Safe? Deposit Boxes...
 

Interesting article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/19/b...box-theft.html

There have been prior discussions about some of the drawbacks to SDBs. Fire and floods can occur as well. A bank can not be expected to insure the contents of the box since they rarely know what goes in or comes out of them. The article talks about customers forgetting they have removed stuff, or a co signer taking something, but customer fraud would be another issue

Best bet is still to insure what is in the box if you want coverage for loss. And have documentation on what is in the box.....unless you are putting things you should not have in it. But that probably never happens ��

I was literally signing on the dotted line for my safe deposit box in lower Manhattan when the bank guy said to me "hey, you know if you ever hear of a big hurricane bearing down on Manhattan you might want to come and get your stuff to be safe. After Sandy most of the safe deposit room was flooded waist high with water and a lot of people's stuff was completely destroyed. . ." Oh, righty. Thanks pal.

I work for a bank, in a bank, in downtown Pittsburgh. We have the largest number of safe deposit boxes in the city. Ours are neither seal-proof, nor water-proof.

Discrepancies on before and after inventories? Lol, imagine being the crook middleman in that scenario. A license to steal is more like it.

One thing I read in the article which never crossed my mind is that banks hate safe deposit boxes, as they are not profitable and often result in these nightmare scenarios. And when new banks are built, they no longer have them. Maybe it's best to invest in a really good safe. Scary article for sure.

I read that article in the NY Times and had me thinking about purchasing a safe for the house.
Has anyone ever purchased a safe for their home? Can you recommend one?

if only there was a business in the hobby that offered safe deposit boxes for collectors. or better yet a big vault.

A second career in advertising is in your future.

A few quick notes on this. First, I bought one for an old apartment. $500 with installation, was drilled into the floor. It is not moving anywhere quickly.

Second, do NOT buy a Wal Mart safe:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Silverbugs/...nds_with_rare/

Agree if it is not bolted to the structure it can be dragged out causing a lot of damage in the process. Also be vigilant of it's capacity to deal with fire, heat and water

Thanks for the link to the video. A real eye opener. I won't be buying a cheapo safe. I am sure that all the hotel safes are just as easy to open.

Jeffrey,

Thanks for the link.

I am a resident of New Orleans. After Hurricane Katrina, tons of people had stuff ruined in safety deposit boxes due to the widespread flooding.

I'm not sure if it still stands, but years ago the APS would refuse insurance for stamps stored in fireproof safes. The firebrick they used at the time was designed to release water as it heated up, and that would do more damage than usual. It protected documents pretty well, but would activate the gum on stamps and get everything stuck down even in a fire that they'd usually survive in a plain metal box.

But that was years ago, and the technology may have changed.

That’s a fairly horrifying little NYtimes Article there.

A few million dollars worth of watches, just gone

Could easily have been cards

Yin/yang

That article bothers me, but having cards/cash/valuables at my house with my family bothers me also.

But how many times have they been broken into or flooded? Before I sold off my first collection my bank safe deposit box was the best decision I had made with respect to keeping it secure, imo.

I agree Leon. Maybe someone here works or worked in bank construction and could tell us particulars of vault construction. Are water pipes allowed to be run through a vault? Are vaults fire "proof".
I can see that you wouldn't want a SDB in a bank situated in a low area next to a river. Anything else we should be wary of when looking for a SDB?