Uncle Scrooge is a conscientious collector who watches over his money bin with great fervor. If you have or are looking into storage for your comics or prized collectibles be sure to investigate all the details.

Scoop has just learned of a recent development in regards to comic books and storage. The discovery has been made that certain safes may be harmful to comic books.

Over a year ago, CGC was contacted by a collector stating that he had some books with rust growing on the staples of a few comics. There had been no rust when he last saw the books and he was asked to send them to CGC for inspection. When the books arrived the staff of CGC was very surprised to see extremely rusty staples that had not been rusted a few years prior. After a long investigation and with the help of the collector, CGC learned that rust could have developed because of the chemical compound used to make his safe fireproof or fire resistant. But because information was limited, at that time it was suspected that heavy moisture in the room where the safe was located contributed to the poor storage conditions for these books, not just the safe itself, since this had never been heard of before.

Recently a collector, well-known to CGC, called them to ask about the same problem affecting a single book. He was told to send his book in so that they could inspect it. After thinking about it and remembering the safe incident from the year before, he was asked what type of storage he uses for his comics. His comics were also stored in a fireproof safe. Coincidently, both reported incidents involved the same brand of safes. There is strong reason to believe that any fireproof or fire resistant safe might create a harmful storage environment for your comics or possibly other collectibles with metal parts. Also fireproof/fire resistant safes are prone to develop moisture. Many fire resistant safes contain insulation, which in turn, contains water crystals; thus the high content of moisture.

If you have a fireproof or resistant safe, or if you are thinking about buying one, please do as much research as possible to determine if it can be harmful to non-precious metals.

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Uncle Scrooge is a conscientious collector who watches over his money bin with great fervor. If you have or are looking into storage for your comics or prized collectibles be sure to investigate all the details.		The top staple found rusted recently.		The bottom staple found rusted inside a safe.