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QOTW # 27: Who is most likely to steal coins from your home?

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Of the following, which party do you believe is most likely to steal your coins, from your home, assuming you keep them in your home? or add your own selection to the list.

 

1. a professional thief

2. a complete stranger

3. a fellow coin collector

4. a friend

5. a sibling

6. one of your children

7. your spouse

8. a parent?!

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Casual aquaintences, friends who tell their friends or other (shady people) they may know; people talk ALOT. Also, PEOPLE WHO WORK FOR YOU (in ANY capacity): maintenance, gardeners, roofers, whatever, etc., etc. THIS IS NOT ONLY FOR COINS. There was a big article about this in USA TODAY, I believe.

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Of the following, which party do you believe is most likely to steal your coins, from your home, assuming you keep them in your home? or add your own selection to the list.

 

1. a professional thief

2. a complete stranger

3. a fellow coin collector

4. a friend

5. a sibling

6. one of your children

7. your spouse

8. a parent?!

 

The answer is "myself". I control when I bring coins into my home, and when they are in the bank. I can tell my family and my friends that I collect coins and sometimes show them off. Or I can withhold information. Now, what happens afterwards I have no control over, but ...

 

Using the "degrees of separation", I tell a (complete stranger, fellow coin collector, or family member) that I collect coins and keep them in the house. They can tell a friend who knows a professional thief (or an amateur one at that) that I collect coins. And so on ...

 

 

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One of my Granddaughter's ex-boy friends, who turned out to be a big time felon. He was here in my house for Easter, he's now serving 20 years.

 

I guess you would qualify this as an acquaintance.

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James,

I believe you have left off two of the most likely----a friend of your child or an acquaintance of a friend. These people are the hardest to catch as they are not suspects until well into the investigation and the coins have been sold. Your child and your friends may inadvertently mention the fact that you have coins and if they are not coin collector smart, may not even realize that they had said anything.

Jim

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One of my Granddaughter's ex-boy friends, who turned out to be a big time felon. He was here in my house for Easter, he's now serving 20 years.

 

I guess you would qualify this as an acquaintance.

 

What on earth did he do? That is so scary.

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When I was a kid, a "friend" of mine stole a bunch of silver quarters from the dad's collection. This was in the early 1970s when silver coins were still regular finds in circulation. The neighborhood drugstore received a windfall in silver quarters that summer!

 

Today? If it were to happen I would guess it would a be fellow collector who knows my address. I think this is highly unlikely but could happen.

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One of my Granddaughter's ex-boy friends, who turned out to be a big time felon. He was here in my house for Easter, he's now serving 20 years.

 

I guess you would qualify this as an acquaintance.

 

What on earth did he do? That is so scary.

 

Auto theft, armed robbery, fleeing police in a high speed chase, property damage, foot chase, resisting arrest, providing false identity at booking, possession of stolen property...there was like 22 charges rang up in one day escapade. The DA could not get the Grand Jury to accept the kidnapping charge which would have added an additional 20 years to life.

 

 

The point is, you just never know who your inviting into your home, since they are with a family member, you assume they are OK...not so.

 

I guess you could run a back ground investigation and lie detector test like the character Dinero played did in Meet the Fockers.

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Although we do read about occasional home robberies where coin collections are targeted, I think there are probably more thefts committed by the children in the household or their friends, but many of these cases go unreported.

 

In the early 60's when I was a young teen gambling at the local poolroom, there was a small variety store on the way home where I would spend a couple dollars on the packs of baseball cards (5c per pack). I'd throw the bubble gum away and put the cards in shoe boxes.

 

One afternoon when I returned from the poolroom, my younger brother had told my parents that I was stealing money from his "piggy bank", and they confronted me with the "evidence", the boxes of baseball cards. I told them that I did not steal his money, but they wanted to know how I acquired all of the baseball cards if I didn't. Naturally, I couldn't tell them that I was skipping school and gambling at the poolroom, so they confiscated the cards and I never saw them again.

 

It was about thirty years later that my brother admitted that he had learned that the two brothers who "ran around" with him and lived next door to us were the actual culprits.

 

Chris

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... don't keep your coins at home.

 

That's VERY good advice and I also recommend it!!

 

In the long run a safe deposit box is your best bet.

 

Because some of your children's "friends" are not to be trusted. :whistle:

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In the long run a safe deposit box is your best bet.

 

Because some of your children's "friends" are not to be trusted. :whistle:

Sounds like there's a story there!!
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When ever I have discovered silver coinage in my pocket change I aways wonder whose old whitman it was popped out of.

 

Do you think a 500 pound safe in the home is good enough with an ADT alarm system? And heavily armed occupants :sumo: too?

 

 

OP

 

 

 

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Of the following, which party do you believe is most likely to steal your coins, from your home, assuming you keep them in your home? or add your own selection to the list.

 

1. a professional thief

2. a complete stranger

3. a fellow coin collector

4. a friend

5. a sibling

6. one of your children

7. your spouse

8. a parent?!

 

1. a professional thief - Does not exist in my neighborhood. The thieves around here get caught all the time.

2. a complete stranger - As opposed to a known stranger?

3. a fellow coin collector - None around me directly.

4. a friend - Nope

5. a sibling - They don't visit(thank god).

6. one of your children - Have none

7. your spouse - Nope

8. a parent?! - The man who donated the sperm to create me yes. My mother, no.

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Do you think a 500 pound safe in the home is good enough with an ADT alarm system? And heavily armed occupants :sumo: too?

 

 

OP

 

 

 

I remember reading a story a few years back about a collector who had a 4,000 lb safe in his garage. He went on vacation, and when he returned he discovered that the entire safe was stolen.

 

Chris

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Do you think a 500 pound safe in the home is good enough with an ADT alarm system? And heavily armed occupants :sumo: too?

 

 

OP

 

 

 

I remember reading a story a few years back about a collector who had a 4,000 lb safe in his garage. He went on vacation, and when he returned he discovered that the entire safe was stolen.

 

Chris

 

they want it bad enough theyll get it

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I can't tell anyone what I have, the kids want their share of it regardless of the value, all the kids kniw is that I collect coins but they don't know the value. The Bible says that they are arrows in you quiver but I say they are arrows in my back. I had a sone who stole coins from me many years ago and bought ice cream from the truck that went by the neighborhood. Then, he stole al the coins, a gun and tools from me in 1986 so it's a good thing I didn't buy expensive coins at that point in my life. Many tiems I wish I had bought a 16-d Mercury and other expensive coins when they were "low cost" but he'd have taken them so it's a good thing I didn't buy them. Now, the kids are gone from the house and come occasionally and leave- much to my relief. I keep my coins in a safe deposit box but I scanned all of them so I can look at my coins when I want.

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Statistically I believe it is #4 a friend (I would assume #3 another coin collector who knew where your coins are would also be a friend so I would call those a tie). Next would probably be a friend of your child, then sibling, spouse, child (last three about equal), then parent, complete stranger and lastly professional thief. Most home burglaries are committed by people you know, then by random opportunist strangers. Very few are done by professional thieves.

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Of the following, which party do you believe is most likely to steal your coins, from your home, assuming you keep them in your home? or add your own selection to the list.

 

1. a professional thief

2. a complete stranger

3. a fellow coin collector

4. a friend

5. a sibling

6. one of your children

7. your spouse

8. a parent?!

 

1. a professional thief - Does not exist in my neighborhood. The thieves around here get caught all the time.

2. a complete stranger - As opposed to a known stranger?

3. a fellow coin collector - None around me directly.

4. a friend - Nope

5. a sibling - They don't visit(thank god).

6. one of your children - Have none

7. your spouse - Nope

8. a parent?! - The man who donated the sperm to create me yes. My mother, no.

 

This is probably one of the funniest posts that I have read on this forum.

 

When ever I have discovered silver coinage in my pocket change I aways wonder whose old whitman it was popped out of.

 

Do you think a 500 pound safe in the home is good enough with an ADT alarm system? And heavily armed occupants :sumo: too?

 

 

OP

 

 

 

In all honesty, it depends. To the average, run of the mill burglar who doesn't take enough time to do a little reconnaissance, you would probably be okay. If you live in a big city with professional thieves, and/or have had people "casing out" your house for some time, then probably not. The safe would certainly slow them down. I'm not familiar with ADT, but I know that a long time ago, there were issues with home security systems working through the phone lines. A simple snip of the line, and there was no way to alert ADT or the authorities. I'm sure (read as, I hope) they have resolved this problem.

 

In the event that your coins are stolen, I recommend installing wireless cameras that can download the video to the hardware of your computer and then to a secure web server. I don't recommend DSL because it utilizes the normal phone line, but wireless 3G or 4G internet connections, or even cable internet services (I've found that coaxial cables are generally better hidden at least at the buildings that I'm familiar with), can provide reliable enough access and may allow you identify the person responsible increasing the chance of recovery. I saw wireless cameras and the requisite software for $300 at a local Sam's Club, online hosting for 50-100GB will run you $50-$100 a year, and then the price of broadband internet service (which you probably have anyway). To me, it is cheap security.

 

With regards to armed occupants, just make sure that one of them is there or keeps a weapon on their person at all time with the remaining weapons being stored in a safe as well. You certainly wouldn't want them to be used against you and have someone force you to open the safe at gun-point.

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Of the following, which party do you believe is most likely to steal your coins, from your home, assuming you keep them in your home? or add your own selection to the list.

 

1. a professional thief - unlikely in my area, and given my youth (i.e. I'm only in my 20s), I'm less likely to be a target than is a professional businessman.

 

2. a complete stranger - common burglar if they could get past my security safeguards and safes; for added security, I don't keep valuables at my residence.

 

3. a fellow coin collector - I'm not part of any local coin clubs so there are none.

 

4. a friend - I'm very career oriented and the few friends that I do have do not know that I collect coins, nor have they been to my home or the off site location where I store my valuables.

 

5. a sibling - no siblings

 

6. one of your children - too young to have kids

 

7. your spouse - I'm not married

 

8. a parent?! - zero chance; besides the fact that my parents are honest, they are completely clueless as to most of my possessions

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