There are some "do's and Don't's but the price can't be beat!

Greetings Collectors,

Many thanks to "Bully" for his very informative peice on safes and Bank boxes, Insurance and the like. I had read it when it was previously posted but was glad he shared this info with all of us again.

In my prior post touching on the aspect of putting your bullion somewhere where only you had access and the mention of burying it in the woods/forest/yard ect. was actually a serious suggestion. Earlier today I dug up one of my "coin bombs" to inspect the contents after it had been buried almost 6 years. (this June would have been six years for this one) The contents were as follows: Three cloth bags of ciculated common date Morgan and Peace Dollars ($100 face in each) Four PCI slabbed Walking Liberty Halves, Three velvet jewelers bags 3"by5" each containing 10-K, 14-K & 18-K scrap rings, chains, bracelets ect. I also had four stacks of better date Lincoln wheats, in cardboard/stapled flips with each secured with a couple of rubber bands.

None of the contents were priceless one of a kind coins or jewelry but a pretty good chunk of change worth of goods. I found absolutely no moisture or mold or anything on the inside walls of the 6" schedule-40 PVC pipe. The contents looked just the same as the day they were sealed up. I live in NE Fl. and we have had a pile of tropical storms and hurricanes in the last few years and there was zero moisture on any of the materials inside the pipe. In there I had the following differant materials: cloth, paper (thin copy paper and cardboard) for the contents list and the flips, plastic slabs, and rubber bands.(these were still able to be streched and had not become brittle or dryrotted. If I had an 1804 Silver Dollar or a 1933 $20 Saint Gaudens Gold, it is safe to say they would not be in the ground. But having said that, I do not own a coin that I would hesitate in storing in this fashion. I like to look at my coins too much to have them put away like this. I do have several buried with contents like the one I just mentioned. These will only be dug up when I am very old and gold and silver have made their run to $10,000 and $500 per ounce respectfully.

I kinda expected to find the contents as they were but having several of these "coin bombs" in various locations on differant properties I wanted to be sure. I have now rolled the lincoln cents and since I have some square large dollar coin tubes from Amos, & have rolled the silver dollars as well. The only pain was picking the plastic saw dust off the velvet jewelers bags when I "saw-zaw'de the end cap off the pipe. Now those bags will go into "ziplocks" when I return them.

The beauty of this type of storage is the cost. Unless you have hundreds of pounds of coins and bullion, your total one time cost is less than thirty dollars. The only drawback is, it's not something you want to do if you need to get to it often. You run the risk of someone seeing you bury the pipe if you are back and forth digging it up and then it back to being buried.

The pipe I am talking about would more than likely last underground for literally dozens and dozens if not hundreds of years. One more thing that's important is to not forget "WHERE" you buried it. Also you would need to be able to trust one more family member as to the location in case something happens to you.

When I started doing this in the mid 90's I did my homework. The pipe needs to weigh enough so that if you live in a place that could flood, the pipe would not come unearthed and float away. If you forget where it's buried, you are "screwed" unless metal detectors have come a long way since I used a "upper middle of the road" White and at two and a half to three feet down and even shallower the thick walled PVC will block the signal. There may be a better detector on the market that would penetrate the PVC but I don't know one.

I also put one of my "coin bombs" in a laundry tub full of water for twelve days, and then cut it open to find everything "dry as a bone". If you are going to try this at home, just remember the following:

(1) Only use 4-6 inch SCHEDULE-40 PVC. (thick wall, not thin wall)

(2) Get CLEANER and good Glue (I think Oatey is the best) & use them both. Someone in Home depot or Lowes plumbing dept. can show you just how to "glue it up")

(3) The contents should not be "stuffed" and should only fill the pipe just a "tad" over half way. This is to insure that if and when you need to get into your "coin bomb", sawing the cap off will not saw into the contents. And then if it is to be re-sealed, just glue another cap on. If you make the pipes/bombs 18-24 inches, you can go into and re-seal them several times with only having to buy an additional cap each time you go into it.

(4) Last but not least, DO NOT forget where your "treasure" is buried and let a trusted family member know the whereabouts of said "treasure" in the event of your demise.

This is without a doubt, the safest, most secure, and least expensive storage solution for any numismatic items and any other items of worth. You are only limited by the size of your items. ( as in no "Dansco/Whitman coin alblums ) Also remember that this size and kindof pipe is used for water MAINS with thousands of pounds of pressure trying to get out so there is NO WAY any moisture can get in. If you want added insurance, throw a couple of de-humidity pouches in the pipe before you seal it.

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me and remember to have fun with your coins. Happy Collecting! WKF