If a burglar can figure out a way, he will try to get to your valuables. I recall the retired dentist in Ohio whose coin collection was stolen while he was away on vacation. The safe weighed 4,000 lbs. and the thieves took the whole thing. More and more homes, today, are including in their designs a "safe room" where you can not only put your (regular) safe and valuables, but it also doubles as a safe haven for the residents. These rooms are being constructed much like the vault in a bank with reinforced concrete and include dedicated communications and electronic monitoring devices connected to a secure power source so even if the burglar cuts power and phone lines, emergency lighting and communications will not be interrupted. Chris
My collection is not worth that much yet. I was mostly thinking of the future. Getting a house would be a necessary first step. I doubt I have the money to get a house in the Chicago area that has a safe room. That would be a pretty big house and they are still quite expensive around here. How did they remove a 4,000 lb safe?
You'd have to ask the crooks who did it. If someone is having a home built, a saferoom wouldn't add a whole heck of a lot to the overall cost. It only needs to be about 10'x10' on a ground floor, and you wouldn't expect it to have too much in the way of creature comforts. Chris
Having a home built here in the Chicago area would cost upwards of $300,000. I am not spending that kind of money on my house. I guess if I ever get a collection as big as the dentist in your story (unlikely) I will just have to make sure my insurance policy covers me and get a 1200 pound safe.
Getting a safe is the best bet. Make sure it's fire proof or fire resistant at least. As for someone coming in and hauling the safe away? Good luck it's way too heavy.
I installed an 950lb. safe, 1 hr. rated, bolted through the floor 4 yrs ago. I was still skeptical and just purchased an insurance policy from Hugh Wood(ANA endorsed). Does anyone else have specific collection insurance?
Hugh Wood is probably the best policy on the market. Sadly, a lot of people learn when it is too late that most HO policies have exclusions for things like coins, and their policy riders can be very expensive. Besides having very low rates, Hugh Wood does not require an itemization of your collection. Standard insurance companies would take you to the cleaners if they didn't have an itemization. Can you imagine having to notify them every time you bought a coin? Chris
