Texas Bullion Depository vs Delaware Depository

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TBD vs Delaware Depository at a glance

Both depositories can hold IRA precious metals for a Texas resident. They sit in very different legal categories, offer different geographic footprints, and publish very different amounts of fee detail on their own public sites. The table below summarizes what each side puts in writing on official pages.

What the Texas Bullion Depository actually is

The Texas Bullion Depository is an agency of the State of Texas. It is the only state-administered precious metals depository in the country and Texas Bullion Depository is a registered trademark of the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. The physical facility sits in Leander, Texas, north of Austin in Williamson County.

The depository was created by state legislation, House Bill 483, signed by Governor Greg Abbott on June 12, 2015. Operations began in 2017 under a vendor arrangement with Lone Star Tangible Assets LP (LSTA), the private company selected by the state as the depository contractor to run day-to-day operations.

State oversight is not marketing language. The tbd.gov IRA Storage page states that TBD operates under the Texas Comptroller's oversight with regular audits by a representative from the Comptroller's office (source: texasbulliondepository.gov, checked August 2026). That is a different accountability layer than what a private commercial vault answers to.

For a Texas resident, the practical draw is that IRA metal can sit inside Texas borders at a state-run facility rather than at a private vault out of state. The federal tax treatment of the IRA does not change based on vault geography, but the geographic and legal setup does change for readers who care about it.

What Delaware Depository actually is

Delaware Depository is a privately held precious metals custody and distribution center. It was founded in 1999 and its primary vault sits at 3601 North Market Street, Wilmington, DE 19802. The main phone number listed on the company site is (302) 765-3889. The company describes itself as the largest precious metals depository in the United States located outside of New York City.

The legal category matters. Delaware Depository is a state-chartered trust company regulated by the Delaware banking commissioner, which the company frames as a bank-like security posture without the loan and deposit exposure of a bank. Its IRA Services page states that Delaware Depository is qualified to store IRA assets as an IRS-approved non-bank trustee.

Delaware Depository holds exchange licenses that a state-agency depository does not need to hold. It is a Licensed Depository of CME Group for the COMEX and NYMEX Divisions across gold, silver, platinum and palladium, and it is licensed by ICE Futures US for gold and silver security. It also holds an SEC no-action letter authorizing gold and silver bullion custody for mutual funds and other 1940 Act funds.

Storage is spread across multiple sites. The company lists Wilmington DE and Aston PA in the mid-Atlantic, Boulder City NV and Spring Valley NV in the desert Southwest, plus international vaulting in Toronto (Canada) and Zurich (Switzerland). That geographic redundancy is a talking point that a single-site depository like TBD cannot match on paper.

Legal structure and oversight, side by side

The two depositories answer to very different governance regimes. TBD answers to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts under state law, with regular audits by Comptroller staff. Delaware Depository answers to the Delaware banking commissioner as a state-chartered trust company, plus SSAE-18 SOC-1 external audit and an SEC no-action framework for 1940 Act custody.

Neither structure is inherently safer than the other. State-agency oversight has the advantage of a specific statutory duty of care and a public accountability trail. State-chartered trust company oversight has the advantage of the same bank-regulator framework that governs traditional bank custody, plus the exchange-licensed audit trail that CME and ICE require for warrantable bar deliveries.

The difference matters most for readers who care about the specific chain of accountability. A Texas retiree who wants a state-audited setup that answers to a state comptroller gets that with TBD. A retiree who values trust-company banking supervision plus a public exchange-license track record gets more of that with Delaware Depository.

Neither depository is the IRA custodian. The IRA custodian is a separate IRS-approved trust company that holds legal title on the account and instructs the depository to receive metal shipped by the dealer. That distinction applies to both TBD and Delaware Depository, and it is why the fee quote lives at the custodian level, not the depository level.

Storage models: segregated only vs allocated

TBD stores metal on a segregated basis only. The tbd.gov IRA Storage page states that precious metals are stored separately and never commingled, so the account holder receives the exact metals originally deposited at withdrawal (source: texasbulliondepository.gov, checked August 2026). There is no pooled or commingled option to opt into by accident.

Delaware Depository frames its IRA custody as fully allocated and held off-balance-sheet, meaning the bullion is dedicated to the account holder and not part of the depository's own assets. The About page states that all bullion is fully allocated to the account holder and held off-balance-sheet through storage transfer arrangements, guided solely by the client's directives.

Fully allocated and segregated are related but not identical concepts. Fully allocated means the metal is dedicated to a specific account holder and cannot be lent, pledged, or encumbered. Segregated means the specific bars are physically separated and returned as the same bars at withdrawal. TBD's IRA storage is both allocated and physically segregated; Delaware Depository's IRA custody is allocated, with segregated storage available for accounts that request it through the custodian.

For a reader who wants the bright-line assurance that only segregated storage is on offer, TBD is the cleaner fit. For a reader who is comfortable with allocated storage at a bank-regulated trust company with the option of segregated at higher cost, Delaware Depository is the traditional gold IRA setup that most custodians default to.

Insurance framing and disclosure

TBD publishes its insurance approach on the IRA Storage page. Assets are insured through Lloyd's of London, covering theft, fire, flood, and natural disasters, with daily market value updates on the coverage amount (source: texasbulliondepository.gov IRA Storage page, checked August 2026). The Depository Insurance page adds that the depository also insures return shipments to the account holder's address of record.

Delaware Depository publishes a specific dollar cap on its About page. Vault coverage is 1 billion dollars of all-risk insurance through reputable London-based underwriters. The policy covers all conceivable scenarios of physical loss and damage, including mysterious disappearances and unexplained shortages, plus employee dishonesty and theft. The policy excludes acts of war, terrorism, cyber-attacks, radioactive contamination, and chemical, biological, biochemical, and electromagnetic weapons.

Shipment coverage at Delaware Depository is capped at 100,000 dollars per package for mail or express carrier shipments. Anything above that threshold needs a custom arrangement through the depository. TBD does not publish an equivalent per-shipment ceiling in the same detailed form; its Shipping and Handling schedule states that domestic shipments include 100 percent insurance to the account holder within the standard shipment thresholds.

The practical prudent step for either arrangement is to ask the custodian in writing for three specific numbers. What is the exact insurance limit on the specific account. Whether coverage is on an all-risk or named-perils basis. What the per-shipment cap is when the metal moves. The custodian is the party that can put those answers in writing.

Custodian access for a Texas IRA

TBD names Equity Trust Company as the first IRA custodian to work with the depository after LSTA obtained IRS Nonbank Trustee status in 2023. The tbd.gov IRA Storage page states that TBD will continue to expand its custodial relationships over time (source: texasbulliondepository.gov, checked August 2026). For a Texas reader today, the practical path to TBD IRA storage is through Equity Trust Company as custodian.

Delaware Depository has much broader custodian coverage. Its IRA Services page states that the majority of IRA custodians choose Delaware Depository IRA services to securely store their customers' IRA assets. In practice, self-directed IRA custodians such as STRATA Trust Company, Equity Trust Company, and Kingdom Trust regularly name Delaware Depository as an approved storage option on their intake paperwork.

If your dealer is already tied to a specific custodian that does not currently work with TBD, moving to TBD storage requires either switching custodian or asking the dealer to route through Equity Trust Company. Delaware Depository generally fits into an existing dealer and custodian stack without a custodian change, because most custodians already have Delaware Depository on the approved-depository list.

That breadth is a genuine advantage for a reader who wants to keep an existing custodian relationship. It is not an advantage for a reader who specifically wants a Texas-in-state, state-audited vault; that reader needs TBD regardless of the custodian friction.

What each depository publishes on IRA fees

Fee disclosure is the sharpest contrast between the two sites, and it goes in a direction most readers do not expect. TBD publishes a full non-IRA schedule with tier boundaries, rates, and minimums, then explicitly carves IRA fees out of that schedule. Delaware Depository does not publish a retail fee schedule on its own site at all and routes every quote through the IRA custodian.

TBD publishes a flat-rate model for non-IRA accounts effective April 1, 2026. The rate is 0.49 percent on average daily value from 0.01 dollars to 499,999.99 dollars, with a 25 dollar per quarter minimum. Higher tiers drop the rate: 0.44 percent from 500,000 dollars, 0.39 percent from 1,000,000 dollars, and 0.34 percent from 2,500,000 dollars. Non-storage fees include a 17.95 dollars plus 0.0018 of spot or declared value shipping fee, and a 35 dollars personal pickup fee.

Critically, the tbd.gov IRA Storage page states that IRA storage fees are typically negotiated between the gold dealer, the IRA custodian, and the depository contractor, and that the fees for standard storage shown on the site may not apply. So the published TBD rate is not a direct proxy for what a TBD IRA holder actually pays; it is a reference point for what TBD publishes for its own direct non-IRA account holders.

Delaware Depository's IRA Services page describes IRA custody without naming a retail fee schedule for the IRA account holder to read. Fees are set at the IRA custodian level; the depository line is one component of the custodian's total quote and the depository does not post it publicly. Common self-directed IRA custodians that use Delaware Depository typically post their storage fees on their own fee schedules, not on delawaredepository.com.

Published-fee chart: what actually lives on each depository site

Read the chart above with the intended framing. It is not a picture of what a real TBD or Delaware Depository IRA account holder pays. It is a picture of what each depository posts publicly on its own website. TBD posts a non-IRA schedule (a real published number for its own direct customers); Delaware Depository posts no retail IRA schedule and defers to the IRA custodian. Both post 0 dollars of retail IRA fee data.

What this means in practice is that the fee-comparison work sits at the IRA custodian, not the depository. The dealer's intake sheet names both the custodian and the depository. Once you know those two names, you can call the custodian and ask, in writing, for the annual storage fee that applies at your balance and for the setup and maintenance fees on top of that.

The number you get from the custodian is the number that hits your account statement. That is the number to compare across arrangements, not any depository-published schedule. Any comparison that ignores this and pretends TBD's non-IRA schedule is an IRA quote is comparing apples to a different fruit.

Estimate your own annual fee drag

Use the calculator below to enter your planned rollover balance and see the estimated annual carrying cost and fee drag as a percentage. Adjust the storage rate to match the schedule you actually get on paper from your dealer, custodian, and depository combination.

How to open storage with each option

The intake paperwork looks different depending on whether you route to TBD in Leander or to Delaware Depository in Wilmington. Both flows run through a qualified IRA custodian, not the depository directly.

1. Confirm the depository name on the dealer intake sheet. Ask the dealer, in writing, which depository the buy instruction names. TBD in Leander and Delaware Depository in Wilmington are two different lines on the dealer form and route to two different (or overlapping) custodians.
2. Confirm the custodian. For TBD, the tbd.gov page today names Equity Trust Company as the first custodian. For Delaware Depository, most self-directed IRA custodians on the market include it on their approved-depository list; ask the dealer which specific custodian will hold the account.
3. Understand the storage model on the paperwork. TBD is segregated only. Delaware Depository is fully allocated custody with segregated available at the custodian's segregated rate; if you want physically separated bars back at withdrawal, ask for segregated in writing.
4. Ask the depository fee question in writing. At TBD, IRA fees are typically negotiated, so ask for the written IRA quote through the custodian before you commit. At Delaware Depository, ask the custodian for the annual storage rate and any minimums that apply at your balance range.
5. Fund the IRA at the custodian. Roll over from a former 401(k), 403(b), TSP, or existing IRA. A trustee-to-trustee transfer avoids the 60-day rollover risk under IRC section 402. The custodian receives cash before any coin buy can settle.
6. Sign the buy instruction naming the depository. The dealer prepares a buy instruction that names the coins or bars, the price, and the depository (TBD Leander or Delaware Depository Wilmington). The custodian wires funds once you sign.
7. Confirm the depository receipt. The custodian issues a written receipt confirming the metal is in vault. That is the moment the account holds physical bullion rather than cash. Ask for the receipt in writing.
8. Reconcile the first statement. The first quarterly custodian statement should show the metal in vault and any storage charge posted to the account. Reconcile the storage line against the written fee quote you received at intake.

Worked example: Dallas retiree choosing between TBD and Delaware Depository

Balanced pros and cons

When each is a bad fit for you

Frequently asked questions

By Harry's Coins Editorial. Independent, editorial. Last reviewed August 2026.