Cold Storage Hiding Place for Coins

[Recyclersteve]

I have a rather odd item to ask everyone. A friend of mine that I used to work with before semi-retiring does bring up some interesting questions and comments from time to time. Basically he and I were going back and forth on safe storage places for coins and he came up with three places that are somewhat related. Here are the three:

1) Underground in an area where it frequently gets below zero in the winter. He said the depth would probably be a foot to 18"- let's assume that the actual freeze line goes down to a depth of 3-4 feet- in other words let's assume he lives in Minneapolis or some similarly very cold place;
2) In a shed that doesn't have any heating or cooling (presumably the roof doesn't leak); and
3) In a freezer in a pantry in his basement.

He has gold and silver bullion (from tiny stuff up to 100 oz. silver bars), silver and gold American Eagles (including fractionals), slabbed coins (PCGS/NGC), coins in the standard cardboard 2"x2"'s, and more.

So far I told him that he might want to experiment with something like an unslabbed silver American Eagle. I felt like the slabs could have several problems if not stored in exactly the perfect manner. In a freezer I imagine they could crack from the cold. Does anyone know about that?

Also, I would imagine that in a freezer a slab could fog up and it might be hard to see the coin once you took it back out of cold storage into a room temperature environment.

Also, I would think silver bars would be safe in a freezer- it is hard for me to imagine bars cracking in the cold. But would the bars change colors or become real ugly looking in a freezer? That I don't know.

Now in terms of storing something underground I would imagine that you'd have to be very careful with something like slabs due to the dirt and moisture involved. Except for someone living in an area with lots of seismic activity, I would think that storing underground would be fairly safe for bullion items that are not slabbed. That is just my speculation.

I don't have the luxury of taking a lot of time to do an experiment, so that is why I am bringing this to the attention of the masses.

If anyone has any good links (Youtube or elsewhere) that are helpful, I would certainly appreciate it.

[68Camaro]

I have no data to contribute. However I wouldn't put slabbed coins in an unstable uncontrolled environment of any type.

Bullion bars don't much care where they are, especially gold - which, in a pure form is essentially inert. (Alloy gold might tarnish or slightly discolor.) Silver will tarnish and can corrode but doesn't need much protection to keep them stable. Best easy container is a vacuum sealed (to reduce oxygen) metallized (which reduces moisture diffusion) mil-std bag which you can find on line. If you are going underground you can use a sealed pvc pipe but the contents reportedly should be isolated from the interior environment to reduce chloride attack (another reason to use the metallized bags).

[Recyclersteve]

Wow- never knew. Thanks 68camaro. Anyone else have any comments or stories to share?

[Recyclersteve]

I have no data to contribute. However I wouldn't put slabbed coins in an unstable uncontrolled environment of any type.

Bullion bars don't much care where they are, especially gold - which, in a pure form is essentially inert. (Alloy gold might tarnish or slightly discolor.) Silver will tarnish and can corrode but doesn't need much protection to keep them stable. Best easy container is a vacuum sealed (to reduce oxygen) metallized (which reduces moisture diffusion) mil-std bag which you can find on line. If you are going underground you can use a sealed pvc pipe but the contents reportedly should be isolated from the interior environment to reduce chloride attack (another reason to use the metallized bags).

Are the bags you are talking about like Ziplock storage bags?

[68Camaro]

Bags like these:

http://store.churchofjesuschrist.org/us ... k-pouches/

Or Google mil spec watervaporproof bags

[Recyclersteve]

Thanks Camaro!

[fasteddy]

I vacuum sealed different amounts of copper cents many years ago...the vacuum seal did not last...after 3 years all had released the vacuum. This was a very good sealer in 2009 there are better now but was top of the line then...I should have put a couple in the freezer to see if the vacuum would last. I didn't.

[68Camaro]

Most lightweight bags in home sealers won't last very long. Need a heavyweight metallized bag sealed by a higher capability semi-industrial sealer.

[mishra142]

I have some silver in the ground. sealed in water tite pvc piping wrapped in canvas bag. It has definitely been below freezing. Just bullion nothing graded. Have dug it up a few times to check on it. Looks like the day it was put in there.

[Recyclersteve]

I have some silver in the ground. sealed in water tite pvc piping wrapped in canvas bag. It has definitely been below freezing. Just bullion nothing graded. Have dug it up a few times to check on it. Looks like the day it was put in there.

When did you first put it underground?