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Bank box day: how to move a box of metal without a parade
Call the shop. Call the bank. Do not do this on speaker in the lobby. Two trips beat one horror story.
Safe-deposit day is when people get sloppy. They talk in the lobby. They carry a see-through bag. They drive to three shops with the whole box on the seat.
A calmer script
- Photograph in the box room if the bank allows
- Sort into bullion / jewelry / maybe
- Call the shop
- Take what you are selling today, not the family history you are keeping
- ID and papers if it is an estate. POA. Estates
Transport. Two people is fine. A parade is not.
If the bank box is a surprise (“we found this after dad died”), do not clean it in the parking lot. Don’t clean.
Part of the coin shop counter wiki · visitors & collectors · NumisQ Learn
Extra pad history for bank box day
Safe-deposit day used to mean a cloth bag and a story in the lobby. The metal has not changed. The sloppiness has not either. People talk too loud. They carry a see-through grocery bag. They drive to three shops with the whole family history on the passenger seat.
A calmer script is old-fashioned on purpose. Photograph in the box room if the bank allows. Sort into bullion, jewelry, and maybe. Call the shop. Take what you are selling today. Leave the rest in the box. Power of attorney and estate papers belong in the same folder as the ID, not in a different car.
What the shop does when a box arrives
We want a count, not a parade. Call ahead if it is more than a handful of Eagles. Cash in the drawer is not a river. We will sort if you did not. You will wait. We test jewelry in front of you. We count junk silver by face — 90% through 1964, 40% Kennedys 1965–70, war nickels 1942–45 at 35% silver. Canadian circulating silver 1920–66 is 80%, and it is not the US pile.
Do not clean it in the parking lot. Don’t clean. Two people in the car is fine. A committee in the lobby is not. What to leave with is a ticket that matches the piles.
People also ask
Should I empty the whole box in one day? Only if you mean to sell the whole box. Otherwise take a slice.
Do I need estate papers? If it is not clearly yours, yes. We are not a probate court.
Is a bank lobby a good place to count gold? No. Count in the box room or at the shop.
Can I leave the box at the shop overnight? Only if you both agree, in writing. Default is you take unsold metal home.