Freshly harvested seeds of coffee (Coffea arabica L. var. typica Cramer) were air dried and sun-dried at different levels of moisture content and stored in open and sealed containers at room temperature. Moisture determination and germination tests were made on the "fresh" seeds and at different intervals during the storage period. Based on the results obtained, the following conclusions were drawn: 1) The process of drying did not interfere with the seed viability. 2) The longevity of the seeds kept in sealed containers was inversely proportional to the seed moisture content. Seeds containing about 20%, 13%, and 10% of water continued viable for 4, 8, and 21 months, respectively. 3) Independent of the initial moisture content, the seeds placed in open containers had approximately the same longevity of about 8 to 10 months. This was probably due to the very rapid dehydration of the moist seeds because of their small quantity. These results do not agree with those found by several authors, who are unanimous to affirm that coffee seeds are injured by slight or moderate drying in the air.