Almost Lost Entire Collection!

grovey, What a beautiful coin. Wish I had one like that!

And got fined, for testing this new "alarm System" LOL
Were the cops fine with it or got really angry?

LOL

Hope it stops the Thieves!

get a firesafe, and fill the bottom with lead, now whatch them carrie it away!

BB, you had a very unfortunate life experience happen to you, but perhaps you can change it into a learning experience. Both TLS and Toast have some excellent perspectives on this, but I'll add my two FEC's worth. I'm a fulltime RVer which means I'm a prime target for break-ins and other property crimes with little support nor sympathy from local police if something happens. Long ago when I was in the Army moving around a lot and even when I was in a fixed location, I learned camouflage was a very effective tool: I kept my valuables in some very unlikely and unsavory containers, e.g., my very expensive Nikon camera, lens, and accessories were in an old Army surplus chemical bag or an old beater camera bag; my coins were in a ragged cardboard box marked "old files", complete with some old files on top when the box was opened; my handguns were in my dirty laundry hamper covered by some really stinky dirty underwear. Not much different these days in the travel trailer: while the really nice RVs become targets, I have deliberately made and kept my travel trailer somewhat on the grungey side to deter wannabe crooks. It makes me appear impoverished and not worth a break-in, meanwhile concealing many tens of thousands of dollars' worth of inventory, also mostly camouflaged inside the trailer. I also camp in low risk areas, but that's another story. While some people may flaunt their collections and valuable items and thus almost invite trouble, I prefer to keep a low profile and make myself appear to be something I am not.

Good luck in your future and I hope nothing like this happens ever again, but don't bet the farm that it won't.

Fred

I'm really sorry to hear of your loss, it's a terrible thing to have happen.

You've already gotten a lot of good suggestions, probably that safest thing is a safety deposit box at a bank. It takes some of the fun out of things, 'cause your coins are usually in the bank where you can't see them but it's good security for your more valuable coins. Your parents may already have one, so ask them about it, and ask if you can keep some of your coins there. Be sure to ask the bank about any restrictions on how often you can access the box, sometimes there is a limit if it's a small one.

Alarm systems are great ... Just don't hit the "Panic" button that is near the "Off" button. My remote design is so bad. What were they thinking? [:0]

My parents are really paranoid about security. So paranoid that they even went through some company to get custom keys that can't be copied, and switched the lock to match it. They were even talking about pexiglass windows for a while, but that thought died down. But hey, we've never had a security issue, so I guess that it's worth it.

I would think real hard before ever committing anything to a safe deposit box in a bank. The whole idea of collecting coins to many is to place their money into something the individual has total control of. You loose that control when you place anything in or on the premise of another party. Laws concerning safety deposit boxes have changed dramatically since 9/11 so it would be wise to do some checking on regulations. Also in the event of a natural disaster, financial disaster, terrorist attack or war your box could be locked down for what seems like forever, especially if you need the contents of the box. Also the laws now permit government (police or Internal Revenue Service) officials in many instances to be present when you decide to go in and open your box. Hey don't take my word for anything but DO some checking on the matter. And, of course, there is always the matter of bank failure? How well do you really want to protect yourself and your assests? I would give it some thought.