Hello All, I have seen a couple of threads on storing PM's at home, but wanted to share my recent experience: my mom was away on a trip for a week, and when she got home she discovered someone broke into the house (criminal was long gone), when I was helping her cleanup I was very surprised to see the places these guys were looking in, so here are some examples (in case you use any of these places): - Most of the electrical outlets were ripped from the wall (Same with Heating/AC vent covers). - All furniture that was against a wall was moved (perhaps to look behind furniture or at the wall?). - Potted plant was emptied onto floor. - Picture frames were thrown on the floor. - An old (Tube type) TV and VCR where thrown on the floor, AND their covers were removed. - Kitchen cabinets were completely emptied (pots, pans, food, etc on the floor). - Medicine cabinets emptied. - In the garage, the chemicals and old paint cans were knocked around (looking for something hidden in paint cans maybe?). - They looked under the sofa cushions and mattresses. - The other "usual" places closets, dresser drawers, etc. Bottom line Criminals are not as dumb as many of us think they are, and given enough time they WILL look in those places we think "Criminals will never bother to look", so think very carefully about storing PM's in your home. P.S. I am starting to think it would actually be safer to just bury your stuff out in the open (backyard or nearby land). Be safe !!!
Think they might have miss your fridge/ freezer, perhaps inside the old shoes, like one member hide their 1 kg bars in. http://forums.silverstackers.com/message-646754.html#p646754 Did they checked yours safe too? Someone might have over heard that someone have too much precious metals at home. Never discussed what you have. Never keep them at home!!! That what SDB is for. Loose Lip Sink the Ship
I didn't hide it in there, found it in there. And they were new shoes. Yup, they checked/didn't check the safe and OP forgot to to tell us Never discuss what you have... Same goes for taking photos of PM's with your name all over them. Ahem.
I should have been more clear.. It was Not my house, it was my Mother's house. Fortunately for her, she has No PM's (and no safe), and all her savings are in the bank (she does not care about investing in metals), but I was amazed at how thorough these guys were.
Do you think she was profiled/watched? Sounds like they knew they had a lot of time to go rifling through all that stuff. Police say my grandparents were watched as they seemed to know when they'd be out for the longest time that day. Also a good timely reminder to people to record serial numbers of TV's, laptops and look into something like Datadot to significantly increase chances of recovery.
Sorry to hear about that, sounds like they gave the place a good going over. What was actually taken, not surprised no one wants old CRT TVs and video recorders.
I'm certain she was being watched, dont believe it was just coincidense that they broke in when she was on vacation. Very true about recording serial numbers, even better is to take pictures of electronics and of the serial numbers.
I always open carry a sidearm while mowing the lawn or doing outside work and have a very high tech security system. The open carry makes them think and they know easier marks are available. No guarantee in life but precautions are taken. The best way to prevent a break in is to make your home the hardest in the neighborhood to get into.
@ baja, sorry to hear that about the break-in at your mom's. I know that emotionally, such break-ins can be very devastating even if little value was actually taken. Years ago, my sister and her husband booked a very short trip through her local travel agent and when they got back like 3 days later, they discovered they were broken into. It's just about certain that the local travel agent was behind setting up the break-in but my sister could not prove it. My small stack is in a SDB. The only time I have any silver of value not in there is when it's not in there YET....like when I did not get to the box yet after recently purchasing a few silver coins. One of the most creative ways to conceal a blob (non-denom, common, bullion bar) that I read about was (if I remember correctly) some guy who had his 100 oz bars painted black and put by doors as doorstops.....right in the open. .
$5 UV texta's are a good way to combat the thieves, sure that will keep them away, and it looks great on leather pouches. Why mark them like that if they are not in your house? your to tight to get a SDB
I am sorry to hear that. But my question is: What were they looking for? And my answer is: PM. Why else would they look into all these tiny places? So, now the next question is: who would think that your mom has PM???
since they had the cover off, they could of grabbed at least $5 of copper from the tv. infact if they spent as much time picking up free tv's off the street, they'd probably have enough money to not need to be thieves.
"Older resident = cash stored at home" would be the thinking. Looks for a buried honey jar full of $20 notes in the pot plant etc. Not surprised people are having their electrical sockets ripped from walls given the amount of publicity fake electrical socket hiding devices have received.
My top two tips for foiling burglers are counterfeit notes and laxatives. A few poorly counterfeited notes with legit ones on the outside of the bundle. Use the same serial on all fake notes and record this. Store this wad of "cash" with your silver. This way if crims steal your stash they are likely to try spending this "cash" first ignorant to the fake notes. Then all you have to do is notify police of this and the reused serial number making the thiefs easy to find. A strong chemical laxative mixed into a couple of bottles of top shelf whisky. Rarely will thiefs leave 3/4 bottle of single malt behind. Overdose will lead your thief to literally shit their guts out and can lead to death if not treated pronto. Predictably most thiefs will celebrate their success and end up arrested in the emergency department within 24 hours of robbing you.
Actually the counterfeit note idea isn't bad... except that they would be illegal to possess in most countries making you a criminal first.
Brilliant! My question would be: where do you get counterfeited notes? And is it legal to own some (if you are not trying to sell them)? You risk calling the police, and admitting to a crime.
