Looking for a good home safe...

[Carterofmars]

Looking for a good safe, not too large to store coins and other misc. documents. Need it to be fire proof as well. I've seen some digital models and some older style models.

 

Any good ones come to mind?

[TomB]

If you by a fire retardant safe be aware that the materials in it will likely hasten the formation of toning on your coins. Also, smaller safes may be carried away unless they are bolted firmly into the structure. These are just two things to keep in mind.

[Carterofmars]

Is there an "Archival" safe?

[Bruceswar]

I have a gun safe.... I added extra shelves in it to hold more coins.... works nicely...

[chinook]

Very good home safes can be found at your local bank. Most charge a very nominal yearly fee.

[ldhair]

Dang. After 20 minutes working on a post and I lost the site. What a waste. Does this happen to others?

Maybe I should copy my post before I submit it, just in case.

[truthteller]

Just remember. A home safe is good so long as NOBODY knows it there. I've known people and dealers who would blab about how good their home security was, only to be at the wrong end of a shotgun opening their home safe. Place every high ticket valuable in a safe deposit box, and use a small, bolted, fire resistant home safe for important papers and a cheaper coins.

 

 

 

 

TRUTH

[Carterofmars]

Just remember. A home safe is good so long as NOBODY knows it there. I've known people and dealers who would blab about how good their home security was, only to be at the wrong end of a shotgun opening their home safe. Place every high ticket valuable in a safe deposit box, and use a small, bolted, fire resistant home safe for important papers and a cheaper coins.

TRUTH

 

Sounds like GOOD advice.

[Carterofmars]

Dang. After 20 minutes working on a post and I lost the site. What a waste. Does this happen to others?

Maybe I should copy my post before I submit it, just in case.

 

I've read another complaining of the same thing... answering one of my posts also. I hate it also... I feel as if I lost out on some good info.

[ldhair]

Many of the small safes you see out there like Sentry Safes use material in the linings that retain moisture.

Great for documents but maybe not so good for coins.

You can control this a bit by using silica gel and by opening the safe often and letting it air out.

 

Thuth's post above is so true.

Really think about a bank box.

[rexcat]

I agree that a good, little known, bolted down some where that’s not damp fire safe, gives good protection, but I also feel that to keep a coin collection in the home it should be properly insured. Although I would store my coins in a vault at a bank or such if the collection’s value was higher than I’d be comfortable with having in my home or paying the insurance premiums on every year.

 

To keep the inside of my safe more “coin friendly” I use some silica gel and another desiccant, that turns color to indicate the amount of moisture it has absorbed, and can be dried in the microwave.

 

 

 

It also doesn’t hurt to have a strong jawed dog hanging around the house…

 

 

[ldhair]

A post from across the street.

 

 

I saved this from the coin forum a few months ago. It may help someone.....

 

 

Safe Ratings

 

Burglary Ratings

 

* B1 — Theft resistant (minimum security)

* B2 — Underwriters’ Laboratories Residential Security Container label

* B3 — Non-rated anti-theft (incorporates features of high security safes

without a UL rating)

* B4 — Underwriters’ Laboratories TL-15 label

* B5 — Underwriters’ Laboratories TL-30 label

* B6 — Underwriters’ Laboratories TL-30X6 or TRTL-30 label

 

Fire Ratings

 

* FR — Fire resistant unrated insulated safe

* 1/2 hr — UL class 350. Protects valuables for up to 30 minutes with outside temperature of 1550 degrees.

* 1 hr — UL class 350. Protects valuables for up to 1 hour with outside temperature of 1700 degrees.

* 1 hr+ — UL class 350. Protects valuables for up to 1 hour with an outside temperature of 1700 degrees, plus survived drop test from 30 feet.

* 2 hr — UL class 350. Protects valuables for up to 2 hours with an outside temperature of 1850 degrees.

* 2 hr+ — UL class 350. Protects valuables for up to 2 hours with outside temperature of 1850 degrees, plus survived drop test onto rubble from 30 feet

 

UL Underwriters' Laboratories (UL) - UL is a non-profit, non-bias agency that tests and rates the safety and performance of consumer products. Safes that have earned specific UL ratings will carry a UL label which designates the product's security and fire-protection ratings.

 

* Net Working Time - This is the UL term for testing time which is spent trying to break into a safe using tools such as diamond grinding wheels, high-speed drills with pressure applying devices, or common hand tools such as hammers, chisels, saws, and carbide-tip drills. If a safe has been rated with a 30-minute net working time, (TL30), the rating certifies that the safe successfully withstood a full 30 minutes of attack time with a range of tools.

* Theft resistant - This rating means the safe provides a combination lock and minimal theft protection.

* Residential Security Container rating (RSC) - This UL rating is based on testing conducted for a net working time of five minutes, on all sides, with a range of tools.

* TL-15 rating - The TL-15 rating means the safe has been tested for a net working time of 15 minutes using high speed drills, saws and other sophisticated penetrating equipment.

* TL-30 rating - A product carrying the TL-30 security label has been tested for a net working time of 30 minutes with the same types of tools mentioned above.

* TL-30 x 6 - The TL-30 (30-minute) test is conducted on all six (6) sides of the safe.

* TRTL-30 - The TRTL rating designates a safe which successfully resisted 30 minutes of net working time with a torch and a range of tools which might include high speed drills and saws with carbide bits, pry bars, and other impact devices.

 

Fire Ratings

 

* Impact test - The UL impact test calls for the safe to be heated to 1550 degrees for 30 minutes (1638 degrees for a 2-hour fire rated safe) then dropped onto concrete rubble from a height of 30 feet. The safe is then turned upside down and reheated for another 30 minutes (45 minutes for a 2-hour fire rated safe). During this process, it must maintain its integrity and protect all contents in order to pass the UL impact test.

* Explosion hazard test - All UL fire-rated safes must undergo this test, during which the unit is inserted into a pre-heated 2000 degree oven. If the safe is not constructed properly, the rapid heating will likely cause an explosion.

* FR - Fire resistant, unrated insulated safe - This product is awaiting UL approval.

* Class 350 1/2-hour fire rating - During this test, the safe is heated for one-half hour to reach an exterior temperature of 1550 degrees. Because paper will begin to char at approximately 400 degrees, the unit being tested must maintain an interior temperature of less than 350 degrees during heat-up and cool-down testing in order to earn its rating.

* Class 350 1-hour fire rating - To earn this rating, the safe is heated for one hour to reach an exterior temperature of 1550 degrees, then put through the cool-down test. During this time the safe must maintain an interior temperature of less than 350 degrees.

* Cool-down test - This procedure is a key part of UL's fire testing procedures. After a one- or two-hour fire rating test, the safe is left in the oven for cool-down time with the heat turned off. Because of the intensive heat of one- and two-hour tests, the temperature inside the safe will continue to rise for up to one hour after the oven is turned off. To pass UL testing, the safe's interior temperature may not exceed 350 degrees at any time during heat-up or cool-down procedures.

* Class 350 1-hour fire & impact label - The safe has passed both UL impact testing and Class 350 1-hour fire testing (see above).

* Class 350 2-hour fire rating - The safe is heated for two hours to reach an exterior temperature of 1550 degrees and must maintain an interior temperature of less than 350 degrees to earn this rating. Class 350 2-hour rating and impact label - The safe has passed both UL impact testing and Class 350 2-hour fire testing (see above).

 

 

 

1. Test attack against the door and front face:

1. Tool-Resistant Safe - Class TL-15

2. Tool-Resistant Safe - Deposit Safe

3. Tool-Resistant Safe - Class TL-30

4. Torch- and Tool-Resistant Safe - Class TRTL-30

 

2. Test attack against the door and body:

1. Tool-Resistant Safe - Class TL-15X6

2. Tool-Resistant Safe - Class TL-30X6

3. Torch- and Tool-Resistant Safe - Class TRTL-15X6

4. Torch- and Tool-Resistant Safe - Class TRTL-30X6

5. Torch- and Tool-Resistant Safe - Class TRTL-60X6

6. Torch-, Explosive-, and Tool-Resistant Safe - Class TXTL-60X6

 

 

There was an news article recently in CoinWorld about a burglary and how a collector/dealer’s safe was “smashed”. The manufacturer of the safe was listed and I was not at all surprised that the thieves demolished the safe. The manufacturer given is a major supplier of gun safes, not security safes.

 

Gun safes are usually made with a body of SHEET metal (steel), 12 gauge, 14 gauge, etc. and a steel plate (usually 1/4 in or less) for the door. Security safes employ steel PLATE, ¼”, ½”, 1” or greater and often have additional composite material to provide defense against various attacks (drill, torch, peel, etc). Security safes are rated on a letter scale, B, C, D, ... with B being a general catch all for 1/4” body and 1/2” steel door. There is also an Underwriter’s Laboratory rating (UL) such ad TL-15, TL30, and so on. The “15”, “30” , etc. on are measures of a the MINIMUM time it takes a professional to break in, the UL personnel that conduct the tests are pros.

 

Gun safes usually look pretty and have lots of thick locking bolts that give a false sense of security. Steel sheet metal is easy to break into, the local kid with an axe, crowbar and other tools can get in in no time. That thick fire resistant material between the sheet metal is just that, thick material to provide fire protection, NOT buglary protection.

 

One half inch or more of hardened steel with a drill resistance hardplate protecting the lock, glass or other relocking devices, drill resistant pellets and fibers between the lawyers of PLATE, and so on will discourage all but the most professional burglars. Time is the key to a good safe, not lots of locking bars.

 

The best jewelry safes may have a industrial diamond impregnated hardplate, slabs of copper to thwart torch attacks, multiple randomly placed relockers, and even layers (safe within a safe).

 

I would never store coins in a gunsafe and never buy one of those nice looking safes for sale at coin shows, A fairly “safe” safe is going to cost about $1000 for a good TL-15 safe (500 lbs or more).

 

Safest place for coins – a safe deposit box in one of those 50 year old bank vault safes that were build to withstand a nuclear attack.

 

 

-------------------------

Dave (PA)

[Oldtrader3]

I use a Browning gun safe that is fire rated. I also have an electric goldenrod dehumidifier in the safe.