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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Prime Mover, post: 1883426, member: 38783&quot;]Here&#039;s a quick link on how fire ratings are determined:</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.safeandvaultstore.com/fire-ratings" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.safeandvaultstore.com/fire-ratings" rel="nofollow">http://www.safeandvaultstore.com/fire-ratings</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Cliff notes:</p><p>The &quot;hour&quot; rating on a fire safe is an indication of how long the interior of the safe will stay below 350 degrees while subject to an external temperature of 1300 degrees F (or more depending on the test)</p><p><br /></p><p>Paper burns at 451.&nbsp; Gold/silver melts at over 1600, copper over 1900.&nbsp; Coins should survive at 350, even raw, but certain plastics can melt starting at 350:</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.plastictroubleshooter.com/ThePlasticTroubleshooter/melt_temps.htm" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.plastictroubleshooter.com/ThePlasticTroubleshooter/melt_temps.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.plastictroubleshooter.com/ThePlasticTroubleshooter/melt_temps.htm</a></p><p><br /></p><p>My assumption is that a 2-hour rated fire safe, in the lower portion of a house which doesn&#039;t get as high temps as the upper that&#039;s actually on fire, will keep everything fine that&#039;s in a plastic slab of some sort, during a typical house fire.&nbsp; Raw coins will suffer more from the smoke than the heat (IMHO).&nbsp; And, again, with fire comes water damage from the attempt to put it out, so in that case, plastic offers the best protection from that in case the safe gets damaged and opens in any way.</p><p><br /></p><p>A good part of my &quot;everyday&quot; collection is in album folders on the shelf for me to look at, not in my safe (and the coins are all holdered somehow).&nbsp; However, those are the cheap, easily replaceable items that I don&#039;t mind being in the open to people or everyday hazards.&nbsp; The real valuable stuff is offsite in my SDB.</p><p><br /></p><p>However, everything is insured, just in case.&nbsp; Life happens, make sure you got backup.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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