How should I store my coins now that it's warm again?

[scyther]

Well, obviously it's getting warm again... today was the first day over 80 degrees where I live, I think... so what does the heat and humidity mean for storing coins?

Last year I didn't take any precautions, and I don't think anything bad happened. I've just been keeping them in boxes, bins, and bags in my room, where it's hot and humid in the summer. Should I move them down to the basement, where it's significantly cooler? I would think that would help, but I heard (I think on another site) that storing them in the basement could actually be a bad thing. Anything else I should do?

[68Camaro]

Key is lower humidity, not temperature. If you have uncontrolled high humidity you're at strong risk for corrosion or mold growth. Store in sealed heavy duty bags or containers, with desiccant if necessary.

[theo]

This is a little off-topic, but be careful about storing more than a couple hundred pounds of coins on an upper floor in a concentrated area as your home was probably designed to handle too much wieght in one place. We discussed this in a thread a few years ago when I admitted that I had close to a ton of copper stored in an upstairs bedroom. The response I got boiled down to: "You need to move some of that downstairs (which I did) so your upstairs doesn't merge with your downstairs; however if there is a collapse, please post pictures!!!!"

[scyther]

This is a little off-topic, but be careful about storing more than a couple hundred pounds of coins on an upper floor in a concentrated area as your home was probably designed to handle too much wieght in one place. We discussed this in a thread a few years ago when I admitted that I had close to a ton of copper stored in an upstairs bedroom. The response I got boiled down to: "You need to move some of that downstairs (which I did) so your upstairs doesn't merge with your downstairs; however if there is a collapse, please post pictures!!!!"

I've heard people say that before. But it doesn't seem right to me. I have furniture up there- 2 beds, a few dressers, a big heavy safe- that ways a lot more than a few hundred dollars in copper. Or at least it's a lot bigger. Copper is more dense. I guess I should move it...

[68Camaro]

This is a little off-topic, but be careful about storing more than a couple hundred pounds of coins on an upper floor in a concentrated area as your home was probably designed to handle too much wieght in one place. We discussed this in a thread a few years ago when I admitted that I had close to a ton of copper stored in an upstairs bedroom. The response I got boiled down to: "You need to move some of that downstairs (which I did) so your upstairs doesn't merge with your downstairs; however if there is a collapse, please post pictures!!!!"

I've heard people say that before. But it doesn't seem right to me. I have furniture up there- 2 beds, a few dressers, a big heavy safe- that ways a lot more than a few hundred dollars in copper. Or at least it's a lot bigger. Copper is more dense. I guess I should move it...

The "big heavy safe" may already have your floor joists in overload. If you haven't done the floor loading calculations or run it by an truss engineer or truss company, you should.

[theo]

This is a little off-topic, but be careful about storing more than a couple hundred pounds of coins on an upper floor in a concentrated area as your home was probably designed to handle too much wieght in one place. We discussed this in a thread a few years ago when I admitted that I had close to a ton of copper stored in an upstairs bedroom. The response I got boiled down to: "You need to move some of that downstairs (which I did) so your upstairs doesn't merge with your downstairs; however if there is a collapse, please post pictures!!!!"

I've heard people say that before. But it doesn't seem right to me. I have furniture up there- 2 beds, a few dressers, a big heavy safe- that ways a lot more than a few hundred dollars in copper. Or at least it's a lot bigger. Copper is more dense. I guess I should move it...

One of guy responding to that earlier thread, who seemed to have an engineering background, said that the upstairs rooms in modern structures can handle about 30 pounds per square foot. Therefore a small 10 x 10 bedroom should be able to handle about 3000 pounds of reasonably distributed weight. I think what you want to avoid is high concentrations of weight in a small area; like stacking boxes four or five high in one corner or Camaro's example of a very heavy safe.

P.S. I found the link to the old thread. Its actually pretty funny.

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=10844&p=107064#p107064

[Klark Cent]

[Klark Cent]

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[Zincanator]

I have an oversized whirlpool tub in the 2nd story master bath of my house. It is part of the original house, not a remodel or afterthought. I recently re-caulked it with silicone caulk. When I fill the tub with water, you can see the caulking actually stretching as the fiberglass tub drops about 1/4" inch from the weight. I assume the house was engineered to handle the weight, but unsettling none the less.