sometimes some artifacts are just too valuable to take the chance and be
stored on a shelf. The temptation of theft can be too great - especially if
you have periodic tours of the collections storage areas.

for instance we own many Victoria Cross's - the highest militiary honour
that can bestowed on a member of the commonwealth. some of these medals are
worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. they are also reasonably small and
very easily portable. for these reasons they are kept in a safe, in a locked
room in a secure building with a variety of security measures. We also own a
small collection of jewellery and watches - these are kept in a locked
cabinet, but not a safe.

Sometimes it just makes sense to go that little further distance with
culturally or monetarily valuable artifacts, but as with all things -
commonsense should prevail.

Carol Reid
Canadian War Museum
[log in to unmask]



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Aikens, Jason [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Wednesday, April 12, 2000 4:40 PM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Why store artifacts in a safe?  Isn't it redundant
>
> I was wondering if any museum professionals out there could share their
> policies on storing artifacts in a safe.  At my institution we store
> several
> valuable coins, rings and documents in a safe but I wonder how prudent it
> is
> do so.  We already have an alarm system for our storage area therefore
> security is not issue.
>
> Why store anything is a safe if all items are to be treated equally and
> there is alarm securing everything.  The only advantage to storing items
> in
> a safe is that a safe can be fire proof.  However does a safe always
> create
> the best environmental conditions?
>
> It seems in my institution cultural resources were stored in our safe in
> the
> past to further insure that they wouldn't be lost.  However, I keep up to
> date locations on everything and therefore I come back to my original
> question.  Why store artifacts in a safe?
>
> Jason Aikens, Collections Coordinator
> Pro Football Hall of Fame
> (330) 456-8207 ext 101
>
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