Baseball card storage in a safe -advice needed

brouthercard · Jul 6, 2011

Just wanted to know if anyone has ever had any moisture development in your safe, is it common, and what do you do to prevent this? Do you use dessicants or store the cards in ziplocks? I had a friend who collected stamps who said his collection got damaged by moisture in a safe, and I immediately thought about my collection.

Any other factors regarding safe storage that need to be considered?

chromerookies · Jul 6, 2011

I've had my most expensive cards stored in a safe for about 3-4 years now and there has never been any moisture. Most of the cards are already slabbed but there are a few that are just in top loaders.

ThoseBackPages · Jul 6, 2011

aminors · Jul 6, 2011

Where do you live? Maybe humidity is a factor.

CollectorsCorner · Jul 6, 2011

I had my cards in a safe at one point. All were fine except my 99 culpepper contenders auto. I still have it I will try to get a scan of it later. Not sure what happened, the were all in screw/ magnetics and team bags.

promodeltodd · Jul 6, 2011

Never heard of moisture damage in a fire safe before this. I do know that over the years the topic has come up about people wanting to eliminate ALL moisture in a safe which is not good. The way a fire safe works is you need to open it on a regualr basis to allow moisture in the air to enter so that should there be a fire, there is some moisture in there. If it is completely dry, the contents will have a quicker burn point than if there is no moisture. this is per factory directions and also one of the reasons why bank deposit box rooms and vaults are left open at all times when possible and only closed when the bank is closed.

brouthercard · Jul 6, 2011

Thanks for all the input guys!

I think the biggest concern is mold development or more rapid decomposing of your baseball cards in a more humid environment. I understand the moisture aspect of a fire safe, but is that moisture concentration high enough to cause your cards to deteriorate more rapidly? I don't know - I guess it's a balance between fire protection and humidity.

Also, are bgs holders waterproof? I suppose if they are, at least your slabbed cards are safe. How about PSA cards?

I have some expensive ones in magnets only, but I don't want to slab them just to prevent them from getting humidity.

Do you guys with fire safes ever have humidity issues long-term? It sounds like no one has had any problems with this. I don't live in a humid environment, and perhaps stamps are more sensitive to moisture.

Anyone else have any good or bad stories about long-term (over one year) storage of top loader/magnet/ or slabbed cards in their safe?

Krom · Jul 6, 2011

brouthercard said:
Thanks for all the input guys!

I think the biggest concern is mold development or more rapid decomposing of your baseball cards in a more humid environment. I understand the moisture aspect of a fire safe, but is that moisture concentration high enough to cause your cards to deteriorate more rapidly? I don't know - I guess it's a balance between fire protection and humidity.

Also, are bgs holders waterproof? I suppose if they are, at least your slabbed cards are safe. How about PSA cards?

I have some expensive ones in magnets only, but I don't want to slab them just to prevent them from getting humidity.

Do you guys with fire safes ever have humidity issues long-term? It sounds like no one has had any problems with this. I don't live in a humid environment, and perhaps stamps are more sensitive to moisture.

Anyone else have any good or bad stories about long-term (over one year) storage of top loader/magnet/ or slabbed cards in their safe?

I say slab the $ cards with Bgs to be safest. Its worth the money in the long run. I have heard that Bgs slabs have survived Katrina. I wouldn't trust unslabbed cards in a safe. That is why i am slowly sending off most of my pc. (a bit at a time)

tramers · Jul 6, 2011

cards in a gun safe .Never feel safe with guns in a safe :lol: :lol:

hofmichael · Jul 6, 2011

http://www.cabelas.com/gun-safes-reming ... er-3.shtml

brouthercard · Jul 6, 2011

hofmichael said:
http://www.cabelas.com/gun-safes-remington-mini-dehumidifier-3.shtml

Thanks for the reference - has anyone found something like this to be necessary?

hofmichael · Jul 7, 2011

brouthercard said:
hofmichael said:

http://www.cabelas.com/gun-safes-remington-mini-dehumidifier-3.shtml

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reference - has anyone found something like this to be necessary?

Many guys on CU use similar items in their safes.I think it is more of a preventative measure than anything.For the price I would think you are better safe than sorry though.

Pine Tar · Jul 7, 2011

You know if your worried put a bowl of rice in there and leave it for a few weeks and then see if the rice
is taking on any moisture. They will get large if they are. It is a good way to check for moisture.

hive17 · Jul 7, 2011

If you're getting moisture in your/a safe, there is clearly moisture in the house as well. The problem is with the house itself and its environmental control.

soulglo · Jul 7, 2011

Doesn't humidity affect cards both ways- meaning that if stored in an arid environment, cards (and paper products in general) can become dry and brittle?

cubuffs13 · Jul 7, 2011

I have had all my expensive cards in fire safes for 5 years or so in Georgia. Never had a problem.

Welcome to our community

Be apart of something great, join today!

Baseball card storage in a safe -advice needed

brouthercard

New member

chromerookies

New member

ThoseBackPages

New member

aminors

New member

CollectorsCorner

Super Moderator

promodeltodd

Member

brouthercard

New member

Krom

New member

tramers

Well-known member

hofmichael

New member

brouthercard

New member

hofmichael

New member

Pine Tar

Active member

hive17

Active member

soulglo

New member

cubuffs13

Member

Similar threads

Members online

Latest posts