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Inspired by: Can I fly with a gold bar?, is the best way to physically move a lot of monetary value around a gold bar? Here, best is defined as being a combination of convenience + ease of access to the value represented by the item.

If not, what is the best way, and why?

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Alex
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    A wire transfer is not physical, right? – Alex Jul 09 '15 at 04:34
  • Oh, I missed the title. Sorry. – Nate Eldredge Jul 09 '15 at 04:35
  • Would you consider a physical storage device containing the private key for millions of dollars worth of bitcoins "physical"? – March Ho Jul 09 '15 at 04:47
  • yes I would, but bitcoins might be marked down on "ease of access to the value" – Alex Jul 09 '15 at 04:49
  • conversely, i don't think I would consider a prepaid travel card or atm card as physically moving money. Maybe I will have to rethink the hdd with private key for the bitcoins. – Alex Jul 09 '15 at 04:54
  • @Alex: why would a gold bar of all things be easier to access than bitcoins? – RemcoGerlich Jul 09 '15 at 07:20
  • say if I wanted to go to somewhere where bitcoins were not popular, and said, I want that piece of land you have over there... – Alex Jul 09 '15 at 07:30
  • @RemcoGerlich That's a good question bitcoins fans would be well inspired to ponder. In the meantime, it just is so. – Relaxed Jul 09 '15 at 08:10
  • @Relaxed: I don't mean that as a bitcoin fan (I'm not), just seems to me that a $450k gold bar more or less the opposite of what I think of when I read "convenience + ease of access". Where would you be able to sell it? – RemcoGerlich Jul 09 '15 at 08:23
  • @RemcoGerlich I don't necessarily disagree with that but I think bitcoins are even worse! I frequently see shops buying gold in many places so if you are really desperate you can get some cash quickly (usually at a huge loss compared to the market price, but I don't count this as a disadvantage compared to bitcoins given their volatility). There are also specialized dealers for bullion and you can simply ask a bank. Not that I think buying gold is a good idea for any purpose, but all this easily beats Mt. Gox. – Relaxed Jul 09 '15 at 08:34
  • @Relaxed Where I live, you can spend bitcoins at bars, petrol stations, pizza shops, with many individuals... None of them could make change for a large gold bar, though. – Michael Hampton Jul 09 '15 at 17:19
  • @MichaelHampton I do know a bar where bitcoins are accepted but that's more of a novelty than anything in my view. The real question is whether you can easily get actual cash for your gold or bitcoins. – Relaxed Jul 09 '15 at 17:55
  • @Relaxed Um, yes? – Michael Hampton Jul 09 '15 at 17:58
  • @MichaelHampton I will readily admit that I am not tracking this space very closely but I already heard about this kind of things and trying to set up a meet in a public place through a website does not sound like a very convenient or attractive solution to me… – Relaxed Jul 09 '15 at 18:07
  • @Relaxed Craigslist users do it all the time. Though with the feedback system that this site has, it's much safer. – Michael Hampton Jul 09 '15 at 18:09
  • Diamonds are a smuggler's best friend? – Andrew Lazarus Jul 10 '15 at 16:30

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I would suggest cash. It's more voluminous but lighter than gold and certainly very liquid. In $100 bills (using this as an example because someone did the calculations for me but you could use EUR 500 or CHF 1000 to save some space and have more colorful luggage), it seems perfectly possible to carry $420k (the value of a Good Delivery gold bar) with you.

Sources:

And with Swiss Francs, you can take even more (thanks @drat for the link!) as CHF 1 million (>$1 million) should only be a bit more than 1 kg and 1L in new CHF 1000 bills (and, like everything Swiss, the bills you get are often squeaky clean compared to small euro or dollar bills that circulate a lot). Swiss Francs might be slightly more difficult to use abroad but, amazingly, in Switzerland, you can easily pay your groceries (or a car…) with large bills and nobody would bat an eye.

One issue is that using cash might make a difference as far as cash control regulations are concerned. For example, European Union rules require you to declare that much money when leaving the EU but do not cover gold (some countries like the US or France do require gold, at least as bullion, to be declared as well so that's moot there).

That's a bit of extra hassle (and it might fail your “convenience” criterion) but since people who carry a lot of cash or gold around usually obtained it through legitimate means and obviously paid their taxes, it's not a big deal.

Relaxed
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I would suggest jewelry, specifically higher quality pieces. They have value both for the materials used, but also for design and/or brand considerations. Exotic metals and jewels may have higher value per weight than "just" plain gold. If there is a proper paper trail (certificate of the manufacturer, invoice proving it is really yours), they should not be too complicated to sell again.

Just to take an example, a high-end Swiss timepiece can easily be worth up to 10000 USD (being conservative and staying within easily sellable models), and weigh about 45g.

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