Storing cash

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If you are going to store as much cash as you can; can it be placed in a fireproof box without any other preparation? What will cause it to deteriorate? How long can it be expected to remain in good condition?

-- DGBennett (bennett1@peachnet.net), October 07, 1999

Answers

From: Y2K, ` la Carte by Dancr (pic), near Monterey, California

I don't know the answers to those questions, but I have some more questions about cash. I'm thinking of scrubbing my bills to get as much cocaine smell as possible off of them. Will this shorten their storage life appreciably? They don't have to store for long, since we'll probably spend them quickly or they'll lose value before they could ever deteriorate.

I noticed in the film A Blast from the Past that the family appeared to store their cash under water. Does that make sense? It doesn't to me.

-- Dancr (addy.available@my.webpage), October 08, 1999.


Dancr,

Washing your cash (no matter how hard)will not clean it of drug residue. There will always be some left over(if it was there to begin with)so save yourself the work.

-- money man (denver@mint.com), October 08, 1999.


Store lots of coins, just like the ones in your pocket right now. If we end up with massive deflation, coins will be valuable, and they are easier to store and won't require awkward change-making. You may not be able to use a $100 bill to buy a loaf of bread.

-- Pearlie Sweetcake (storestuff@home.now), October 08, 1999.

speaking of storing "coins",

if you can, go to the bank and ask for a "box of quarters"

this is a box of $500 worth of quarters all in $10 plastic wrappers.

the bank doesn't blink an eye when you ask for this. It's common business practice.

(well, I have a business account at the bank, so maybe that's why they don't care)

I once got 7 "boxes of quarters" ($3500) and they had no problem with it. it just took a few minutes to get them from the vault and they wheeled them out to my truck! (this was not Y2K-related tho...)

-- plonk! (realaddress@hotmail.com), October 08, 1999.


Bills take up less space if you iron them (like ironing clothes).

-- biker (scared@84.days.to.go), October 08, 1999.


DGBennett,

Put paper currency in a ziplock then in your fireproof box and it will outlive you!

-- Mr. Moola (notavailable@thistime.com), October 08, 1999.


Got a vacuum-packer? Really cuts down on the amount of space and should hold in the leftover cocaine residue.

-- Gypsy (GypsiGold@aol.com), October 08, 1999.

Our experience: We started taking out small $$ amounts months ago. Small bills may be more "spendable" than big ones, unless you don't care about getting your change. We have a fire resistant "home office" type safe that is bolted to the floor in the back of a closet. It has a carboard box over the top of it marked "books", and has other boxes stacked around it. In a different room we have a cheapo firebox with our "sacrifice cash" should we end up at the wrong end of a crazy's gun when she is demanding our stash (equal rights and all). A few months into our monthly trips to the bank, I noticed that some of the bills had started to grow an orange colored mold of some sort. Many of the other papers in the safe were also damp (not dripping) but did not have mold. I don't know where the moisture came from, although I suspect the fire resistant filling in the safe walls, but evidently there was enough humidity inside the safe to allow the mold to grow and make the other papers feel damp. I sprayed all the bills with Lysol to kill the mold, and added a container of Damp Rid to the safe. The papers were left out to dry for a few days in the sun, and then put into ziplock bags.

I would suggest putting the cash in ziplocks with small drypacs (like found in medicine bottles), so that if you do still have a mold problem, it won't get to all of your bills (only what's in that one bag).

-- paper_money_is_Y2K_compliant (is_money_safe@ho.me), October 09, 1999.


Right on about storing cash with vacuum packer Gypsy. If you're really paranoid seal a stash of bills twice and you can bury in soil or water. Wouldn't worry about the cocaine residue Dancr. It's just a by-product of our insane drug laws.

-- ratt (round@nd.round), October 10, 1999.

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