Metal ammo cans any good for storing coins?

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@desertgem was concerned about the rubber gasket... is that not a concern with military ammo boxes? What is your opinion?

 

Aren't the OPs listing Chinese made
versus US made for the Army.

I have several US military surplus that my kids use a lockable safe - they like that it's an ammo box.

 

That works for me...I guess if thoroughly cleaned it should be OK. The metal itself shouldn't absorb anything.

I have a few too...but not for coins. They are used for their original purpose.

 

I've many coins that have been stored exclusively in these cans for periods as long as >50 years. The coins are in various wrappings as Air-tites, bags, 2 x 2, etc, but I personally don't know a better type of storage. I believe you'll find that the average bank storage box is very similar, but not as secure from the atmospheric elements.

JMHO

 

DO NOT take the California warnings too seriously. They have no de minimis quantity specified in those regulations. ANY trace of a chemical on those lists, no matter how tiny, even a single molecule, must be reported. I've worked with Prop 65 since it was passed and it's utterly ridiculous.

If you remember the Lumber Liquidators fiasco with formaldehyde, that was also ridiculous when you looked at the science behind the way the measurements were performed. Of course, nobody believes those "big, lying companies" regardless of the science. But personally, I'd rather have a little formaldehyde than rotted, microbe infested floors.

 

I can't begin to guess how many ammo cans I've bought filled with coins. I think the price of those new ones is good. As for the warnings, unless you plan to eat out of them, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

 

Everything in California causes cancer!

 

Unfortunately IMO, the entire campaign is a failure and has instilled some complacency. The warnings are so prevalent, it has probably desensitized the masses of people who find products they want, need or desire and buy them anyway.

I wouldn't have a problem if they had de minimis values. There are levels of exposure that cause no harm but require the warning. The warning should be reserved for exposure levels that are TRULY harmful.

 

...and only because that "science" is quite often paid for by the companies who are trying to sell the product. I have intimate knowledge of an industry where the language of government legislation and the "research" conducted by the "big, lying companies," or their friends, can be compared, when placed side-by-side, as practically word-for-word copies of each other.

Companies lying? We're all old enough (I think) to know that when large amounts of money are involved, ANYTHING is possible. It's not because they're bad people. It's just because they're people.

The only science that we can possibly trust is the third-party, peer-reviewed kind that exists in a healthy, skeptical and academic environment where there isn't lots of cash or promises of prestige being dangled in front of noses.

Having said that, the fact that those California warnings desensitize people, and appear without providing any sort of qualifiers to that information is almost as damaging as fake research.

 

The real problem (at least in my opinion) is that the majority of the general public simply doesn't know how to distinguish the two types of "science." I see it all the time in dentistry. People come in with wild statements about different dental procedures or materials that have no basis in actual peer reviewed research.

 

I use ammo cans, both U.S. military surplus and newly synthesized, for storing equipment logs and tools at various outdoor places on my ranch. Work great for that. Ammo is stored indoors in a different style metal box. For coins, they should be great for physical protection and keeping moisture out as long as they aren't submerged. I wouldn't trust them not to emit hydrogen sulfide or other toning vapors. If they are surplus, no knowing what has been in them before they got to you. If newly made, it's hard to know what materials were used for the alloy, for coating, and for the gasket. Give them a good scrub, but to be safe, assume there is some reactive residue. Any coins should be in sealed inert plastic containers that are placed in the ammo boxes. Polyethylene bags or polyethylene/polypropylene boxes should work well and help keep things organized too.

Cal