Say there is a fire...

From what I understand, safe install instructions require you to put it on an exterior wall for this specific reason. An exterior wall will burn cooler, and will collapse inwards (typically), leaving the exterior areas of the home to cool sooner and faster. That's why they are often only rated for two hours.

 

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If I was to go this route, I think I would cut a hole in the foundation wall of a basement, and set it so the door of the safe would be flush with the interior foundation wall... probably about 4 feet off the floor (flood mitigation too). It would not be cheap, but that would probably protect the contents from a fire.

Having a safe at home, with a young family just does not make sense to me. No matter how good the safe, any threat to a family member would have me opening it in a heartbeat. I pay a good price to have premium large size safety deposit boxes and coin insurance. I might still lose the coins in a fire or if a sinkhole opens up under my bank, but at least it won't be a total loss, and nobody gets hurt.

 

So Ken, did or would you have it cleaned ?

Dave

 

I keep my more valuable coins in one of these -
Which is in one of these -


And I sleep next to it with one of these -

 

So..I am guessing you are kidding but you are saying that you hold vigil over your coin collection..What a pain.. I like to enjoy my life and not live in a state of paranoia.

 

I in fact own all 3 of those items; hence my complete lack of paranoia. I am lost with the implication about not enjoying my life.

 

The implication is that sleeping with a rifle by my side to protect a coin collection would take the fun out of it for me. Most people with guns fantasize about scenarios where they get to save the day but more often the gun is used accidentally on a family member or themselves.

 

Quite the opposite for me, I wish I had never had to use mine.

 

i tried a quick dip with e-z dip for silver an it did nothing so it will stay as is, its not a key date, not worth much and the house an coin belonged to my father so i'll pass it on to my son with the story behind it....

 

Fair enough.. but that must be a rough neighborhood to need that kind of firepower.

 

Bosnia is not your average suburb. Unfortunately, after you see what humans are capable of, it is hard to turn some of it off. I am not worried about someone stealing from me; Florida still has a "Stand-Your-Ground-Law" on the books. I worry about whether I brought enough sunscreen to the beach these days.

 

I remember an older post of yours where you said you used a safe from here:

http://www.amsecusa.com/Burglary_and_Fire/

Is there something different about them that makes them more desirable for coin storage?

 

When you say "release moisture;" where is that moisture when there isn't a fire? I have been searching for this on their site and cannot find anything about it. I cannot really picture exactly how that would work. Is there a reservoir of water in between the metal casing and plastic lining I am unaware of? Do they use some form of polymer that "sweats" H2O? I have never heard of such a material and find it strange that this would be the type they chose to implement in their fire safes.

 

My understanding....

The insulation used in "document" fire safes is moisture rich insulation which is part of how it protects contents from fires. This also leads to a higher humidity level in the safe. A "gun safe" (not fire rated) uses gyp board or similar which has low moisture content and thus has lower humidity and doesn't release as much moisture. Not a rigorous description but kind of makes some sense.

 

Good man. I was on that site for 20 mins and could not find it. Crazy that they utilize an insulation that contains moisture considering it will have to evaporate within minutes of 1000° temperatures.

 

From what I understand, that's how it keeps the heat down. It captures the heat energy and uses it to release the moisture, rather than passing the heat through to the contents of the safe.

 

Build a metal ''cover box' that covers your safe, box floor not required, but raise the safe on something like bricks to stay dry. (make sure your safe is on concrete that will not undermine in fire). This can be most any metal hi temp, steel is cheap, aluminum is easy to machine if you are not into welding. This box has a hinged door that allows you access the regular safe door, no lock required. On top of this box build a series of racks. On these racks load gallon jugs of water, plastic. Lots of them. Your safe and it's contents will not get hotter than 100C unless all the water is first long gone, then the clock starts ticking on its fire rating. The more jugs the better.