Bank Safe Deposit Box won't allow coins to be stored

The problem with having a safe in the house is that it advertises to everyone that there is something of value there.

 

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This is an interesting discussion. I "fired" my former bank a number of years ago in favor of credit unions and only recently learned that the one in which Thalia Elizabeth and Kieran have their "little savers" accounts also does have safe deposit boxes. I was under the impression that credit unions couldn't offer those services-- obviously not true!

Thalia's description, from a class trip to said credit union, was charming: "There is this big room, and there are lots of little boxes in it, and they only have one key so they can't get it, and you have the other key."

 

True, But you put the safe where people don't see it. I have mine where nobody would ever think of looking for them. And if they were found, then they better have some pretty expensive equipment to get into them...

 

Amazing that once someone has posted a question in one place they still go to many other places and ask the same question. I read some of the ebay ones and some of the ones here. I would like to remind people that banks are separate companies or organizations and can and do make up thier own rules and regulations as long as they don't conflict with the federal laws if that institution is backed by federal laws. Some may hand you a set of their rules and some may not even have any. I live in the Chicago area. I have 5 safe deposit boxes in 5 different banks. I have never been handed a set of written rules when opening one or paying my annual fee for one. I have never been told what I can and can not put in one. No one is allowed to tape, video, etc on what goes on in the rooms where you go with your box to add or remove stuff. If anyone is afraid of any government takeover of such boxes, that is nuts if you just do the simple thing of having a relative's name added on to your box's records. If you don't trust them, just leave a note with an atorney to tell them about it after your gone and leave a note where the key is hidden. With me it's my son naturally. If something happens to me he just goes there and takes whatever he wants or just continues keeping it but now he has to pay the annual fee.
Speaking of safe deposit box rules. Not to many years ago I used to go to Wisconsin for certain reasons. I realized that there I may need some additional cash and many cash stations charge extra or will not accept an Illinois bank check. So I went to a small town bank to open an account and rent a safe deposit box for certain items I did not want to take accross the state border. It was easy to open an account and get a box. What shocked me was there was no account number. I asked why and was told that due to the amount of customers, a first and last name is good enough. Putting my son on the same accounts was also easy since his name is the same as mine.

 

I remember hearing of a guy who, instead of a safe, bought a nice old refridgerator, took the motor out and turned it into his coin storage facility. He put latches and lockes on the side of it, cleaned it out, and bolted it to the floor and wall of some place in his house. Not a bad idea, but I would be worried about theives cracking open the outer hinges and tearing the door off that way.
Like the other guy said, a gun safe is probably the best bet for a large collection. I plan on one in the future.

 

There is no such thing as absolute safety. A safe deposit box is pretty high up on the scale of relatively safe places for coins, however. So the real question should be, is the safe deposit box safer than the current method of storage that you are using?

 

Spread it out

I would also hate to put everything in one basket - especially valuable things. Heck, there are a hundred places in a house where you can hide a roll of uncirculated Mogans. The fridge idea is good. Basically, I go on the idea that unless it is someone who knows you and your house, it's gonna be someone breaking in and looking in the obvious places. They aren't going to have hours to search.

It's a tough problem as someone's sig line here says: "You don't realize what you have until you lose it..."

 

I guess it's a lot easier with guns and cartridges... With guns we have serial numbers... And with cartridges we have circulation... If either one gets stolen we can identify it if it comes into our possesion... And hopefully nail the perp' while we are at it...

 

Obviously not a Chicago person. I would really like to see a gun being returned to someone when stolen. In fact I would like to see what happens to the ones that are recovered. Way to many phony stories about them going to a steel mill for melting. Way to many showing up for a second, third time. And with cartridges, that is why we have gun shows.

 

Box in bank only as safe as trusting your government not open up look for gold etc. Someday they may look.

 

Ok I am confused here the Banks have all these rules about what you put into safe deposit box's yes? well how do they know what you store in them !! as far as I was aware you put your stuff in privatly and the same when you take it out! So how do they know LOL (Only Joking guy's I know they wait for you to leave then check :whistle: )

 

If you go into those closed rooms with no windows to add or remove things from your safe deposit box, look up. See the little holes. Those are cameras watching everything you do. Then note there is table in the room. It is on a scale so the government can tell how much your personal stuff weighs. Now there if there is a chair in the room that is to document your weight since it is riged to do that. And that light bulb above is also a camera, vibration detector, smoke alarm and gun warning electronic surveylance system. Note they want you to open the door yourself. They want your fingerprints to see if they match the ones on the box and in the FBI records. Oh yeah, your shoes are also checked as you walk in by Xrays.
Haven't you read that book called 1984?

 

Please not Orwell I hate that book it was part of my Degree course LOL

 

LOL, I loved that book.

Carl, you are hilarious!

 

I brought up the subject about storing GUNS and COINS is the same safe, and was told NOT to do it. The reason was, that the oils and solutions from cleaning the guns could adversely affect the coins. I can't remember exactly what the solutions do (brain tumors, ya know), but it was said that the cleaning solutions for the guns DO affect the COINS.

swick

 

I've never heard of that, with the gun oils effecting the coins in the same safe. I've had mine stored with my guns for 30+ years, and have noticed no tarnishing, discoloring, or other pollution on my coins because of this. Either it's not quite true, or my guns are in need of oiling.
Guy~

 

Guy,
I still have my guns and coins stored together in my safe also. I can't remember where or when that subject was brought up. I know that it was what suggested. Anyone else remember that subject?
By the way......my safe weighs 1500 lbs. I don't think that I need to worry about someone carrying it off. Fire rated also. I need to get another safe. COINS & GUNS & KNIFE collections are getting too, too big.
coins & guns & knives.......OH MY.

swick