"Fire proof" = "water proof" also = Fire proof safes are designed to keep the interior temperature below 415 degrees F, the ignition point of paper; and they frequently use moisture impregnated materials to assist in that chore. In other words, in a fire those safes become quite hot and very humid inside - not a very safe coin environment.
Safety deposit box. If a thief breaks in, you may loose the safe. Also, some homeowners policies require extra coverage to insure coins & bullion. A-
i put my coins in the sentry fireproof safe. it says on mine that it will be around 125 degrees in a house fire. it also says on the manual that it has some kind of humidity control on it. i put the silica gel packets in it too. i guess it is better to have them protected than have them melt into blobs of metal.
Spend 500 or so and get a nice floor mounted safe that you can bolt or lag to the floor. Be sure the floor can handle the load it if its wood.
Most of those < $1,000 safes they sell at office depot, etc. are worthless. They won't protect much in extreme heat (such as a house fire) and they can easily be opened by someone who knows what they are doing. Get a deposit box at a bank. Less than $50 a year, and those are designed not to be broken into and will resist heat if the bank burns.
Yep. Thats the way to go. My dad and I share 3 bank boxes, which we keep all of our most valuable stuff in. Our bank is conveniently located right down the street, and they have a really nice private room which you can use to examine your coins, etc.
Unless you plan on spending the amount of money you have in gold bullion on a home safe, my opinion is go to the bank. It kind of bums me out with some of the coins because of the "fondle factor", but I have pics of everything so I can still drool on the screen
I have two safes both sentry. # 1 is a large fireproof gun safe model gt8423-2 http://www.sentrysafe.com/Products.asp?r=23&s=160 Its large enough for almost anything you can think of to put in a safe and its heavy .....550 pounds.....not something you can walk out with ! ! # 2 is a small one fireproof model s3310 and has been replaced by model s3410 http://www.sentrysafe.com/Products.asp?r=7&s=39 but its still fairly big.... I wont say what I keep in my safes......but I will say that sentry not only makes great products but stands behind them.. If the safe is damaged by fire at any time they will replace for free. depending on what safe you have the will also reimburse you for your loss. personal safe 10,000 home safe 15,000 office safe 20,000 business safe 25,000 advanced home safe 30,000 So on and so forth it goes up to 50,000 you can also bolt to floor.....big plus ++++++ they also have an inner seal that reacts to heat and seals itself shut. One thing I was told is to put the safe closest to an outside wall....... not as hot as the center of the fire......... hope this helps !!!!!
A bank safety deposit box is nice but most banks will not cover your loss for fire ,water or theft because they have no way to verify what you had in your safety deposit box. Just something to ask when your in your bank next time.
I have to disagree about Sentry safes. They are a good value for the money. They offer almost NO theft protection (you can jack them open pretty easily) but are good for a fire. Yes, they will get very humid in a fire, but if you are storing bullion, who cares? Also, you can use multiple ziplock bags to protect them. They are much better than nothing at all. As for bank storage, that of course is good, but they don't insure, and there is a big caveat. If you kick the bucket the Safe Deposit Box gets sealed and goes through probate. That means the exact contents of the box are publically known,especially to the IRS. You might be able to avoid this by putting others' names on thr box as well.
Our bank vault is fireproof, and I personally am not too concerned about theives there. So I don't mind that they don't insure. And both my name and my father's names are on it. So unless we kick the bucket together (knock on wood) probate court won't be a problem. As for the sentries; I don't put much trust in them. I have one that I keep some of my proof sets and commems that aren't worth a whole lot in. I lost the key for it. I called my brother, who has the same model of sentry. He brought his key over, and it worked on my safe!!! I was glad I got my box open, but feel a bit uneasy because of it.
Which would you rather have Roy, the humidity or a temperature hot enough to melt plastic slabs, plastic holders & mylar. And hot enough to start cardboard 2x2's and paper products on fire inside the safe ? I think I'd rather have the humidity.
Perhaps where you live, but not in California since the late '70s or early '80s (I forget exactly when the inheritance tax was abolished). Whatever happens in the specific jurisdiction happens whenever any one whose name is on the box dies. That's where revocable trusts come in handy. Bottom line - PLEASE get your legal advice about estate planning and probate laws from a lawyer currently licensed in your state, and preferably one who specializes in that field. I probably should have clarified my point - use lots and lots of silica gel when you put things in a safe. I'm also a much bigger fan of American Security or Diebold than I am of Sentry.
I thought inheritance taxes were federal (perhaps state also). There is a debate in Congress right now to abolish death taxes at the federal level which would pretty strongly suggest that the taxes currenlty exist. In any case, I do not pretend to be qualified to dispense legal advice for any particular jurisdiction, but I do like to point out things that many people routinely overlook, such as some of the pitfalls of bank safety deposit boxes. I am not against them by any means but people need to look at all the angles.
As I said, they offer almost no protection against theft. The lock is basically there to keep the thing closed in case of a fire. If you want theft protection, then you need to spend a lot more money - more than many people are willing to spend. So, a $30 Sentry chest for small valuables is a reasonable alternative to a shoebox.
