Safety Deposit Box Plunge

[Archive]

Posted By: T206Collector

Well, I took the deep plunge into a nice safety deposit box at my bank this morning. It fits no more than 26 SGC graded cards. So, at the bank with my 50 or so best SGC cards, I sat in a little private room -- like Jason Bourne -- going through them trying to determine the 26 best, i.e., the ones that would be hardest to replace even if I got the insurance proceeds from a fire, theft, etc. It was an interesting exercise, being forced to choose the best 26 cards. I suppose it was easier than having to choose the top 5 or 10. But still, there were a couple of good cards cut at numbers 27, 28 and 29 and up into the 30's. Alas, this will just have to do because I did not want to spend more than $100 annually on the box.

I suppose at some point I'll want to drop some anti-moisture crystals in there. Perhaps a few precious documents and other heirlooms that can still fit between the cards. All in all, an interesting experience and I feel much better knowing that I'm no longer sitting on $15,000-$20,000 of hard to replace baseball cards.

[Archive]

Posted By: Anonymous

a wise move IMO.

you'll be asking for the biggest box they have in no time..I have one that fits about 400 slabs and i am thinking of renting another...


...and don't forget that you can deduct the annual rental fee on your 1040

[Archive]

Posted By: Gilbert Maines

I am sure that you investigated things like fireproof locking gun cabinets (Im not sure that truly fireproof ones exist). I was thinking that I may be able to mitigate my wife's cabinet ugliness complaint by putting it in a closet.

Why did you choose against this option?

[Archive]

Posted By: Rick

Put some moisture absorbent material in the box as soon as possible, even if it means that you will have to remove a couple of cards from the bank. A friend of mine has a beautiful 1920's folding pocket knife with pictures of some Philadephia players. A few years ago he sent photos of this knife to some major auction houses, and they told him that it would sell in the $2000-$2500 range. He decided not to sell it, and instead he stored this nearly perfect knife in a safety deposit box in the local bank. Last year my friend had some medical problems and needed cash, so he decided to sell the knife. When he removed it from the safety deposit box, it was rusty, and the script and the pictures of the players were almost gone. Now he is receiving estimates in the $150-$200 range.

I know that a metal knife will have different moisture problems than cards, but I wouldn't take a chance on your cards without some preventive measures.

Good Luck!

Rick

[Archive]

Posted By: Frank Wakefield

Back here in the hills of Kentucky, the bank saftey deposit boxes are big enough to hold thousands of unslabbed cards.

[Archive]

Posted By: Andrew

I used to manage a bank branch one street over from Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. I needed a full time employee to man the entrance for all the people (some celebs) who visited their boxes daily. Some boxes were literally the size of an adult. The safe deposit room was so large that there were aisles in which one could get lost. The previous manager indicated that a customer left a fish in a box out of spite over some bank error, and it took about three months to find the foul smell.

I too have a box, but sometimes it's cumbersome to go back and forth. However, the piece of mind is more than worth it. CollectInsure is a great supplement to a box.

“A smooth sea never made a skilled mariner.” - English Proverb

[Archive]

Posted By: Cobby33

If you have several boxes in a safe, do you put the dessicants in each box, or just in the safe?

[Archive]

Posted By: T206Collector

Anyone ever worry about storing cards in too dry an atmosphere, i.e., that silica gel pack drying agents might dry the air too much and cause the cards to become too brittle?

[Archive]

Posted By: dan mckee

Just think how many raw cards it would fit.

[Archive]

Posted By: barrysloate

You know, all these vintage baseball cards have survived a century without anyone paying any attention to them. Now that they are valuable, collectors are afraid that even protected by slabs and sitting in safe deposit boxes they will begin to deteriorate. Who was checking the moisture level on the cards that remained in an attic for ninety years when nobody even knew they were there? I think baseball cards are a lot more resilient than you think.

[Archive]

Posted By: Keith O'Leary

Fire and theft are really the only 2 that have ever worried me. I have 2 of the biggest my bank carries.

 

[Archive]

Posted By: T206Collector

...but I still worry about my precious little delicate cardboard dreams.

[Archive]

Posted By: bill

How bout a fire proof safe
fastened to the floor in a closet
I think that would be pretty safe
I have the best ones in there
with a couple of those packets

[Archive]

Posted By: Joann

OK - I took the plunge too. I'm a bit of a control freak, so having them locked away 24/7 and unaccessible for periods of time is not sitting too well. Although I definitely feel better. Mine aren't worth a whole lot compared to other collections - I only put maybe $7K in there. But I was getting increasingly unnerved by having them around the house. I often leave my house unlocked, routinely carried my cards around in a plastic grocery store bag, etc. It just got uncomfortable, and so far it's been more of a relief than an inconvenience.

But I really don't like not having them here. It makes me wonder if I have gone to a place in collecting I don't want to go - I can't have them around and have to lock them away.

I definitely did look at them fairly often. I only have 75 cards or so - so they still all fit on the kitchen counter. I could put all of them out at once and see the whole thing. Arrange them by sets, or like colors, or chronologically, etc. lol. So I really don't like having lost that ability.

But I only put about half my cards in the sd box (representing 90% of the value).

And Paul - wow - expensive in your area. I got a 3x10x24 or so for $49 a year. But no cool little private room. It was more like stand aside one way to open the door, move next to the xerox machine so they could get the box out, maneuver back around the door to get it closed - hell I thought I was literally going to use their employee break room to put my cards into it!

Dessicant next. But the peace of mind is well worth $49 a year, and I didn't even fractionally fill it.

Joann

[Archive]

Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

Barry S.

As you know, I was fortunate to recover my BB, FB, Boxing and Non-Sports cards
from my youth. My Mom and Aunt put them in a large open cardboard box when I
went into the Air Force. And, put this box up in our 3rd floor attic under the rafters.

These cards were subject to temperatures 100+ degrees and to the various climate
swings typical of Northeast weather in that attic from the late 1950's till 1977.
When I dug them up out of that box in 1977, I was surprised to find that my cards
were in no different condition than when I remember them as a kid. I collected just
about every card that was available from 1947 - 1952.

Barry.....you are correct, cards are very "resilient". Particularly, if stored in attics.
Storing cards in basements is a definite No-No.

[Archive]

Posted By: John S

Joann,

I know it is not the same, but I have scanned most of my collection that resides in the safety deposit box.

[Archive]

Posted By: Gilbert Maines

Yeah, my cards need protection, mainly from me - because I constantly lower their grade - but also from other things, like fire. Clearly I can get all of the protection needed from a safe deposit vault, plus the added security in knowing that if a thief opened the safe deposit boxes, he probably would pass on picking up baseball cards.

But I don't want to be seperated from my cards. And scans are for enjoying your cards.

So are home safes a viable alternate? I think yes. The chief drawbacks are they cost $1000. for an internal storage area of about 20" x 20".

For that $1000. you get a safe that has been proven to withstand 1680 degrees F for two hours, then dropped 30' on to concrete, then withstood an additional 45 minutes of 1680 degrees. To simulate the worst house fire and collapse with no degradation in the contents nor conprimizing the integrety of the safe.

Sounds good enough to me.

As far as theft, I don't think that an actual safe cracker who listens for the tumblers to fall with a stethoscope (like they show in old movies) will be much interested in my baseball cards. I need protection from the smash and grab type of thief. And the typical combination lock that safe companies use will probably suffice in this situation. Plus for $1000. they are not getting in with a pry bar. An oxy-acetylene torch will cut through most anything eventually, but these safes are designed to dissipate heat quickly, so it will be somewhat more difficult. The cut around the safe and let it fall into the basement approach will not result in the safe opening.

So, aside from all of the damage these smash and grab types can do, this seems ok to me too.

So for me it comes down to @ $49/yr. Joann will get added security for 20 years at the same price that I will have measurably less security, but greater access to my cards. Plus at the end of those twenty years I will also still have the safe.

[Archive]

Posted By: Greg

This may sound like a very ignorant question, and please don't take it the wrong way or as a personal attack (which is so easy to do over the internet), but if all you get to see of your collection is scans on a computer, why bother collecting the cards in the first place? Why not just collect scans of baseball cards? Isn't part of the enjoyment of collecting just looking at your stuff and sharing it with friends and family?

For those that do use safe deposit boxes, do you actually go down to the bank and pay them a visit every now and then? I just don't understand how you can enjoy your collection this way. It seems so cold. Then again, none of collecting makes any sense if you really think about it.

Greg

[Archive]

Posted By: barrysloate

That's the age old hobby question of how one can enjoy a collection if it's in a safe deposit box. Clearly, you can't enjoy it as much, but we've heard some horror stories on this board so I guess you are trading accessibilty for security. Hate to put a damper on those who feel no burglar can break into a home safe, but in 1988 I came back to my apartment in the afternoon and walked into a burglary in progress. At that time I had my whole collection in a safe in my closet. The two burglars were rank amateurs and never even saw the safe. But it crossed my mind that if they put a gun to my head and asked me to open it, I would have lost the collection anyway. The next morning I got a safe deposit box. Don't mean to scare anybody, but I went through this and just wish to share it. P.S.- those two clowns got caught later that day and were in the police station that night. They stole some old coins from me (not too valuable) and I actually got them all back. The chance of retrieving stolen property in a Brooklyn robbery is very small indeed.

[joed25]

Is it safe to store valuable vintage signed baseballs in a bank safe deposit box? Would the moisture affect them? Thank you

[jingram058]

I have 5 baseballs, 5 programs, and now 36 loose cards plus my little album of valuable tobacco cards. I opened the account solely for this purpose. It is indeed a very wise move. I still have a lot at home, but the stuff I would freak out over if something happened is now safe.

[joed25]

Originally Posted by jingram058

I have 5 baseballs, 5 programs, and now 36 loose cards plus my little album of valuable tobacco cards. I opened the account solely for this purpose. It is indeed a very wise move. I still have a lot at home, but the stuff I would freak out over if something happened is now safe.

Thank you

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by jingram058

I have 5 baseballs, 5 programs, and now 36 loose cards plus my little album of valuable tobacco cards. I opened the account solely for this purpose. It is indeed a very wise move. I still have a lot at home, but the stuff I would freak out over if something happened is now safe.

+1 agree.

But if you are concerned

1. Always consider insurance
2. Wrap or use some type of case that is waterproof to put it in before you put in the safe deposit Bozzone the only down side it might take more space

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by Archive

...I can get all of the protection needed from a safe deposit vault, plus the added security in knowing that if a thief opened the safe deposit boxes, he probably would pass on picking up baseball cards...

...I don't think that an actual safe cracker who listens for the tumblers to fall with a stethoscope (like they show in old movies) will be much interested in my baseball cards....

My, how times have changed. These days, thieves might actually place cards at the top of their "hit list."

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Eric72

My, how times have changed. These days, thieves might actually place cards at the top of their "hit list."

+1
I had a safe deposit box before. It gives peace of mind.
.

[Exhibitman]

I am a big believer in both insurance and SDBs. Both are risk management tools. And having a SDB full of cards gives you an excuse for hours out of the house on a weekend

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

I am a big believer in both insurance and SDBs. Both are risk management tools. And having a SDB full of cards gives you an excuse for hours out of the house on a weekend

+1 agreed having both is risk management and a piece of mind

[ClementeFanOh]

I've owned one for collectibles for more than 20 years. Theft proof, water
proof, light proof, for $100 per year- an absolute must. Trent King

[Directly]

I might suggest putting your cards in some sort of water proof container to help protect them from any water damage in the "RARE" event of a bank fire. Bank vaults are not 100 percent water proof.
Putting any valuables in a SDB should be INSURED and INVENTORIED. Fortunately a rare 1933 Double Eagle was removed from a Twin Towers Vault.

[jcmtiger]

Originally Posted by Archive

Posted By: T206Collector

Well, I took the deep plunge into a nice safety deposit box at my bank this morning. It fits no more than 26 SGC graded cards. So, at the bank with my 50 or so best SGC cards, I sat in a little private room -- like Jason Bourne -- going through them trying to determine the 26 best, i.e., the ones that would be hardest to replace even if I got the insurance proceeds from a fire, theft, etc. It was an interesting exercise, being forced to choose the best 26 cards. I suppose it was easier than having to choose the top 5 or 10. But still, there were a couple of good cards cut at numbers 27, 28 and 29 and up into the 30's. Alas, this will just have to do because I did not want to spend more than $100 annually on the box.

I suppose at some point I'll want to drop some anti-moisture crystals in there. Perhaps a few precious documents and other heirlooms that can still fit between the cards. All in all, an interesting experience and I feel much better knowing that I'm no longer sitting on $15,000-$20,000 of hard to replace baseball cards.

If these cards are valuable cards pay more & get a larger box Joe

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by jcmtiger

If these cards are valuable cards pay more & get a larger box Joe

Hi
It is tough. I have upgraded twice. It seems as I get a bigger SDB I see more space and find a way to fill it up.
Scary part I may need to get another or a larger sometime next year

[russkcpa]

I had 2 large SD boxes costing me around $250 per year. I also supplemented that with a large policy with Collectibles Insurance that was costing me around $1500 per year. I had enough anti desiccant packs for every member of Net54 world. I would empty my boxes twice a year, look at my beautiful cards and change the anti desiccant packs (even though they showed no evidence of being saturated) This year (on my insurance anniversary date) I sent 32 items to Ken Goldin and their vault. I actually liked the presentation from PWCC but the whole issue with Ebay turned me off. Ken Goldin and Frank DeNote were fantastic and now my cards are safely in the Goldin vault and insured by Goldin for the values I assigned. I can go into my "vault" and look at my cards day or night. I realize that using Goldin will charge me a 1% withdrawal fee should I want them back. I also realize that it will be an incentive to sell with them. When the time comes to sell my 4 top cards I will receive a negative 10% seller commission. I am very happy with Goldin auction results......an auction house where honesty and integrity are a given.