Deliverable commodity investment vehicle

Abstract

A supply of a commodity is owned by an investment vehicle. A sponsor of the investment vehicle receives a delivery application. A custodian stores the supply of the commodity as a collection of first physical units. A commodity dealer specializing in trading the commodity agrees to conduct trades with the sponsor to convert a first quantity of the supply for a second quantity of the commodity. A broker dealer trades shares of the investment vehicle. The delivery application is provided by a shareholder, and specifies a physical format for the second quantity of the commodity.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method for sponsoring a deliverable commodity investment trust comprising:
 arranging for the creation of the deliverable commodity investment trust such that the deliverable commodity investment trust: (i) holds a commodity and (ii) issues shares representing a unit of fractional undivided interest in the deliverable commodity investment trust;   receiving a delivery application from the trust investor that includes: (i) a desired specification for a physical delivery of the commodity and (ii) a number of the shares to be surrendered in exchange for the physical delivery of the commodity;   requesting a trust custodian to engage in an over-the-counter transaction with a dealer to convert the commodity into the desired specification for the physical delivery of the commodity; and   arranging for the physical delivery of the commodity from the dealer to the trust investor.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein:
 the commodity is gold;   the desired specification specifies that the gold must be gold coins or gold bars;   the dealer is a precious metals dealer; and   the commodity is held by a custodian.   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the physical delivery of the commodity is via a conventional shipping carrier. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 maintaining a website for the deliverable commodity investment trust; and   pre-approving the delivery application before the delivery application is submitted to a trustee of the trust;   wherein the website includes a calculator for calculating the number of shares to be surrendered to minimize a cash component of the exchange of the shares for the physical delivery of the commodity.   
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein:
 the calculator calculates the number of shares to be surrendered based at least in part on an accrued cost for holding the commodity, a current price of the shares, and the desired specification for the physical delivery of the commodity.   
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 24 , further comprising:
 instructing the trust investor to utilize the calculator to calculate the number of shares for the delivery application.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein:
 pre-approval of the delivery application is contingent upon the number of shares minimizing the cash component of the exchange of the shares for the physical delivery of the commodity.   
     
     
         28 . A method for sponsoring a deliverable commodity investment trust comprising:
 arranging for the creation of the deliverable commodity investment trust such that the deliverable commodity investment trust: (i) holds a commodity and (ii) issues shares representing an interest in the deliverable commodity investment trust;   maintaining a website for the trust that includes a calculator for estimating a physical quantity of the commodity and an estimated quantity of cash that can be exchanged for a number of shares;   receiving a delivery application from a trust investor that includes: (i) a desired specification for a delivered physical quantity of the commodity and (ii) the number of shares as calculated by the calculator; and   pre-approving the delivery application before the delivery application is sent to a trustee of the deliverable commodity investment trust to conduct an exchange of the number of shares for the delivered physical quantity of the commodity and a final quantity of cash.   
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein:
 the calculator calculates the number of shares, and the number of shares is a minimum number of shares required to obtain the physical quantity of the commodity; and   the calculator calculates the number of shares based at least in part on an accrued cost for holding the commodity, a current price of the shares, and the desired specification for the delivered physical quantity of the commodity.   
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein:
 the desired specification for the delivered physical quantity of the commodity specifies that the physical quantity of the commodity must be London Good Delivery Bars.   
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 28 , further comprising:
 collecting a sponsor fee via an allocation of additional shares representing an interest in the deliverable commodity investment trust.   
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 28 , further comprising:
 requesting a trust custodian to engage in an over-the-counter trade with a precious metals dealer to convert the commodity to meet the desired specification;   wherein the commodity is gold and the desired specification specifies that the gold must be gold coins or gold bars.   
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein:
 the over-the-counter trade involves an exchange of unallocated gold for a number of physical gold coins or gold bars.   
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein:
 the delivered physical commodity is delivered via a conventional shipping carrier.   
     
     
         35 . A deliverable commodity trust administration system comprising:
 a trust custodian to store a commodity physically on behalf of the trust;   a trustee to coordinate the exchange of a physical quantity of the commodity for shares of the trust;   a trust sponsor to receive and pre-approve a delivery application specifying: (i) a desired specification for the physical quantity of the commodity and (ii) a number of shares to be exchanged for the physical quantity of the commodity; and   a dealer to engage in an over-the-counter trade with the trust custodian, the over-the-counter trades converting the commodity into the desired specification.   
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 35 , further comprising:
 a conventional shipping carrier to deliver the physical quantity of the commodity to an investor;   wherein the investor provides the delivery application to the trust sponsor.   
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 35 , wherein:
 the desired specification specifies that the physical quantity of the commodity must be gold coins or gold bars;   the commodity is stored by the trust custodian; and   the over-the-counter trade converts the commodity into the desired specification by exchanging unallocated gold for the physical quantity of the commodity.   
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 35 , wherein:
 the trust sponsor administrates a website with a calculator for estimating the physical quantity of the commodity and an estimated quantity of cash that can be exchanged for the number of shares.   
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 35 , wherein:
 the trust sponsor administrates a website with a calculator for calculating a minimum number of shares that can be exchanged for a desired physical quantity of the commodity.   
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein:
 pre-approval by the trust sponsor is contingent upon the number of shares to be exchanged for the physical quantity of the commodity from the delivery application being equivalent to the minimum number of shares calculated by the calculator.