Coins and security

I understand the need for security with high value small items and take care myself to look after what I own. That said I feel for those, it seems especially in the US, where the level of security makes the cost of ownership a significant additional risk.

I'm currently in the US and see on the TV reports of shop robberies, home burglaries and mugging. There are other threads on CT that remark that a coin box would not provide sufficient security etc. Chatting to dealers at fairs they are keen to show me personal weapons and tell me that they only go to fairs where the journey can be made without stopping, always have an escort etc.

I'm wondering if the risk is worth the hobby here, but perhaps I'm just being paranoid?

 

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Your best security is a little vigilance and appropriate storage in a safety deposit box with some desiccant canisters in it.

 

I can only assume you're in a large city. Things are worse there. The coin shop I used to frequent had two guard dogs in it and you had to be buzzed in. '

Also people are allowed to arm themselves - knives and guns are legal (generally). So if you're worried get a gun and defend yourself because the bad guys probably have one.

 

It depends on where in the US you are, some places are better than others. Some states will issue a license to carry a handgun to non-residents, but research the laws in any other state you might visit because they aren't always valid in other states.

 

TV is all about reporting the worst news possible. Things are not anywhere as bad as they make things look. Most folks are safe if they just use a bit of basic security.
If you wish to carry a weapon, it's important to pick the right one for you and take some type of training.

 

Agree that it really depends on where in the US you are.
Home break-ins have gotten a little more common in my area as a result of the opioid epidemic, but I still don't lose too much sleep over it. Like Larry said, it's all about using some basic security.

 

I have two safe deposit boxes and insurance with Hugh Wood.

 

I do the same.

 

Security starts with discretion, I do not talk about my coins with people, even friends don't know I collect. I do not receive coin related mail at my home address, etc. The less people who know what you have, the less of a target you are.

 

Where do you live? Your posts leads to believe it is in another country.
If you do, it may be safer or not.

One downside to living in most other countries is the reduced access and increased difficulty of both buying and selling coins. Also, the postal service in many countries (such as South Africa) is unreliable and items are subject to theft.

I also store my collection in two safe deposit boxes. I have on occasion moved it locally and across the country (in a briefcase on airline flights). Once, I also took the better coins in my collection to the ANA show. I didn't encounter any problems.

 

I would go with whatever makes you feel comfortable. But I have an interesting story about security. I was at my LCS kneeling down looking at the bottom row of the case and when I stood up the owner was sleeping. Thankfully it is in an area where crime is not much of a problem and there is a bell on the door.

 

Be aware of your surroundings, take corner booths (against the wall) in restaurants and diners, and never.......never go to Florida.

 

Click on his username, and you'll know. Don't think that what you wrote about "the reduced access and increased difficulty of both buying and selling coins" is an issue anywhere around here. And @tulipone , you apparently watch too much American television, hehe.

 

Actually I am from UK and currently finishing up a few weeks in Florida. We come to the US several times a year and have family in CA. This trip we have visited three local coin shows but what prompted my initial post was another thread on CT that discussed the pros and cons of a wooden coin box. Security, that is a wooden box, did not provide any security. I was just wondering if collecting small, valuable and easily disposable items posed a higher risk in US.

We have never had nor ever seen any violent act in whilst in the US on any of our visits. Very probably because I drive defensively, stay in decent hotels and don't take out advertising that we are carrying excessive money or goods. I understand that a coin dealer leaving a show with boxes of coins would be easily observed and their risk must be very high.

 

Great advice, thanks. Should we consider driving up to Georgia for lunch?

 

beef1020 has the best response not that anyone else has a response without value.
I also wonder about the coins in transit random risk! The news is a bit over the top looking from far away. I don't think I know anyone in the US personally that has ever been mugged or robbed in the past 50 years. But that is also something my family and friends in the US might not brag about!

 

Coins and jewelry, if you keep them at home they should be in a very secure place and NOT in your bedroom closet and drawers. The first place thieves look is your bedroom. They will turn your bedroom upside down looking for valuables and guns.

And remember that thieves are not always strangers to you, sometimes they are relatives or "friends"

 

This may sound defensive, but it's really not. I love the UK and hate to see any of our British friends operating under misconceptions.

So, to the OP: keep in mind that you're visiting the 3rd largest country in the world population wise, so the sheer raw volume of crimes reported in the news will be far greater than in the UK. If you're staying in a large city, the effect will be amplified, because some crime rates are higher in large urban areas, and that's true worldwide.

The fact is, you're more likely to be robbed in 19 other nations, including the Eurozone nations of Belgium (#1), Spain (#2), Portugal (#12), and France (#13).

Among the industrialized nations, you're more likely to be assaulted in Australia, England, Scotland, Canada, Finland, Poland, Northern Ireland, Denmark, France, Sweden, Switzerland and the Netherlands than you are in the US.

So, while you're here, relax. It's not all shoot-'em-up Wild West in the US. In most places, including where I live, all it takes to sleep easy at night is a healthy dose of common sense and discretion.

 

Not that I doubt you Max, but gottem link to those stats Keemosabe?