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 Replies: 13 / Views: 3,882 |
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Valued Member
Finland
265 Posts |
Long story short... Since I am doing some online trading I figured out that moving my Morgan dollar collection to my parents house (terrace house) would be wise since my address is known to some extent. All went well until I learned that my parents next door neighbour was burgled so I transfered my collection to bank safe deposit box. At this point I use Lighthouse shield intercept double protection boxes and I also put silica gel bag in safe deposit box. Does anyone have any experience with those Lighthouse boxes and do you have any advices when storing your coins to safe deposit box? Thank you. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
I have used the Shield Intercept boxes for many years and highly recommend them.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5825 Posts |
I use Intercept Shield boxes AND silica gel packs in my safe deposit box.
The good news is that way your collection is well protected.
The bad news is that it's not easy to see them whenever you wish.
Take good images before you sock your coins away in a bank.
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Valued Member
 Finland
265 Posts |
Quote:
The bad news is that it's not easy to see them whenever you wish. Yup, that is my pain. I have to arrange appointment with my bank to see or make changes to my collection. I'm glad that my coin photos are made by auction house (since my photography skills aren't that good.) Hmm, correct me if I'm wrong but is Lighthouse(us) same brand as leuchtturm(eu). |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
Get a small safe, and internally bolt it to the floor.
I cover my safe with an ordinary looking corrugated cardboard box, so even when I open the cupboard, nobody has a clue what may be inside the box.
At least, you have ready access, (albeit with some amount of awkwardness), to your more valuable coins.
I reality, only about 5% of my collection is secured in my safe, because the other 95% of the collection is a working collection to which I need immediate and easy access.
High security gun safes are absolutely mandatory in Australia. They are also a good place to keep valuable coins.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
992 Posts |
First thing, keep your bank box for a bit, and get a home alarm system, with all windows and doors covered, wireless to hard drive and phones, the works.
For a safe, you want a big one, small ones bolted to floors or walls just get sawn free and carted off.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3049 Posts |
Security feature #1 DON'T USE YOUR HOME ADDRESS WHEN BUYING OR SELLING ONLINE! have items shipped to a post office box or perhaps even your work.
Safety deposit boxes are great but hard to get at your collection.
Personal safes are also fantastic against a burglary but won't do squat when it's a home invasion...
Even if you use a safe or a safety deposit box... you're still not eliminating the first problem is that there may be people out there who know exactly where you live and know you have valuable coins. Someone still may break into your home or take it by force even if the goods are off site.
If you have a safe... I highly recommend you conceal it in some way. My best recommendation is using drywall. Hiding the safe in the wall minimizes a LOT of risks... and with the drywall you're actually adding a fire rating or fire protection on the safe.
Best of luck... stay safe!
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Almost all banks I've ever heard of have the entire place Air Conditioned. This means very low to hardly any moisture in the place. Your coins in a safe deposit box are very safe without the necessity of Gel packs. As to a safe in your house. One of my neighbors had his house robbed. He too had a safe bolted to the floor. The crooks somehow took it anyway. Remember when a safe is delivered to your house, many people see it. They have a tendency to talk, talk, talk and usually about you having so much money in the house, you need a safe.
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Pillar of the Community
Norway
1358 Posts |
Either you got seriously scared and a bit paranoid and filled out Finland as your location, or you really live in Finland and in that case... Having your parents' neighbor getting robbed is very much bad luck. Living in the Nordics myself, I can't imagine that there's a lot of criminality aiming for coin collections going on here. Indeed, it might not help if people know your name and address (that problem is created here in Norway by the government, where basically all your information is out as soon as anyone knows your name), but when dealing intercontinental, chances are pretty slim that people will just come to your place to rob your collection. It's probably cheaper and safer to just get a postbox for correspondence - boxes at banks tend to be very expensive and banks have very limited opening times nowadays, and it's good to add a layer of anonymity.
I'm currently considering buying a safe, but for a different primary reason: already two houses nearby went up in flames this year.
My experience with Lighthouse is that it's good stuff they make.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
655 Posts |
My thoughts on this. Costco recently had a safe on sale. It was huge, about 5' tall, probably for rifles, and, obviously, extremely heavy. Still, only about $600. My concern with it would be if an armed thief came in and saw it, he might very well threaten to kill whoever's in the house if they didn't open it for him. I mean it's too big to move but too big to hide, too.
Bank boxes here in NJ are almost impossible even to get. All the local banks have long waiting lists. They do allow vault visits anytime but it's still a PIA. But it is safe.
Have you ever thought of just hiding the stuff in your house? Must be a million good places to do that and coins are pretty small.
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Valued Member
Finland
265 Posts |
Yes I do live in Finland and I do agree most likely I got paranoid about that next door neighbour robbing incident. But better safe than sorry. Rent for my safe deposit box is 90€ a year. Most of my coins are still in my apartment since I can't fit all my coins in safe deposit box and only my Morgan dollars are considered valuable. Getting big safe that can be boilted to floor is out of question because I live in a rental apartment. Rest of my collection is out of view in my closet. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
And remember a safe deposit box is a good place to put things like a Will, insurance policies, auto titles, house titles, etc.
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Pillar of the Community
Norway
1358 Posts |
@ron: there's just one issue with that deal, and that's that shipping and importing to Finland may be a bit of an issue...  @kheldim: 90 euro a year isn't too bad, if you an store a collection of Morgans there (depending on the size of both the safety box and the collection, of course). Are you able to get to the bank box often or is it like here in Norway, where opening times are very, very limited? Just keep in mind that we still live in one of the safest regions in the world... I agree that getting a safe built in a rental apartment isn't a very good idea. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3049 Posts |
Quote:
I mean it's too big to move but too big to hide, too. you have to use your imagination. 1) Fires burn up.. so the lowest floor you can store it on can be better... unless you're prone to flooding (at that point pick the one disaster that's more prevalent) 2) most safes can and should be secured to the floor as well as to the adjacent walls. 3) With about 2 hrs with a saw and 2x4 you can "frame" out any safe have it covered in drywall or any other material to look like it's part of the structure of the house. (a safe is good a hidden safe is WAY better) 4) with a bit more work you can actually embed a safe INTO the wall. Places that work well for safes: under stair cases, basements, attics, closets, built in to walls floors or furniture. When moving a safe in.. talk to the movers... Most safe companies use a plain or unmarked truck, and you can always request that. If they won't buy from another dealer. A safe should provide you with security if anyone breaks into your house while you're NOT there. You still need to consider fire, water and home invasion. Fire: line the box with non combustible materials such as drywall or concrete. Water: having a pump system near by, or getting a safe that has a water resistant rating invasion: if they don't know you have one and cant see one in the house they won't expect to find one ... |
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Replies: 13 / Views: 3,882 |
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Posted 10/13/2017 6:37 pm
