Well yeah, of course they are. There's a big warehouse somewhere, don't worry it's all secure, and there are pallet loads of gold and silver that get hauled in like pallets of stock at Costco. But they take care of it all, see, one day a pallet will have a sign on it that says "JP Morgan", the next day it will say "Vanguard".
See? It's all on the up-and-up.
5,000 troy ounces
Silver (SI) futures are physically delivered upon expiration. For additional details on delivery, please see the NYMEX Rulebook (Chapter 112):
Delivery may take place on any business day beginning on the first business day of the delivery month or any subsequent business day of the delivery month, but not later than the last business day of the current delivery month.
CONTRACT SPECIFICATIONS
The contract for delivery on futures contracts shall be five thousand (5,000) troy ounces of silver with a weight tolerance of 10% either higher or lower. Silver delivered under this contract shall assay to a minimum of 999 fineness and must be a brand approved by the Exchange.
Silver meeting all of the following specifications shall be deliverable in satisfaction of futures contract delivery obligations under this rule:
1. Five (5) bars of refined silver cast in bars of one thousand (1,000) troy ounces, with a weight tolerance of 10% either higher or lower.
2. Silver must consist of one or more of the Exchange’s Brand marks, as provided in Chapter 7, current at the date of delivery of the contract.
3. Each bar of Eligible silver must have the weight, fineness, bar number, and Brand mark clearly incised on the bar. The weight may be in troy ounces or grams. If the weight is in grams, it must be converted to troy ounces for documentation purposes by dividing the weight in grams by 31.1035 and rounding to the nearest tenth of a troy ounce. All documentation must illustrate the weight in troy ounces.
Any bar of silver that does not have the bar weight stamped or incised on the bar by the refiner, and which is identified by a refiner's bar list without indicating or specifying the bar weight, but which is otherwise qualified for delivery on Exchange contract, may be put in tenderable condition for such delivery by the following procedures:
(a) The silver must be weighed by a Weighmaster.
(b) The weight of each bar and the identification stamp of the Weighmaster must be incised with an appropriate tool which will create a permanent record on each bar.
(c) The weight so marked on each bar shall be to the nearest 1/10th of an ounce.
(d) The Weighmaster shall prepare a certificate stating the procedures which it has followed, and said certificate shall be attached to the itemized bar list identifying the bars by number and weights of each. Said Weighmaster's Certificate and bar list shall be maintained by the Depository.
(e) For all Eligible silver placed in a Depository prior to December 1, 2003, a separate bar number incised with an appropriate tool will be acceptable in lieu of the identification stamp of the Weighmaster.
Silver delivered under this contract shall assay to a minimum of 999 fineness.
Exactly. It’s all on the up and up.
Because Bigly promises it’s so.
And we trust Bigly because he says he’s telling the truth, but we normals are just too stupid to understand the nuances.