In general, does a standard two-hour fire safe provide sufficient protection of coins against fire? Does the answer change at all if the coins are stored in air-tites? Are there any specific characteristics beyond size and protection time (incl. internal temp.) that I should look for in a safe? Thanks again for helping a newbie.
I have a Sentry fire safe, which I'm sure will protect against any fire. However, I'm concerned about having coins in it because it wouldn't protect them from the heat (I believe anyway). Slabs especially. I don't know what the melting point of a slab is, haven't had an opportunity to test it. But, a pile of coins with slab plastic melted all over them might as well have been destroyed in the fire anyway. I'm not sure what material would be best to keep them in, when you put them in a safe. I'd think paper would bring out some very dark toning when high heat is added. Ever see a coin after it's spent some time in an oven?
Sentry says their safes will keep the internal temperature to around 300 degrees in a 1500 degree fire. But as house fires go - that's not really all that hot. A few Fire Dept. Chiefs I know say an all out house fire - one where the house burns down - can reach temperatures of 4500 degrees in some cases. But I have read up on safes in the past and talked to several locksmiths about them. It seems that Sentry's spec is as good as any when it comes to fire safes. I own a couple myself.
Have you found moisture to be a problem in fire safes (as far as storing coins)? I have heard that it might be because the safe is designed to be moist in the walls to help in maintaining the internal temperature during a fire. -- Stujoe
Not at all. I keep re-usable silica packs in the safes - I have to re-charge them about every 3 months. If the humidity level was abnormal - this would not be the case. I have read that some fire safes do use moisture pellets. But these are sealed and only release any mositure when exposed to extreme heat. So unless you actually have a fire - they stay dry as a bone
Moisture is much more of a problem in floor safes. I have several rechargeable silica gel packs in mine, and I have to air out the safe, and recharge the silica gel, about every six weeks. The safe is about 2.2 cu. ft. and I only put the coins there when going on trips. The rest of the time they reside in a steel cabinet in a room where the alarm system includes a pressure pad in front of the cabinet, a motion detector, circuit switches on the window and the door, and a broken glass detector on the window. The last time the alarm was accidentally set off it took the cops almost 90 seconds to respond!
Thanks for the info guys. That is why I wanted to hear from people who had actually used them. -- Stujoe
