Thread: Are Your Coins Safe In Your Home Safe?

Probably not. A determined thief (or thieves) will simply take the entire safe (as was the case in the article below).

Burglary costs SW WA couple $80K in coins

KELSO, Wash. —
A Cowlitz County sheriff's officer says a burglary has cost a Kelso, Wash.-area couple at least $80,000 in silver and gold coins.

edited

No safe is completely safe. Give the criminals enough time and they'll get into anything. With that being said, a good insurance policy is your best safe.

Having a small safe is one of the dumbest things you can do. It basically amounts to putting all your valuables in one spot, with a sign that says "take me, i'm valuable". If you are going to have a safe, make it big, and have it bolted somehow to the structure of your home. I have a big safe bolted to my basement floor. Its also hard to find.

And yet another sad example of human behavior... I know the personal value of the coins as collected items can't necessarily be recovered but I hope they were insured and can recover the monetary value. Thanks for the reminder to update with my insurance company Hobo!

Good article, thanks for posting. Makes you stop and think. I had read similar lately, which is why in the end I moved bullion and higher end coins to a sdb. I just didn't want to risk a group of guys physically being able to take the safe, or worst yet a home invasion. If there isn't a lot of money of coins laying around, I will just open the safe and let them be on their way. I will be less tempted to "defend my belongings".

Now, any baddie reading this, remember I was a sniper, own guns, and have defended myself in combat. You dang well better get the drop on me first.

I've been thinking about buying a safe because this hobby isn't as much fun when everything is locked up at the bank, but I worry about some geeked out hype waiting for me when I get home with a gun to my head demanding me to open the safe.

I was looking at the Liberty Lincoln - I heard they arepretty good and heavy. Can everything go in the safe: coins,important papers, money, guns, electronics, etcetera?

Originally Posted by Hunt1

With that being said, a good insurance policy is your best safe.

Not entirely true, it's easier and less painful to pull a good tooth out with some pliars and no numbing than deal with most insurance companies when making a claim.

Always keep proof of purchases and receipts if possible or they'll give you the lowest amount. Not like they're gonna give you Red Book prices on a graded coin by your own word, they'd be more likely to give you melt value without proof of grade, purchase price, etc.

And don't store your receipts in the same safe with your coins. Scan them to make digital copies, store them offsite somewhere. Simply opening a free email account with gmail, yahoo or msn, send to yourself is considered having second copies for proof for claims. Treat them like the family photos. I have Gigabytes of photos of the kids (these are actually priceless compared to my coins), I have backups not only locally and on backup media stored in a fire proof safe but also have backups of every photo and video on 4 different servers in 4 different locations across the U.S. You can bet my important receipts are right along side those images as well.

Originally Posted by rodeoclown

Not entirely true, it's easier and less painful to pull a good tooth out with some pliars and no numbing than deal with most insurance companies when making a claim.

The key word in my statement was good .

As the old saying contends, you get what you pay for.

Originally Posted by mill rat41

I've been thinking about buying a safe because this hobby isn't as much fun when everything is locked up at the bank, but I worry about some geeked out hype waiting for me when I get home with a gun to my head demanding me to open the safe.

I was looking at the Liberty Lincoln - I heard they arepretty good and heavy. Can everything go in the safe: coins,important papers, money, guns, electronics, etcetera?

The only concern I would have would be having guns and coins in the same space. Some chemicals used on guns aren't the greatest for coins. My advice would be to store the guns dry, and keep the humidity in the safe low. Dry guns, (not oiled), are fine as long as its low humidity, which is what coins like too. NEVER store gun cleaning supplies in it, and since its a low humidity environment, (read how to achieve that), its not very healthy for paper money.

I store my gun next to me... at least I did before moving to Germany. I tend to be a bit paranoid though. I also collect antique firearms and edged weapons which are with family until I get back stateside. I usually keep the non-functioning ones in a nice display cabinet and the others will go into a HUGE safe that I'm going to buy when I get home.

Aside from it not being bolted down, it sounds like they should have had a better safe. I missed the part where it says the burglars miraculously busted the 1000+ lb safe out of the concrete floor, unhooked and moved appliances, and hauled it upstairs and out.

Now, most safes can be torched. I've got 7 gauge stainless steel welded on the inside in addition to the other layers of steel. You can bring a torch but you're gonna be there a loooong time and probably ruin half the contents by the time you punch one hole at a time. Same with a grinding wheel. Going to be there a long time.

All this article proves is that some idiots were using a cheap, low weight safe to store $80k in. You would expect this to happen.

Thanks Medeora Man, that is exactly what I wanted to know. The safe comes with some kindof dehumidifier.

Originally Posted by mill rat41

I've been thinking about buying a safe because this hobby isn't as much fun when everything is locked up at the bank, but I worry about some geeked out hype waiting for me when I get home with a gun to my head demanding me to open the safe.

I was looking at the Liberty Lincoln - I heard they arepretty good and heavy. Can everything go in the safe: coins,important papers, money, guns, electronics, etcetera?

I nixed my Liberty order. You'll be on back order for months. Their customer service sucks and there's a place that makes way better safes, minus the high quality paint job, advertising costs, etc.. , for about the same cost. Only you get a lot more product for your money. I'll send you a PM.

Originally Posted by Hunt1

No safe is completely safe. Give the criminals enough time and they'll get into anything. With that being said, a good insurance policy is your best safe.

For the record, I agree with this statement. The only difference is that some are far tougher to get into than others. Most attacks are blunt force which is useless. What you buy, sets the percentage of your odds. If combined with a home security system, I believe a true "good" safe, bolted down is going to work because of the lack of time. Anybody who studies them a little bit will know what's good. Most of the big brand names aren't that good.

Originally Posted by Vess1

For the record, I agree with this statement. The only difference is that some are far tougher to get into than others. Most attacks are blunt force which is useless. What you buy, sets the percentage of your odds. If combined with a home security system, I believe a true "good" safe, bolted down is going to work because of the lack of time. Anybody who studies them a little bit will know what's good. Most of the big brand names aren't that good.

I agree only if coupled with where and how you place it. The best safe in the world is not that good if unbolted in the middle of a room. The worst safe in the world is not that bad if bolted into concrete and surrounded on 3 sides by walls.