Chicago burbs robbery

Yes, as long as you change the security codes monthly. Family members have a habit of giving the codes to their "friends". Many of the security companies become complacent to alarm activations. CCTV is a great compliment to a security system as the police may not be able to respond immediately. Cameras do not lie. On a final note light up your house at night , use motion lights and leave a light on. Criminals have a tendency to refrain from lighted areas. Use a 12 gauge pump shotgun as a backup.

 

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Good advice.
I have the porch light on at night, and the dog helps as well, as he will attack the intruder and alert us immediately.
It is smart to own a gun, I have a loaded lead pellet gun in my room, and if shot in the right place, it can and will kill somebody. Rifle downstairs, two glocks, and many other weapons (swords, spears, pocket knives, etc.)
I think it is very important to be armed and safe, then have things stolen from you, or worse, dead.

 

A real bonanza for anyone who breaks in!

 

LOL!!!
Guns are downstairs, I'm upstairs with all the exotic weaponry from Africa
Pocket Knife collection next to my room, and pocket knife, on my night stand, and golf club under my bed with the pellet gun. We are very very careful when it comes to people breaking in for the purpose of burglarizing or murder, we won't go out without a fight
Always good to be safe.

 

I was once walking around Chicago on my lunch hour and happened to go into a coin dealer in what I think what used to be Marshall Fields. As I was looking at the stuff under the counter, a pair of seedy looking 40-somethings came in and began pulling slabbed coins out of their pockets and asking how much they could get for them. The handful of people working behind the counter took each one gave them 10-15 bucks for each one they pulled out and then scurried into the back room with them.

Obviously these coins were stolen and the dealer treated it like a personal windfall. I hate coin dealers for that reason and I wouldn't trust them to ever return anything. If you want to try anyway, alert Fox Valley Coins and Sycamore Coins. They are in the far western burbs and may see some of these coins. There is another dealer in St Charles but I don't know the name of it. Good luck getting them back. You are living my worst nightmare.

 

I am sorry to hear for your losses, and truly hope you can recover them!

Everyone else – this should be a lesson.

I won’t say the value for obvious, but I will say I store a good bit of coins at home. However, to get them you need to get past my security system, my dog's, and through a very large safe that is bolted through the foundation and sitting in a recess. Can it happen, yes, but, you better have a good torch and a lot of time.

That being said - $50K is a bit much to store at home, regardless of the reason (unless home is the Fort Knox Depository)

For those looking to keep coins at home, I highly recommend an EXTREEMLY heavy safe. A good starter might be a LARGE gun safe. You can find a decent one (20ish gun capacity 1/2"+ steel all the way around with double locking mechanisms and generally 3/4"+ face) for around 1K. To buy a "regular" safe with the same outer housing and security costs about 1.5-1.75K. Either way though, a good safe is a good investment. There is no way you are going to stop someone who REALLY wants what you have, but, you can easily stop the common thief from hitting the jackpot if you spend a little on security and are vigilant.

 

I'm very sorry to hear that happened. I will bring your list to harlan berk next time I stop in there.

 

Big update.

The two morons who broke into the house ended up using my wives credit card at some major stores. Excellent video was taken!! Although the items may not be recovered, this is a good news.

On the other hand, I taught my lab how to talk, so if it ever happens again, atleast we'll have a witness.

As for the gentlemen who mentioned the alarm, our detective who worked 25+ years in this field said it would be useless. Yes, it would go off, make lots of noise and inform the police; he said by the time the security company actually CALLS the police, the people are long gone. And this is very true.

These guys were not walking around the house looking for stuff to take. In each robbery in the area, they went toward the master bedroom, the master closets and bathroom then immediately left with a pillowcase full of items.

NO ALARM WILL MAKE YOU SAFE. NO CAMERAS WILL MAKE YOU SAFE. Trust me, I've been through it and it makes 0 difference. They SAW the cameras, the security stickers, the 110 pound lab, and it did NOT stop them from making the decision to break in.

These are the same people who go into businesses and kill clerks for a cash register. They have nothing to lose and they do NOT CARE.

We as group of numismatics are educated individuals who enjoy life and have everything to live for: good friends, good family, a world to explore and everything contained on it.

I am in no way looking for any sympathy, and the collection I had, although small since I just begun collecting, was very nice. As you can see by the cert numbers, there were not many. What is worst is my personal items were stolen, my home was violated, and some a-hole who does not give a damn about anything probably hawked the 1907 (for instance) for $100-$500.

Yes, we all made mistakes. Yes, it's gone. Is it replaceable? Of course.

Is my wife and myself alive? YES!

 

Please allow me to be just a smidge off topic but did you hear/see where the person uses video surveillance with the ability to pick up conversations and HE is in trouble? We are trying to protect ourselves and some fool is ticked at being picked up on audio. Oh yes I know the laws concerning recordings without permission but it just seems crazy and topsy turvey.

Sorry, not meant to hijack your thread.

 

I know, crazy world. Sad too.

 

Jesh, I feel your pain. I was burglarized in 2004 and lost roughly 25K (beyond what insurance paid) almost completely in personal items, most of which cannot be replaced.
Like you said, to me the worst was the violation that me and my wife felt, followed by the loss of items that truly could not be replaced (family keepsakes). But, like you said, you and your wife are alive and you can, and will, recover!

Further, I agree that alarms are, to a VERY large degree worthless. As I said in my last post, if someone wants something they will get it. The only reason I maintain my alarm is that I believe it will deter some thieves. When it comes to police response times I personally believe that in most cases a thief could actually steal the whole house (and yes, I mean the physical house too) before the police responded. I don’t really believe that they (the police) do a bad job, just that there are far too many false alarms and other issues – not to mention the fact that the average thief is in and out in less than 10 minutes.

All that said – I want to reinforce the safe idea. If you do not have one, I would get one. And, when looking for a safe, I would look for one that weighs 700++ lbs. While a small safe may have enough space, it can be carried out. One weighing over 700 lbs is not something that a thief could take unless they had 3-4 friends with them and, if you bolt it through the foundation they would need a wrecker. Is a safe the end all be all? No, nothing is. But, I can say with absolute certainty that it will give more protection than just about anything else you could install in your home.

Again, I am truly sorry for the losses you and your wife have experienced and I pray that you are able to recover from those losses (both emotional and physical) very quickly.

 

Here are images of coins missing along with the certs earlier...

 

Along with a few others (UHR FS, and some Monticello).
1913 5c was NOT stolen.
Loved em while I had em!!!!!!!

 

I didn't see that. However, I can recall somewhere back around 1990 hearing about someone breaking out of a prison, stealing a car with bad breaks, wrecking it, and suing the owner for 1M... And winning!!

What a world....

 

update..

Anybody in the 60647 Logan Square / Bucktown neighborhood who might visit pawnshops and or coin dealers, please keep an eye out for the coins listed earlier. I've been actively calling but I am only one person.

Thanks!

Jesh

 

It's worth a try but remember that most criminals don't unload stolen merchandise in the same area they stole if from. IF, they don't just break open those slabs and try spending those as normal coins, they may eventually be found. And there are pawn shops all over this area as well as flea markets and coin shows. Sure would be nice it there was some way to notify all coin dealers and pawn shop people of this robbery.

 

Well I sent along some info to heritage and to legend coins, and they are sending the info out. Along with Doug at NumismaticCrimes.org he will be sending out info in the next NCIC newsletter.

You never know.

 

I agree and have tried to notify every place I can think of here in and all around Peoria, over in Bloomington, Champaign Illinois etc.

This just mades me furious having been the victim of one of these burgularies and had everything of "special" value stolen. Things no money can ever replace. The sad part is I would gladly have bought those irreplacables back for much more than they ever got for them.

 

I'll keep an eye out in the Indianapolis area... You never know.