Insurance vs. monster safe

[BearBailey]

I would go with the safe. If you are willing to pay that for a safe, I would assume your collection is worth more than the 216 per 50,000, and in the long run the safe is a more reasonable option. Also some cards are irreplaceable even if you have the monies to purchase them.

[steve B]

It's probably best to have both. If someone really wants something and has enough time they will find a way to get at it.

Am I the only one who has used a big pile of "junk" cards as security? At one time I had a cheap collection plus like 30 monster boxes of late 1980's - early 90's cards. I'd heard theives were looking for quickly findable valuable stuff, so when I went away for the weekend or longer I'd put the good stuff at the bottom of the pile. Plus my beater box was labeled "rare/better cards" and was always on top. Fortunately the system was never put to the test.
(And I gave away the 5000 + vg or worse 88 Donruss etc when the box got full)

Steve B

[grundle20]

In regards to the safe, while they are a nice deterrent against theft, even a "fire-proof" safe can still reach somewhere between 150F-350F inside it, depending on the length of time all your other stuff outside of it is aflame. Also, the melting point of plastic is (generally) actually lower than what it takes to make cardboard catch fire. I'm assuming you have your cards slabbed if we're talking 50K of value.

With that said, I'm sure for six bucks a pop, PSA and SGC aren't exactly putting our stuff in the most melt-resistant plastic. That would be a neat experiment, actually. Call the dudes at Myth Busters.

It would be a shame for you to have the foresight to buy a safe, and then have a bunch of Shrinky-Dinks style cards after a fire. That makes me wonder, how much is a shrinky-dink PSA 6 1933 Goudey Lajoie worth? Hahahaha. Don't think I'd want to "crack that out" and resubmit.

To me, that's just another nod to have the stuff stored off-site.