI, which tallies the theft of precious metals and jewelry in one category, says $1.6 billion was stolen in 2010, up 51 percent from 2005. Just 4.2 percent of the lost loot was recovered last year. 对那些在自己家中或屋子周围存储金银的人来说，最大的突发危险是不是金融危机或金价下跌，而是盗贼。FBI统计了丢失的金属珠宝，称在2010年有价值16亿的金银被偷，比2005年上升了51%。而只有4.2%的失物被找回。
Metal detectors are a big worry. Basic detectors can find metal on the surface or in the first 12 inches to 14 inches below ground, depending on soil conditions, says Louis Mahnken Jr., a sales representative for Kellyco Metal Detectors in Winter Springs, Fla. That’s why Venzke advises burying it at least four feet deep. There are online debates about the best way to frustrate such thieves, including using scrap metal as decoys or hiding metal by covering it underground with asbestos or mirrors. 金属探测器是个大麻烦。基础探测器能发现表面和地下12到14英寸深的金属，这取决于土壤条件。麦肯说，他是Kellyco 金属探测器的业务代表。这就是为什么文兹克建议至少埋4英尺深。人们在网上讨论过防治这种小偷的最佳方法，包括用废金属做诱饵或用石棉或镜子盖住埋在地下的黄金。
DOORSTOPS, BOAT ANCHORS 门闩，船锚
Metal owners also use the "hiding in plain sight" maneuver. According to dealers, some customers buy 100-oz. silver bars, paint them black, and use them as doorstops. That's foolish, says Steven Ellsworth, a coin dealer in Clifton, Va., who teaches security classes for the American Numismatic Assn. 贵金属拥有者也会采用“藏而不漏”的办法。据经销商说，一些消费者买下100盎司的银条，将它们刷成黑色，用它们当门闩。那样做太愚蠢了，硬币交易商斯蒂文埃尔斯沃斯说，他在美国钱币协会教授安全课程。
Ellsworth is a believer in keeping precious metals in bank safety deposit boxes, as well as having high security at home. "My wife sometimes thinks we're over-secured and calls our residence 'the compound,'" says Ellsworth, a retired Army colonel. His security measures include fences, alarms, cameras, and dogs. 埃尔斯沃斯信任银行，他将贵金属放在银行保险箱，同时在家里设置高规格防护措施。“我太太有时候认为我们有点保护过火，称我们的住宅是“混合堡垒”，”埃尔斯沃斯说，他是一位退休的美军上校，他的防护措施包括设置栅栏，安装警报，使用监控还有饲养护院狗。
Safes can certainly deter thieves. Yet an inexpensive fire safe may be exactly the wrong place to put your valuables. Richard Krasilovsky, president of Empire Safe, calls such safes "handy carrying cases for burglars." A fire safe is designed to protect papers from fire, not from intruders, says Ryan Smith, a senior product manager at SentrySafe. "It wouldn’t be wise to put any more than $20,000 of valuables in our products," he says. 保险箱能有效制止盗贼。但一个便宜的防火阀可能的确不是个存放贵重物品的好地方，理查德说，他是帝国安全公司的总裁，他认为这种保险箱是能被盗贼轻而易举顺走的。“防火阀是用来防止发生火灾的，不是抵御入侵者的，将任何超过20,000美元的贵重物品放入我们的产品都是不明智的。”
Krasilovsky, whose company makes high-end safes, says safes must be very strong and very heavy—a recent sale was of a $10,000 safe that weighed 4,000 pounds. A proper safe starts at $2,000 and could cost as much as $40,000, he says. If the safe isn't certified to resist burglars with tools for 30 minutes, a so-called "TL-30" rating, "you're buying an expensive boat anchor," says Ellsworth. 克拉西洛夫斯基的公司制作高档保险箱，他认为保险箱必须非常坚固，非常沉——最近卖出的价值10,000美元的保险箱就重达4,000磅。想买一个质量过关的保险箱，“起步价”是2,000美元，最多能到40,000美元。如果保险箱不能确保阻止带工具的盗贼30分钟，即达到“TL30”的等级，否则你仅仅是买回家一个昂贵的船锚……
Of course, whether gold is buried, put in a safe, or hidden under your bed, there’s nothing to stop a determined person with a gun from making you show them where you put it. That’s why it’s important no one ever know you have gold in the first place. Krasilovsky’s company will deliver safes in the middle of the night, installing them where no one, including a contractor, is likely to stumble across them. 当然，无论是把黄金埋起来，放在保险箱或藏在自己床下，这对于一个拿着枪要求你指出黄金所藏位置的亡命徒来说都无济于事。这就是为什么刚开始就不能让人知道你拥有黄金。克拉西洛夫斯基的公司会在半夜运送保险箱，保证没人知晓这件事。
"People have to be extraordinarily secretive," Krasilovsky says. This secrecy keeps away not only thieves but also prying relatives and the tax man. "One of the benefits of owning precious metals is nobody knows you own it," Venzke says. "It’s the most private investment you can make." “人们对于保密工作必须尤其重视，保密对象不仅仅是小偷，还有爱打听的亲戚以及税务人员。”克拉西洛夫斯基说，“持有贵金属的一个好处是别人很难知道你在黄金上投资了，那是你所能做的最私密的投资”。
Unless, of course, you feel compelled to post youtube videos sharing insights about where to stash your gold.除非，你迫切想在Youtube上分享你对于藏黄金的见解……