PROTECTING YOURSELF AND YOUR COINS IN A DISASTER

BY SCOTT A. TRAVERS

PROTECTING COINS FROM DANGER DISASTER PREPPING

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Hurricane Florence in 2018; Hurricanes Harvey and Irma in 2017; Superstorm Sandy in 2012; Hurricane Katrina in 2005; and the Napa Valley fires of 2017 have focused Americans’ attention over and again on the grim consequences of a potential disaster. Whether man-made or natural, the need to be prepared for such a catastrophe is of supreme importance.

The phrase “potential disaster” also encompasses such ominous black swan events as a nuclear weapon of mass destruction being unleashed by a terrorist force on a major U.S. city and an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack that could potentially cripple a signifycant portion of the U.S. power grid and render useless unprotected electronic devices. A nuclear event or an EMP attack could lead to mass death and destruction of such insurmountable magnitude that it would pose a threat to all humanity.

Simple survival is the principal priority, of course. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has made survival guidelines available for nuclear events. But beyond safeguarding your person, anyone who collects rare coins or has gold or silver bullion as a form of “insurance” should give careful consideration to how those coins or bullion would be safeguarded or accessed in an emergency – and how he or she would be protected against serious financial loss in the event these assets were lost, damaged, or destroyed.