I've just spent hours reading other threads about safe deposit boxes and safes and quite frankly, I'm exhausted. So forgive me for starting another thread regarding my situation. My coins are currently in a safe deposit box at a local bank. I have to maintain an account with the bank to have the box. But if there is no activity in the account, after 6 months they start charging $4 per month. And yes, it has happened to me again for the third time (4 months this time)! These fees on top of the $120 I pay per year for the box have finally pushed me to consider other options. So I am considering a quality gun safe in the $1200 to $1500 range. I know some don't recommend gun safes, but the coins will be inside other air tight containers inside the safe. It is not feasible to put the safe in the house so it has to go in the garage. I live in the Denver area so humidity is not a big concern. But there will be temperature fluctuations. I'll use desiccant even though humidity shouldn't be a problem. Do I need to worry about the temperature changes? The safe will be fire rated to keep the internal temperature under 350 degrees for up to an hour in case of fire. Is this safe for coins in slabs? Or will the plastic melt at 350 degrees? For physical security the safe will be attached to the concrete floor in a corner that can not be seen from the street when the garage door is open. It will also have a zippered cover to help obscure what's there if a neighbor comes by when I have the door open. I also plan to install a camera. The safe will only be used for coins and important papers. No guns, if that makes a difference. Thanks in advance for any comments/suggestions.
Never put a safe anywhere that doesn't have some measure of climate control. It doesn't have to be a strict 68 degrees and 30% humidity (or whatever), just someplace that doesn't get humid/damp, or have extreme temperature variations. I generally say that anywhere that's comfortable for humans is comfortable for coins, within reason.
Don't put it in the garage in Denver -- the temperature variations are extreme, not only from season-to-season, but also during the course of one day. Bolt it to the concrete in your basement.
I have a lot of coins and I have a lot of guns. The coins are at the bank in SDB, and the guns are........well, not at the bank.
If your coins are worth more than $100 or so each, I strongly recommend you leave them in the bank. If you must use a safe, a gun safe in the garage is not a good choice. First, it will be noticed by passersby, visitors, kids, kids’ friends, etc. If your house is fully engulfed by fire, the fire rating won’t be enough. Garages can be particularly bad because flammable solvents are often stored there, including fuel in vehicle tanks. If your house has a basement and is fully engulfed, there’s almost no safe that will preserve the coins. The safe, being very heavy, will wind-up in the basement covered with flaming wood and embers. Then comes the big flood from the fire hoses. Most gun safes are easy meat for pro burglars. Cal
It's best to leave things as they are. The best solution would be for you to go to the bank once a month and make a deposit if $1.00. That counts as account activity. Problem solved. Trying to store anything metal in a safe in the garage is asking for trouble. You may not get high humidity but you do get temperature fluctuations and that cold has a lot of moisture out there. Are bad for coins and guns.
Yes, for the size. No one has answered my question about the plastic slabs holding up inside the safe if there is a fire, so I want enough space to put the coins inside fire resistant boxes inside the safe. Of course, I don't know if that even works. Haven't picked the brand/model yet. Looked at Champion safes. Not sure I can get one of these in my price point. Like I said ... no guns will be in the safe. Okay, I assume the temperature swings themselves are not an issue. If one uses a "hot rod" device and desiccant, will that not be sufficient for the moisture in cold air? Apparently that's what gun owners use around here. Looks like the overwhelming response is not to do this. So I'm checking out safe deposit boxes at other banks. Thanks!
If you want to see what happens to coins in slabs in safes in a big fire, see the link below. BTW, not all his coins were restored. Cal https://wildfiretoday.com/2019/02/1...-fire-but-coin-collection-found-and-restored/
Looks like the interior of the safe was probably between 350 and 451 degrees, as paper only showed a little discoloration. I am relieved a little to see that even though the plastic cases were melted, the coins didn't seem to be affected. I'm surprised they don't use a plastic that can withstand up to 350 degrees similar to how safes are rated. I'm also a little more worried about my safe deposit box. I'm just counting on it being extremely unlikely that the bank burns down, but if it does, I won't be as lucky as that guy,
I don’t know that there are any crystal clear plastics that can withstand 350F for very long. Slabs could be made with fluoroplastics and tempered glass windows that could withstand that heat indefinitely. They’d cost a bunch though. Don’t think fire is a big worry for SDBs in banks. They have good smoke and heat detection, and many have fire sprinklers. Bigger worry is theft and floods. Theft risk can be reduced by using a bank in the Federal Reserve System instead of a SDB-only “bank”. Federal Reserve has security requirements for member banks. Flood risk can be reduced by having a box that is at least waist-high off the floor, and don’t use a bank that has the SDBs in the basement. Insurance for coins in SDBs is relatively cheap. Cal
Safes have ratings based on their fire resistance properties. Not all safes are the same. You need to check the fire ratings and pick a type of safe that meets your concerns.
I know all that. But unfortunately I have not found any manufacturer information on storing coin slabs. Yes, I could get a safe rated for media protection but those are outside my budget. There are a lot of threads on this board with people saying they use a home safe for storing their coins. I assumed that they have thought about the issue of plastic melting at 350 degrees. So what are they doing? Not that I'm asking you specifically.
I've got a picture someplace where a fortress safe had a POOR penetrated weld let go. Must have been on monday morning or Friday after lunch, proudly made on the USA. I like Liberty and AMSEC.
Most "Gun Safes" sold are rated as "Residential Security Containers" if they are rated at all. That means that they should resist a brute force attack with handheld tools for 5 minutes. That's actually a long time for a typical home B&E person to spend, especially since forcing a safe is likely to be noisy, but there's a kicker to that. If a safe can come into a house on a 2-wheel cart or a 4-wheel dolly, unless it's secured it can go out the same way just as easily. Last time I looked, to get the best rate Hugh Wood insurance (the ANA vendor) requires a TL-15 rated safe once your collection reaches a certain value. A TL-15 rated safe is tested to resist such attacks for 15 minutes. Most also sport 2-hour fire protection. There are no "one-sized" fits all answers when it comes to security, and I suggest you don't rely on the advice of random internet posters. Contact an expert instead. You can safely assume I'm a random internet poster.
