Home Safes Again Fail To Protect Coins From Thieves

If they confiscate my marriage certificate, they gotta take the wife with it... what are my odds?

 

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Like many have said - a safe is worthless unless it too is properly protected. Most every safe has the bulk of its protection on the front side. Why? because it is made to be set in a recess or hole. Take most any 700++ lb safe and set it into a recess (solid... no wall board folks) where only the front is accessible and you have about as much protection as you can get. Does this make theft impossible? No, nothing does. But, it does allow me to keep a lot of coins at home and easily accessible. Ultra valuable coins need to be insured and kept in a safety deposit box. Does that make them theft proof? No... nothing does. If that isn’t good enough you could check on space at the Fort Knox Depository :goofer:

On a different, but related note - has anyone ever heard of anyone/place keeping a public record of stolen certified coins? It would seem to me that if we could create such a public record and encourage its use, we could deter a lot of theft. There will always be a black market, but, something like this would help individuals and dealers check for stolen coins and their recovery. Perhaps this would be a good spot for such a listing (hint hint Mod's/Developer's )

 

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Not-So-Safe-Deposit Boxes[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]San Francisco resident Carla Ruff's safe-deposit box was drilled, seized, and turned over to the state of California, marked "owner unknown." [/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"I was appalled," Ruff said. "I felt violated." [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Unknown? Carla's name was right on documents in the box at the Noe Valley Bank of America location. So was her address -- a house about six blocks from the bank. Carla had a checking account at the bank, too -- still does -- and receives regular statements. Plus, she has receipts showing she's the kind of person who paid her box rental fee. And yet, she says nobody ever notified her. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"They are zealously uncovering accounts that are not unclaimed," Ruff said. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] To make matters worse, Ruff discovered the loss when she went to her box to retrieve important paperwork she needed because her husband was dying. Those papers had been shredded. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] And that's not all. Her great-grandmother's precious natural pearls and other jewelry had been auctioned off. They were sold for just $1,800, even though they were appraised for $82,500. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"These things were things that she gave to me," Ruff said. "I valued them because I loved her." [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Bank of America told ABC News it deeply regrets the situation and appreciates the difficulty of what Mrs. Ruff was going through.

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I'm sorry but I do not trust the financial institutes with things in general. I worked for 30 years of my life so far and they basically cut what I saved in half due to the economy, so I won't give them another chance to nickle and dime me to death, all on red one spin.

With the way our financial system is turning into ever since we stopped exchanging monies for gold and silver... its something we will probably see in our lifetime. Am I rambling yet...

I use a safe, but I mainly bought it because I am a renter and had roommates for 20 years now. I could not fit my half of the food in the there (he-he), but certain valuable knick knacks, CD Data, and a few coins a hard drive back-up and my digital camera were all it was meant for, not an accumulation of all my wealth or a good portion of it.

Granted I just bought a small humidor and wish it too would fit inside, as well as any coin/currency album also do not fit conveinetely.

I think where you live also should be a contributing factor in choosing a resting spot for valuables.

Obviously if you live in the country your concerns of even shopping would take you out of your small area into town and may take an hour to do, while my shopping I do across the street at the grocery store, I also work from home and am rarely out so a thief would have to get into my unit of a 4 unit building and deal with 2 roomates who are both 6'1" weighing in at over 600lbs total. And don't foget the roomates desert eagle. Im thinking of getting a civilian FP90... yikes!

hate to be a thief or even a US Marshall trying to get ahold my gold.. if I had any or my half of the food!... (whistles dixie)..
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Here ya go:
http://www.numismaticcrimes.org/?q=reports

 

the reason your coins are being stolen is because thieves know that you have the coins and they know where you live. Keep your coins as secret as you can.

 

That's the problem, you want to look at your coins and show them off, but you don't want to tell anyone and you should encase them in a steel vault. Kind of a catch 22 eh?

 

I don't know what the penalties are in the US or other countries but here in the UK, "crime does pay". Times I've seen documentaries on TV where people are caught red handed and end up with a suspended sentence or community service. Young offenders just get a slap on the wrist. These people laugh in the face of the law here.

Shame that you have to lock away your coins in a bank safety deposit box so that they are not readily viewable whenever you like.

My heart goes out to those who loose something precious like their collection.

 

people should buy none transparent piggy banks that look childish. thieves wouldn't expect rare coins to be in a child's piggy bank.

 

In case of loss whether you money is in a safety deposit box or your safe, what is the best way to prove you had your money just before your loss? I know you still have to be insured.