Seed consists of a gemmule and food supply for the germ.
Seed is like a womb containing an embryo that sleeps and waits for the appropriate conditions in terms of nutrition, moisture, temperatures, light and air to germinate and develop.
Usually, seeds are hard and drying brown to black in color. A seed coat will protect the embryo against breakage, drought, etc. In the seed skin, the embryo is surrounded by the seed coat. This allows among others by stored food for the life of the embryo.
You must keep seeds dark, permanently stable fresh, airy, quite well labeled and dry, but not too dry (out of reach of mice and insects). With the inclusion of water, the germination starts.

Because seeds are usually very small, and you need very little of each (vegetable) species, is a pillbox with lots of little boxes handy to keep them. Wrap them in a piece of paper on which you write down what is in it (plus harvest year). 

If you have few or valuable seeds, you can protect them extra. Put dried beans in the freezer for a few days. Insects don’t survive. The international seed bank contains thousands of types of seeds and they are all in the freezer for many years.