Here's a story. My mother-in-law passed away 2 years ago. She was 89. She collected coins from circulation since around 1960, pennies, nickels, dimes, and halves. My wife and her sister were the only heirs so they split all the coins up. My wife let her sister decide who got what. My SIL, who is 75, didn't want anything that wasn't gold or silver. So the wife ended up with a Lincoln penny collection, in 2 folders missing about 10 coins, a complete Jefferson nickel and Rosevelt dime collection in folders, a complete Kennedy half collection and about 25 Eisenhower dollars. Her sister, took a mercury dime collection in a folder(about 90% full, a half a dozen old silver dollars and a very nice 1860 something $5 gold coin, probably 10 pre-1920 quarters, and about 50 loose silver dimes(mercs and Roosies). Anyways, to get to the point, I was down to my sister-in-laws house and asked if I could see the gold coin as I've never held one before. So she goes to the big freezer out in the garage, unlocks it, and brings out a plastic ice cream container of coins and a plastic bag wrapped folder of mercs! They were all frosted over! I couldn't understand why she would put them in all that humidity when she could put them in her safety deposit box, which she has about ten blocks away in this small town.
I'm new here but have to say this much--if I were a coin thief, I would never think to check the freezer.
That is strange, but I've heard of it before. Regarding the humidity, I would think the freezer humidity would be rather low. I could be wrong on that, though. Welcome to CoinTalk!!!
Humidity didn't have much to do with it. It was condensation - the warm coins were put in the freezer, they got cold - that caused condensation and it froze on the coins. Bad, bad idea. Hopefully if you have removed those coins from the freezer you will allow to warm slowly and air dry. Do not touch the surface of the coins whatever you do. I iamgine you are going to have problems, but let the coins dry first and then report back. And if they are in coin albums/folders get them out as soon as you take them out of the freezer or your problems will be worse.
They're not mine to protect. They belong to my SIL. She is hard headed and you cannot tell her anything. She has been this way for the 35 years my wife and I have been married. She said she thought she'd sell them as scrap along with some cheap silver and gold rings she had. Oh well...
Go ahead and offer her scrap price for the gold and silver coins, that gives you a good deal and keeps them out of cold storage. As for her putting them in the freezer, she is not the first, it is a common practice for many people to hide things even cash in the freezer.And know what? the crooks know that, i have seen more then one home that was broken in to and the freezers were searched. Bill
are the 2 x 2 fold overs safe for long term storage. I put them in the red 2 x 2 boxes for easy filing.
if i am a thief. i love ice cream. i will take it out from the freezer. and eat some of them. wow it's heavy and it's silver coins. what a fantastic discovery?.
