Any Suggestions On The Best Safe To Store Coins

search ccf or youtube for "safe dynamite" for some great videos.

I personally went with the Heritage Tradition. Its fire rated for 95 minutes at 1350 degrees, weighs about 1200 lbs and has 7 gauge thick side walls. It also has 16 bolts in total.

A lot of safes have 11 and 12 gauge side walls that can be breached rather easily.

Plus the Heritage line is made in America. Grace Idaho to be exact.

Bottom line get the best you can find for your budget.

.....and SHOP around. There is quite bit of price difference in the exact same model of safes.

Also, safe companies make safes for rebranding for resale by others. For instance, my Canon brand safe, being sold rebranded for Cabelas...has a $500 difference in price. So, know what you are buying to save some cash.

Best bet is a safety deposit box at a local bank. I have a small one for 30.00 per year. Only problem is that one cannot hold silver, gold etc. in one's hand. But when I look in mine I just say WOW! Very safe storage. For a house safe I would say heavy - heavy.

I just went through extensive research for a safe to store my coins. I looked at pretty much every major and minor option out there. I talked to pros, I looked at videos, I read a ton of articles. Since most of my coins are slabbed I knew I needed more than a "fire" safe because plastic melts at ~200° and fire safes can get 350° inside. "Media" safes can protect plastic, but they weigh a ton, cost a fortune and are very small inside. So I decided my best option was a burglary safe with a "media" box inside. After looking at several B-Rated safes from AmSec, Cobalt, Hollon, Gardall and others, I changed direction slightly when I came across the Stack-On P-019-MB-E Premier Executive Safe. It's UL-RSC rated, UL fire-rated, has a Sargent & Greenleaf electronic lock, fits perfectly in the closet I wanted to put it in, is only $388 shipped and could fit a Honeywell 1102 fire chest inside with room to spare. It's not what I thought a Stack-On safe would be (chintzy). I'm very happy with it.

Four suggestions:

1. Get a very small safe only, and only store your most valuable coins in it. Less expenditure is needed to buy it. The majority of your collection may be out of the safe, but if you are continually referring to your collection as a working collection (as I do), then a large safe can be a bit of an annoyance, with all of your collection stored in it. Added advantages are that it takes up less space, and is easier to hide.

2. To prevent a very small safe from being carried, fill the bottom of it with lead(Pb) blocks. MY safe has 90 kilograms of lead in it. Another alternative is to internally bolt it to the floor. I have done both.

3. Put a small small safe on the floor, inside a cupboard. Hide it with a simple corrugated cardboard box over it, if someone sees you open the cupboard for reasons other than to get at the safe.

4. Put some small dimples near the lock or hinges of the door, as start ponts for a drill. This is an important thing to do, if the lock fails shut. You might loose the safe, but at least you can recover the contents, without damage.

Hmmm, I wouldn't go for the "heaviest" safe. I'd go with the one with the thickest walls. Bolt it to the floor or wall. If you can hook up your safe to a security company that's double the safety measure. Also, run away from safes that have the hinges on the outside completely exposed! Ell-Oh-Ell!