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Over time my copper pile has gotten bigger and bigger and after reading about people getting ripped off I started to think that my closet was not the best place for the pile. Its not a big pile, lets say bigger than $50 but less that $5000. My question is, "Do you lock it up?" I bet some hide it, some lock it and some just leave it out. I think that if I went to all the trouble to sort the copper out, I should at least secure it somewhere. Without going into any critical details about size or value, What do you do? Am I crazy to want to get a big safe just for pennies?

newton7 wrote:Am I crazy to want to get a big safe just for pennies?

yep.

use old paint buckets and store in the back yard...they will look like old paint buckets but only you will know of the treasures inside of them. Or like me toss into a 55 gallon drum in the garage. Good luck in moving that.

You gotta think. your going to get a 500 dollar gun safe and then only be able to lock up 1 k face of pennies if it doesnt fall on you lol

I think the bigger the better when it comes to things that lock. I want one so big that it would take a tow truck to get it out of my house! I was also thinking of doing the "hide it in plain site" thing. Anybody got a good idea besides buckets? End table? Ice chests? It has to be something common on the inside of the house so the weather does not get to the coins. Suggestions?

i agree with fast eddy noone looks twice at old paint buckets but if you are that woried get a large metal trunk like a foot locker you know like the army uses put a padlock on it no ones moving a foot locker full of cu and if they open it whAT are they gonna do stuff there pockets

I'd say find an old non working refrigerator, or freezer on craigslist, and put some locks on it. If I was a thief I wouldn't think anyone would hide anything valuable like that in a freezer.

newton7 wrote:I think the bigger the better when it comes to things that lock. I want one so big that it would take a tow truck to get it out of my house! I was also thinking of doing the "hide it in plain site" thing. Anybody got a good idea besides buckets? End table? Ice chests? It has to be something common on the inside of the house so the weather does not get to the coins. Suggestions?

Be careful with the hide in plain site thing. There was a story on coinflation a while back about a guy hidding gold ASEs in empty paint cans that later got put out with the trash by accident!

I use an army footlocker for copper and ni..... gun safe for silver and gold

One of my old customers used to fill 55 gallon drums and use a couple of drums as the base for each of his workbenches which had extremely heavy wooden planks on the top. Very sturdy!

copper because of its bulk does not lend itself to hiding in plain sight.

however, if you store it unbagged and unboxed, its difficult and timeconsuming to steal. e.g. 55 gallon drum.

Lock up and hide the gold and silver. However, I don't think it is realistic that a burglar is going to steal what looks like jars or buckets of spare change. If it is one of those sophisticated mover truck operations while you are on vacation then a safe probably would not help you either.

When the security measures far exceed the cost of what is being secured then it is not worth it.

HoardCopperByTheTon wrote:One of my old customers used to fill 55 gallon drums and use a couple of drums as the base for each of his workbenches which had extremely heavy wooden planks on the top. Very sturdy!

WOW that is an absolutely awesome Idea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm going to try and figure out somehow to do that in the new house. What did he do underneth?

and as far as locking up, they're kept in heaping 5 gallon buckets. I guess if they want them that bad I guess they can have them lol

If you have more than four 5 gallon plastic buckets worth, consider storing loose in a large rubbermaid trashcan. It would disintegrate from the weight if anyone tried to move it. The thieves would need to remove the loose pennies by hand. How many burglers bring along containers suitable for moving small loose pieces of something heavy? You could put it in the garage or basement with lots of small scrap iron pieces on the top. Label the garbage can 'scrap iron' and have others nearby labeled scrap wood, paper recycling, aluminum cans, etc.

Rexor wrote:Lock up and hide the gold and silver. However, I don't think it is realistic that a burglar is going to steal what looks like jars or buckets of spare change. If it is one of those sophisticated mover truck operations while you are on vacation then a safe probably would not help you either.

When the security measures far exceed the cost of what is being secured then it is not worth it.

I completely agree. A ton of copper pennies (for example) would be worth a little over $3,000 fv. Stealing more than 300,000 pennies (even if effeciently boxed up) would would require considerable time and effort by more than one thief. Also, I'm no expert here, but wouldn't that much weight cause suspension issues for most vehicles?

However, this discussion gave me an idea. Acquire a trunk (or old freezer), wiegh it down with boxes of copper pennies and mix in some surrupticiosly marked boxes of silver coins. Assuming the trunk/freezer was properly locked, the weight of the copper pennies would make the container almost impossible to move.

I leave the coppers in buckets. Taking a 5 gal bucket of coppers is going to yield less than $ 300 and weigh close to 200lbs , so grab 2 big boy....lol

another thing that would help some of us with larger hoards, even if they did steal it where would they take it to? Cops would notify any bank in the area and or coinstars or similar counting machines. I think it would be pretty easy to find/ figure out who did it. unless the thief was smart and not guilty then he could just get rid of 20-30 bucks at a time

That's the problem with coins, no real way to trace them. I have watched people cash in large amounts of quarters nickels and dimes at a coin star and no one gives them a second glance. People who burglarize coin operated machines cash their coins in this way. So if you get hit, there is no way to follow the trail to the bad guys. Which brings me back to "lock up your stash"! On a second note, I don't think anyone only has just pennies. If your in to nickels that changes the game. Each box is a $100 and it can add up fast if they get several boxes. For me, locking it up is my choice. I might leave a small amount out but the major stuff goes behind locked doors. Thanks for all the great ideas.

newton7 wrote:I think the bigger the better when it comes to things that lock. I want one so big that it would take a tow truck to get it out of my house! I was also thinking of doing the "hide it in plain site" thing. Anybody got a good idea besides buckets? End table? Ice chests? It has to be something common on the inside of the house so the weather does not get to the coins. Suggestions?

Stereo speaker cabinets. 70's/80's vintage stuff (big). Hog 'em out and load 'em up.

rickygee wrote:
Stereo speaker cabinets. 70's/80's vintage stuff (big). Hog 'em out and load 'em up.

great idea no one would steal old crappy speakers well im sure someone would but most crooks would go for higher end electronics

I agree. Old speakers sounds good.

newton7 wrote:I agree. Old speakers sounds good.

Pun intended?

No pun, large wooden box is what i ment.

in my opinion - i think 5 gallon buckets of coppers and/or zincs put on top of a safe helps - heavy to take off the safe, wouldnt want to spill on the floor. buckets of nickels would be the same thing! Happy Thanksgiving all !!!!

I have the luxury of owning a storage unit (paid up till September 2011) and storing my hoard there. 24 Hour Security, can go anytime I want (even at 3 AM in the morning) and total anonymity if I play my cards right.