Safes and PM storage

[tallyhojim]

Starting to contemplate means of safeguarding my slowly expanding bits of shiney shiney, and am now in the market for a good quality safe. Ideally none of that digital cheap Chinese bad that is sold in abundance on fleabay with nothing more than 6mm of sheet steel as a door.

Nothing fancy, just needs to be damn heavy, ability to be thoroughly bolted into the Earths crust, made of thick heavy gauge steel with big heavy locking lug bolts. Granted no safe on it's own will ever be truly impervious as the best security systems should be a combination of several other independent layers (house alarm/smart phone connected CCTV/dogs/swinging ceiling axes/Vietcong anti-personnel traps etc). Most of all - TELLING NO ONE WHAT YOU'VE GOT! Loose talk costs lives.

I've found that actual proper refurbed safes of the big-heavy-steel-gauge-made-in-Britain variety are reasonably cheap at a few hundred pounds on fleabay. Even those that are a bit tatty and need a fresh face lift still look reasonable. I have already decided that I will NOT be buying a sentry safe, as I've seen a few youtube videos where locksmiths have demonstrated how unsecure they are when a big ass magnet is rubbed around one of the corners to unlock the bolt's solenoid switch.

Old style inch thick steel plated safes with dialed combo locks or keys seems to be the safest bet in wanting to keep out the average tea leaf.

[TonyS]

What’s your stack worth?

I have an el cheapo safe which is chemically bolted to a concrete floor. As and when I need more space, I’ll just add another safe bolted to the floor and welded to its neighbour.

If someone is determined they’ll get in. Good insurance is your best bet and it’s cheaper.

[KitboyE17]

These guys are great - good choices of safes to suit your needs and very good customer service and delivery

https://www.safe.co.uk/ 

[Paul]

I sleep better with stack sat in local safe deposit box away from home £150 per year, £12.50 month, £2.88 week for the smallest box.  Also keep some personal papers, passport, USB drive with login infos, cold storage crypto wallets. You can store a fair bit of small stuff in a smallest box size

Never put all your eggs in one baskets though having your stack all in one place 

Having a big safe at home, if it were discovered by a burgular, he may very well return another time maybe even with friends while you or your family are in to ask you to reveal its contents, maybe even with added encouragement of the potential rewards inside

[silenceissilver]

I don't know sentry safes but maybe they also have cheap along with proper models?

In any case, personally I wouldn't consider buying anything under at the very least £500, better at least £1000. And nothing under a quarter of a ton. Personally, I have a number code lock, althouh originally I had excluded this possibility. Then I decided, it's the best option. Just because all the crapy safes have them too, it doesn't make them bad. I don't like keys as you need to hide them as well and there is necessarily a keyhole in the safe. To me, that's a potential entry door for lock smiths with a good picklock or simply for a heavy duty drill. But don't take this as advice, I'm not an expert, it's just the thoughts I had before buying a safe.

That you are able to screw it into the wall and floor is mandatory, obviously but I think even most cheap safes have that feature.

I would always look out for the the newsest technology, I think there are safes that so to speak spew out hot aluminium if you drill them, not as a gimmick via an apparatus built for that purpuse but because that's the reaction  of the material to drilling. They are also getting more and more sophisticated in terms of making even the most heavy drills stuck through some kind of serration inside the wall.

I would also consider buying a second, cheaper safe, with fake gold inside, also a bit hidden but not too much

 

[silenceissilver]

What I did, first I bought a crapy safe, when my stack wasn't worth buying a more expensive one. You can then later use it as the fake gold safe. If you know for sure you will continue to stack for a while, you can buy a really good one straight away/save up for it.

If you think about the costs, keep in mind, there is no such thing as total security. Insuring it with paper values counter acts the reason why many have PMs in the first place - paper always goes to zero. That's doesn't make insuring it wrong. The point is, don't endugle in the illusion of total security. It doesn't exist. Taking this into account, if you buy PMs long term, a good investment into a proper safe, is worth it.

[5huggy]

Most stupid but clever MOVE! I learnt  - -  besides all the dogs guards etc you allude to - - get "AT LEAST" 2 (two) other "DUMMY"  real cheapo safes  (BELIEVE IT OR NOT! - more prominently visible) - put a few bits of less valuable but still "shiney" STUFF in them

By the time "FRED" thinks he's won  - he's "legged it"   - - you claim on insurance and smile about the one thats properly hidden and FULL of "Precious"

But WHAT do I KNOW!😉

[RoughDog]

The best safe is one that can't be found.

[5huggy]

18 minutes ago, RoughDog said:

The best safe is one that can't be found.

🤣 where 's that then?????

[sovereignsteve]

50 minutes ago, 5huggy said:

🤣 where 's that then?????

The one hidden inside the big safe

[5huggy]

22 minutes ago, sovereignsteve said:

The one hidden inside the big safe

OHhh FUBAR  - should have gone to "SPERK SAVERS" 🤓

[5huggy]

Seriously tho - Best is usually easiest - - "HIDE in PLAIN SITE!" 

Distraction techniques have been used by "Magicians" since when ever  - - Most thefts will occur in a rush  - in case of getting caught - - so let em have 3 or 4 ounces here , there and there by which time they are flapping about getting the !"£$%out and they think they have WON!

[5huggy]

3 hours ago, KitboyE17 said:

These guys are great - good choices of safes to suit your needs and very good customer service and delivery

https://www.safe.co.uk/ 

back to serious for @tallyhojim  I got 2 of mine from these people and yeah they are excellent on service as @KitboyE17 says

[AuricGoldfinger]

I can also vouch for safe.co.uk.

Personally i wouldn’t go for anything less than a eurograded safe with a cash rating that will more than cover any future purchases. That way if the worse happens your insurance company doesn’t have any get out clause they can spring on you.

[Money2Metal]

I've been thinking about this recently. Being a relatively small stacker, an off site deposit box isn't worth it, as the cost over the years will eat into any potential gain.

Something this might work for me. https://www.safe.co.uk/products/securikey-mini-vault-fr-0e.html

They do bigger sizes of this type should you need it.

[5huggy]

TBH @Money2Metal its a little small internally - anything reasonable should be able to take at least a Box file - in my opinion  - Because you are then ensured to be able to place Documents too!

[5huggy]

I recommend this ad its ONLY £58 more  -- - - >>> https://www.safe.co.uk/products/chubbsafes-home-safe-35k.html

[KevjustKev]

It is a bit of a misconception that safes are, erm, safe. If someone really wants to get inside it they will. However your common or garden burglar wants to be in and out asap. Even if they do find a safe they are not going to hang around to open it for more that a minute or two. They want small items that they can put in their pockets or small bag, the biggest thing taken, for the most part will be an IPad or laptop.

As mentioned above a safety deposit box is a very good way to go for you gold and high value silver. If it normal bullion silver, a normal not too cheap safe is fine. Plus make sure your insurance company will cover items in the first place! Not all of them will. Consider asking family to hold stuff for you too.

Going back to boxes thing about how fast you may need your stuff, if you need something quick it's no good having to wait until the bank opens on a Monday at 10.00. Not an add, but my main bank is Metro open 7 days a week 363 days a year. I have had no problems with them myself, or course you can use something like this.😁

 

 

[5huggy]

4 minutes ago, tallthinkev said:

safety deposit box is a very good way to go for you gold and high value silver

But in effect, THE BANK controls access - and if SHTF like Cyprus a short time ago - then they hold it until THEY are ready to let you have it!

My regular Mantra is - - "IF YOU DONT HOLD IT - - YOU DONT OWN IT"!

[KevjustKev]

1 minute ago, 5huggy said:

But in effect, THE BANK controls access - and if SHTF like Cyprus a short time ago - then they hold it until THEY are ready to let you have it!

My regular Mantra is - - "IF YOU DONT HOLD IT - - YOU DONT OWN IT"!

So what you really mean is go with the map method?😄

[5huggy]

Not quite! 😉

But i do like your  - - 

Consider asking family to hold stuff for you too  - that spreads the risk  - - - HIGHLY UNLIKELY to have two burglaries at both properties at same time!

[Samarium]

I've got a cheap safe, pretty easy to find, filled with fake G&S. Cost me about £80 to buy the stuff from Ali-Express. 
The real stuff is well hidden. Burglar would never find think to look there.

[adamthetaller]

My previous house, like most terrace's in Yorkshire, had what would have been a great hidy-hole for PMs if I'd been stacking at the time: A small, dank cellar accessible only from a trapdoor in the kitchen, on which my fridge, freezer and vast quantity of junk resided - took me 30 minutes to get the damn thing open anytime a meter reading was required!

As others have highlighted, your typical burglar is looking for a quick in/out and grab the obvious valuables. Electronics, musical instruments, collectables on display will be enough for any regular chancer. A well hidden safe (not in the typical under the bed/in wardrobe locations) will serve for easy access and frequent additions/sales, under the floorboards/buried in the garden are options for very long-term storage - don't want to be taking up the floor/digging the lawn every week!

[tallyhojim]

11 hours ago, 5huggy said:

I recommend this ad its ONLY £58 more  -- - - >>> https://www.safe.co.uk/products/chubbsafes-home-safe-35k.html

Hmm, I quite like the look of that one. Not that much more expensive than 2nd hand ebay chubb safes either. And the doors/walls look plenty thick. Also heavy enough to make someone think twice but light enough to man handle into location and bolt down/concrete in/hide etc. Even the Large capacity version is still reasonably priced.

And the acid test, are walls/door solid or inner and outer sheet with cavity filling?

Where it says cash £4,000 / valuables £40,000, is PM's classed as cash or valuables?

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Added 0 minutes later...

4 hours ago, 5huggy said:

Not quite! 😉

But i do like your  - - 

Consider asking family to hold stuff for you too  - that spreads the risk  - - - HIGHLY UNLIKELY to have two burglaries at both properties at same time!

What if family ARE the burglars?

[silenceissilver]

4 hours ago, tallyhojim said:

Were it says cash £4,000 / valuables £40,000, is PM's classed as cash or valuables

It's insured up to 4000 Sovereigns.

No seriously, it must be valuables unless you claim for the legal tender value that some coins have, but who would do that?!