Disaster, need help please!

I’ve had my small collection of handed down coins and bills stored in a small inexpensive safe. Recently I opened it and saw complete devastation. Everything that is metal has tarnished/rusted and molded, including some of the coins. See the attached pics.

Seems like all the paper money, gold, and silver bullion is fine (a few of the bills have warped like moisture got to them, but nosigns of mold that i can see). My gold coins are all fine, but the cases they are in have mold/hazy stuff on them. These sets wereall packaged in the 60s/70s, I’m guessing I will have to transfer into modern cases. All the gold/silver jewelry seems fine but theboxes have mold all over them.

The inside of the safe looks fine, I don’t see any leaks into the safe. It almost looks like the moisture came out of the coin sets themselves. I do live at the beach in a high humidity environment though, but I’ve kept desiccate in the safe. In another safe I use a Golden Rod to keep the safe warmer than the surrounding environment. Is there an equivalent for coin storage?

You can see from the pic of the Morgan that the staples have rusted but the coin looks fine. I had 3-ring binders in the safe andthose were completely destroyed. I threw them out. The pic of the “blue tarnished: coins are a comparative set, I don’t think theywere worth anything anyway. I’m more concerned about all the proof sets.

I’ve pulled everything out of the safe and put it out on a shelf.

I’m completely distressed about this, I don’t know what to do. Can these coins be saved? Maybe ultrasonic cleaning? Are thereany professional coin cleaners/restorers I can contact?

If anyone knows a reliable coin shop in Southern CA I’d appreciate the referral.


Any advice is appreciated.

 

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OH NO .. WOW

 

I'm so sorry...

 

I'm sorry to see this. At least the Morgan still looks good even though its staples are rusted.

 

Yes, a Sentry safe. I can't believe this, absolutely ridiculous.

Can someone explain exactly what is the cause? What is it about the Sentry safes that cause this?

 

Fortunately, from a monetary standpoint, the items you posted that have corroded are inexpensive and easily replaced (although I'm not sure what the blue-crusted things are).

 

http://www.sentrysafe.com/pdfs/ownersmanuals/501393.pdf
High-moisture insulation. Warning is on page 3 in the right column (or page 5 in French and page 7 in Spanish)

 

the insulation material; in the sentry safe is extremely cheap, although flame retardant it tends to also hold in moisture thus making a oven outta whateve you put in there

"
WARNING
DO NOT store delicate items directly
in your product
Sentry Safe products which offer fire protection have a
patented insulation that has a high moisture content. If
you choose to store delicate items such as jewelry with
working parts, watches, stamps, or photos in your product,
we recommend putting them in an air-tight container,
prior to placing them in the product for storage".




GAME OVER

 

Sheesh. Guess I'm paying the price for not doing my homework. When I got all this I was new to coins/collecting and new nothing.

Good point, the sets with damage are all proof sets of my family members birth years. Suppose I will have to replace.


Question: I have removed everything from the safe. Will this stop the progress? Will this damage "infect" other coins now? How can I make sure the damage progress is stopped completely?

Can someone recommend me or point me to a good coin safe?

 

Ive used a sentry safe for years and havent had this problem. But i open mine constantly and i store silica gel packets inside as well. Maybe try using that?

 

as far as cleaning them use spray alcohol of 91% or better , if you cant get that use a cotton swab and everclear (keep away from fire), to clean packaging , baking soda and water to clean the blue and black gunk or alcohol..

 

yes andy gun safe will; do i use a remmington , yes it will stop the progress, if the coins are removed and the packaging properly cared for yes it should not continue, discontinue the use of the safe...clean the coins and packaging asap

 

Moisture I guess, but some looks almost acidic damage.

 

Man...I just want to cry for you!

 

I'd repurchase the sets and not tell anyone

Sorry, just trying to keep it light because that is so horrible and I'm sorry to hear it. It does sound like you caught it before anything truly devastating occurred (like high dollar loss), not to diminish your losses already. Good thing you opened it sooner than later is what I'm saying.

I hope you're able to get things "fixed" if possible.

 

Do you use mean the alcohol for the packaging or the coins?

Thats what my thinking was. I'm starting to look for a new safe now. The Sentry is going to the desert to be introduced to my .308...

Does anyone know if a safe heater/Golden Rod is ok to use with coins/bills in the new safe?

Lol. The thought crossed my mind, but I'll have to come clean in the end..

 

why waste the money just clean the coins up it should be farely simple.. yeast spray ony the felt with alcohol..


http://www.homedepot.com/b/Tools-Hardware-Safety-Security-Safes-Gun-Safes/N-5yc1vZc2gz

 

get rid of any packaging you can

 

kaosleeroy108, I know nothing about cleaning coins. If you can explain further or point me to a resource I'd appreciate it.
Do you mean yeast spray w/ alcohol for the felt boxes/liners?