Looking for a safe

The bank does not want your cash in a box because it doesn't do them any good there. If its in an account, the bank gets to count it as a deposit to lend against. Keeping cash in a SDB is not all that useful anyways. What are you trying to accomplish? If there is a run on the backs with ATMs running dry, do you really think you will have free access to your SDB?

I have a SDB with a large national bank and the only thing they were strict on was nothing illegal, nothing hazardous, no guns, etc... Anything else, they didn't want to know. Deniability. Nothing is insured by them and nothing is documented. As soon as its on record about what is inside, that opens them up to at least some liability. Bank SDB are typically a secondary service that don't actually make money. They are a perk to get people to buy other banking products and services.

Also, that link might be just a little bit bias. They are a company the sells SDB insurance...

 

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A well chosen hiding spot can be just as effective as a safe. Just make sure that your heirs have a way of finding it/knowing about it if unexpected circumstances arise.

 

Could always get one of those small hiddable B rated safes that you can get for cars and RVs. Easy to hide or even bury in a plastic bag but it can easily walk away unless you bolt it down. I think Gardall makes some.

 

A rating is only as trustworthy as the agency which gives it. UL defines what tests a safe has to pass to earn a TL-15 rating from them, and I would not consider anything which passes those tests as "easy to break in to." But as we are all too aware of here, counterfeiting is a real problem, and a UL rating is not immune to such deception. UL even tells you who to call or email if you suspect a UL mark is spurious:
http://www.ul.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/marapr2004.pdf

I think the discussion has done a pretty good job of talking about the pros and cons of a bank safety deposit box. Should you decide on a safety deposit box, insist on a copy of the agreement and read the damn thing before signing up. At least in the U.S. safety deposit boxes are becoming less and less popular each year, and more than a few banks are consolidating the service into a limited number of branches. Especially at larger banks fees are going up as well, as part of their continuing effort to squeeze the last dime out of any small customers who insist on banking with them.

 

Credit Unions are more forgiving in terms for SDB. I had one of their larger ones for years for all misc stuff. But then went to a small one for the real valuables. Mine only allowed you to pay once per year .. no paying for multiple years. Grace periods etc. read the fine print. for instance, If you have a loan with them and do bankruptcy they *can* take SDB contents .. at least in the one contract I read and I'm sure it varies depending upon institution.

 

Evan8 , is right a SDB is the late place I would put any of my valuables. There have been times in our history , that was one of the places the Gov. Went to take your things in times of trouble. Just saying! GOD BLESS AMERICA True Patriot

 

Not that I know of. Even during the bank holiday in 1933 when people could not get access to their boxes. Even for the banks that did not reopen the people were eventually allowed to recover their box contents.

 

Go for a second hand ex-Jewellers safe with £100,000.00 rating but don't put it in the garage, too cold

 

Please see my previous post on safes, how they are rated, graded and priced. Do your homework - it's an insurance investment - not a toy.

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/fireproof-safe.271361/#post-2358947

Safe design info to help you ask questions.

 

Someone glibly mentioned multiple pit bulls earlier. Actually, any sort of dog that makes a racket when encountering unfamiliar people is probably the finest security system you can have. The very best is a nasty, yappy little breed that will run under the couch and keep barking no matter what. Big dogs are easy targets for neutralization. Sure, by all means get a safe - it'll probably keep visiting kids from pilfering your coins to use as change for the arcade games, and it may make you feel safer, too. But frankly, like they say about terrorism, a sufficiently motivated and skilled person can defeat ANY security system - they only have to get it right once. If someone is seriously targeting you, you can't really do anything about it - you can only keep down the probability that you will become a target for a pro.
Some suggestions for "hiding in plain sight" were given in an earlier post, some or all of those precautions may make you feel more secure, but you have to accept the fact that there is no absolute security - just the amount you're happy and comfortable with - and can afford.
Since there is for all practical purposes no guaranteed security, it becomes something like the question they ask in auto "speed shops" - it's not "How fast do you want to go?" it's "How fast do you want to spend?"

 

I worry as much about fire as theft. A safe deposit box contents is uninsured, but more secure than any home system. I've seen photos of what was left when boxes at a bank were rifled open by professionals. You'd not believe it. As far as home safes are concerned, the fireproof ones produce moisture and the little bitty 200 lb. ones just make it easier to carry off. There's really no completely safe way to store coins. At some banks they keep the humidity high in the vault to better preserve documents and this is bad for coins. And if your deposit box is below ground level, the box is going to fill up with water in a flood. The suggestions by those before me are good ones, but if a thief wants your prize, he's going to get it whether you are home or not. The security system with a cellular dialer is about as good a protection as you can get, but then you are relying on the police response time. If someone is lying injured in the road, that's going to get top priority over your prized possessions. A big dog who barks a lot is a deterrent too.

 

Lots of stuff on youtube about breaking into these "safes". You wouldn't believe it. Two minutes max with a big crow bar.

 

Since we are proposing extreme ideas, what about this one?

There was a man in our coin club who lived in a house that was built in the 1920's by a jeweler.

The house was built around a large safe.

The only way to remove the safe was to demolish the house.

 

There are probably some nefarious thieves somewhere who would do that. I've read stories of people leaving for vacation only to return and find their house had been dismantled and taken away to parts unknown.

 

My unprofessional advice: store high value coins in a safety deposit box. Photograph them first so you can view at your leisure and have something for the police to send to local coin and pawn shops. Most coins are one of a kind, like a finger print, so documentation is important. If you do not trust banks then a hidden safe bolted to the floor, with little space on the sides for thieves to pry it open should be considered. A security system with one of the local companies is a good idea, but one using phone lines is just plain foolish -- even kids know to cut phone lines before entering. A wireless system that is connected to the company monitoring center is much better. If the antenna cable is cut the monitoring company knows immediately. And a hidden video recording system with motion/IR enabling capability should be considered.

 

I like Gilberts response above I to am unprofessional If you elect to go with a floor mounted safe I would recommend a Liberty safe with monitor. They are supposed to be harder to get into to for thief's and have good fire ratings. And the security systems Gilbert mentions also.

 

If a thief has a long period to work with, they will do almost anything if they know there is potential for a big pay off. I've seen reports of thieves cutting the concrete out from under a safe. They were caught with a large gun safe on the dolly with the slab still attached to the bottom of it. Thieves are only able to go to this extreme if they are allowed to work uninterrupted. This is why a monitored security system is very important. Deconstructing a building to get to a safe takes time. With an alarm going off, these guys wont hang around long.

 

I've read the warnings about fire-resistant safes (e.g., Sentry) being hazardous to coins stored within. Can the hazards, in your opinions, be ameliorated by sealing coins in Tupperware-type containers, adding rechargeable dehumidifiers (as sold by Amos or Wizard) and placing sacrificial cents within the safe? Thanks,
Steve

 

I've kept my collection in Sentry safes for years and it's doing just fine

 

There are some great tips here. Col. Steve Ellsworth has a good section of his website about coin security - I don't think I can post the link here since it is part of his dealer site, correct? He is regarded as an expert on this topic and taught a session at the ANA Summer Session recently on it.