Avoiding Victimhood

Which single strategy provides the greatest protection from getting your collection ripped-off:

 

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You forgot one other option......Buy an unoccupied bank, tear down everything but the vault and build a new house around it.

A 1,000lb. safe bolted to the floor is no guarantee. A collector in Ohio had a 4,000lb. safe stolen while he was on vacation.

The use of a firearm is only effective if you can prove that you were in fear of your life. If the perp was unarmed, you could be in real trouble (especially if the DA is up for election).

An alarm system is only as good as the company that monitors it, but then you are held hostage to their premium increases.

Like firearms, vicious animals can open you to all kinds of liability even if you have warning signs printed in English, Spanish, German, French, Chinese, Japanese, etc.

Your best bet is to stay below the radar (anonymity), use a safe deposit box and insure your collection through Hugh Wood.

Chris

 

I echo what Chris said. I love coins too much, so anyone who knows me know I am a collector. Therefor no option other than a SDB, (which I casually mention that I keep my coins in to EVERYONE), is safe at all.

 

I'll second what's been said. Anonimity is very helpful, but it can be hard to keep. I will say, if you are serious about coins, a PO box is also helpful as it minimizes the number of strangers who know you collect. Otherwise, I store everything in a SDB.

 

Yeah, even if you keep only your most valuable coins in an SBD, don't reveal this to anyone. If a crackhead thought he could get just $50 worth of junk coins from your home, he wouldn't think twice about burglarizing it.

Chris

 

Basically, there is no way to totally insure that if someone knows what you have he won't take what you own.

Home safe--regardless of how heavy? Someone sticks a gun to your wife's head and says open it. Guess what. It's gonna get opened.

Firearms, archery, pikes, axes, moat, ect. work only when someone is in residence--and not only willing, but capable of effectively using them. In reality, most people can't.

Even a safety deposit box only works if a thief doesn't force you to drive him to the bank while an accomplice holds your family hostage.

 

I forgot one other option, bury the coins in the backyard.

 

Anominity I think is the best way but is it really possible for most people? Can you imagine someone with a wife and kids like Al Bundy? SDB is probably the least risky but not much fun at all.

Maybe GDJMSP is on to something, eh?

 

I always thought if someone were to break into my house, they would steal my safe. If i had something of value it would be better to hide it somewhere in my house where an intruder may never look.

 

Hire a bunch of mercenaries.

 

I agree. Even those of us who know we can pull the trigger in the face of danger are not immune, since you have to be there with a gun nearby in order to do so. Those who like to say, "protected by Smith and Wesson" are fooling themselves, since most likely you would never have a chance to pull a trigger to defend them. Thieves are sneaky little bastards, one of the things I hate about them.

As for someone holding your family hostage while accompanying you to the bank, it sounds good in movies. In reality, though, its way too risky for most thieves to wish to attempt. All it takes is the bankers to be made aware of it, call the cops, and then the accomplice is captured and the robbers are surrounded at your home. Robbers want quick, clean, and risk free thieving. I have never heard of this done in real life, and certainly would not be done for the amount of money most of us would have in the SDB. If someone knew there was $5 million in the SDB maybe, but I will never be in that position.

 

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Why not?? It's been done for centuries, intentionally or not, and may be a 'hoard' one day LOL

But, i think all everyone has said has merit...and I suppose i should mention 'insurance' ...

Anonymity, a SDB and insurance...and a 'legion' of mercenaries not formerly of the Secret Service ...

 

I haven't heard of it happening in real life, either. That said, the low-lifes most likely to do something like this are the same morons who watch TV and movies and think it might work. They're also the types I would most expect to do something stupid when surrounded by cops. Mantra I heard over and over during Ranger training. "It sucks to be a hostage."

I do agree that a SDB is the best option of those mentioned. I just don't think that it is the panacea that many think it is.

 

I went with the firearms, because anonymity is a dream at best when one uses the internet in any way, shape or form.

 

Just need a Dummy safe full of crap that is replaceable and a hidden safe for the good stuff. If the dummy ever gets stolen its time to think about a SDB for the good stuff.

 

Right on. That is part of my strategy as well.

 

Congrats on the Ranger training. I never went that far. I got volunteered for airborn and air assault, but never Ranger. My cousin was 30 year SF, but he was pretty unusual to begin with.....

 

Leave the decoy stuff around, few fake gold coins and stuff that "looks" valuable.

 

I think the answer is going to vary by individual and locale.

For example: I live in one of the safest communities, statistically speaking, in the U.S. Random burglaries are exceedingly rare.

So for me, anonymity is the #1 deterrent. No one in my circle of acquaintances knows that I have a coin collection. Only my wife and son know, and they've been educated as to why it's important to not share that information.

 

i live in the woods where im more likely to have a bear break in and rob my fridge than anything else lol