How Often Do You Pay A Visit?

I have this sort of ritual I go through a couple times a year. I toss the 4 desiccant slabs in the oven and dry them out. Once cool, I wrap them in foil, and then grab all the coins that have accumulated over last 4 to 8 months and then head to the bank.

I open the little safe deposit box first. It is all silver bullion. I pull out the drawer, open it, grab the desiccant canister, and swap it out with one of the 4 recharged canisters brought from the house.

Next, I have them open the larger box and I bring it into a private room and lock myself in there for an hour or two at the most. There are two desiccant canisters inside it, plus an additional one that is kept on top of the box once slid into the vault wall. So those all get swapped out. I then go through the slabs, --about 300 of them, and finally add the most recent additions to the box.

Sometimes, in an effort to free-up space, I will take a few of the old slabs home and sell them on eBay in order to make room for the newer material. There's also a pair of 2x2 boxes with raw coins, one Russian, the other mostly world gold but with some US gold too.

I know it's time for a trip over there about the time I run out of little plastic easels for the slabs on top of my dresser.

 

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i keep mine in a safe at home that only takes me 20 to 30 minutes to access, so i visit about once a week .

 

I used to at one time. Had half the coins at home and half at the bank. I'm more paranoid than most about getting ripped-off, hence the safe deposit box seemed like an easier way to sleep at night, especially when away from home. Probably the biggest advantage beyond security, the environment at the bank is better controlled. I still have to use desiccant, but I don't have to worry so much about fire or especially flood (used to have the safe in the basement). I am fortunate to have a very reputable (never took a bail-out penny) bank that gives me a discount on the boxes for banking there, and also has vault access on Saturdays, -something not many banks allow even if the teller section is open on Saturday.

How does it take 20 or 30 minutes to access if they are at home? Enormous mansion requiring a long walk? Time lock with 2-person combination requirement?

 

It's well hidden in a part of my house that is difficult to access, and requires both a combination and a key. I keep the key inside another safe, which is in a different part of my house that is difficult to access. i do this because the average house robber only spends 5 minutes or less in your house.

 

So do you keep an inventory list of your collection? Like every trip, you go down the list and make sure no employee got sticky fingers? I always thought of getting a SDB but I was cautious about the cost of the box per year.

 

Do you recommend a particular brand of dessicant?

 

That is a very good question. It explains why my coins are no longer kept at Commerce Bank of Kansas City downtown. They have an enormous safe deposit section that is in the basement, and administered by a single individual. After awhile, only an idiot wouldn't notice which boxes were heavy, and with the right tools he could easily pop the locks on a dozen boxes and flee. I'm not suggesting he would, just that he could. The bank where they are kept now has the box section in a vault where any employee entering it is in full view of his coworkers in the lobby of the bank. The room where the box is then taken to access its contents has a lock on the door too, which something all banks should have though I have seen some that don't as well.

 

That is a true statement, in places like Florida it isn't enough. My desiccant containers hold 40 grams each and have moisture indicators. With 3 of them in the main box, it should be good for 6 months, though like you observed the indicator is usually pink by the time they get swapped-out.

I also line the interior of the deposit box with electronic anti-static bags that have been cut-open with the interior of the bag towards the coins. These are the type of bags that electronic circuit cards are shipped in for mainframe (etc) computers. The inside of the bag is made with the same material as "Intercept Shield" coin holders, -that is, an emulsion originally patented by Western Electric that bonds with sulfur and other corrosives in the air. While moisture inside the box is never a good thing, generally it is the other contaminants in the air combined with the moisture that causes the most damage.

 

This is what I'm using, they are rechargeable. You need two sets, one for the box, and one that you can have ready to swap out in the box so you don't have to make two trips to the bank each time they need recharged.

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/silica-gel-desiccant

 

So how exactly do you fit 300 slabs into a SDB? Aren't those kinda small?

 

It's 5x10x18 or something like that. The smaller box is a traditional 3x5x18 and will hold about 800 ounces of silver if the bars are arranged properly.

 

Oh that makes sense now. Thank you. So do you ever miss not being able to reach your coins in the middle of the night?

 

My mason jar holds about 60 oz. of silver if the coins are tossed in properly

 

So I guess you guys would frown upon keeping 4-figure coins in cardboard/mylar 2x2 flips in album pages in a binder in a cool, dark and relatively dry closet?

 

Mine are in my safe the keys to the safe one is on my person and the other well hidden when I'm gone. I like being able to look at my coins whenever I want. When I'm home there's no security worries house protected by smith and Wesson sig sauer and others. When I'm away I have someone keep a pretty close eye on the house. As to environment their In a relatively cool dry place. As long as there's no chance of mildew or fungus growing I don't worry if they gone a bit more better yet