Bringing Numismatic Coins Overseas

yeah I think there is a rule limiting how much in legal tender money I can bring out and in... or something like that. but what I don't know is if they'll find some sort of problem with old and demonitized money being brought out in 2x2's, air-tite albums or whatnot. I guess i'll have to sift through local sites for info, but being headed for Germany, I'm not too sure, since I already found a website which calculates taxation on every type of commodity, including numistmatics. No specification whether or not "numismatics" includes demonitized currency.

Whatever the case, i'll be real sure not to bring along any nazi currency lol

That's surprising Sap. What exactly is the situation surrounding these ancient coins and not being able to bring them into the US?

What I do sg is carry a memory stick with photos of my coins around. I'm not really a technophile, or else I'd probably have them loaded on a tablet or phone. But it does give me a way to look at them when I'm out and about.

I wonder if (good quality) photos wouldn't be an easier way to study your coins while away from home without the hassle of insurance / customs? You could supplement the pics with whatever details you like such as diameter/weight/alignment.

And finally ... I forget what you collect, but the British Numismatic Society has scanned past copies of its Journal viewable online. I don't know if other numismatic societies do likewise, but if there were any articles that interested you you could even take some reading material as well! http://www.britnumsoc.org/publicati...%20BNJ.shtml

I would define "numismatics" to include any form of money apart from actual current spending money.


It's all to do with international agreements countries make between themselves, to try to prevent illegal looting and smuggling of antiquities. Under the 1970 UNESCO Convention, which America is a signatory to, coins may be listed as antiquities of cultural significance to be protected from illicit export. Under Memorada Of Understanding signed with America, Cyprus and Italy both have certain types of ancient coins listed.

The theory here is that archaeologists and legitimate collectors will carry around with them at all times the paperwork proving the coins were legitimately acquired. And by "paperwork" I mean letters of authority from the country the coins were allegedly exported from - a coin dealer's receipt certainly is not sufficient as proof of legality, since coin dealers are part of the problem they are trying to solve.

Anyone importing coins without paperwork is going to be assumed to be a coin smuggler. The concept of coin collectors travelling around with coins they already own does not seem to have occurred to them - why would anybody want to do that? The coins are then sent back to "where they came from", and it becomes that country's problem - and your problem, if you want your coins back.

It's been discussed on the forum before, notably when the Memoranda of Understanding were still being negotiated and ancient coin collectors were lobbying for coins not to be included. See some old threads here, here and here.

Yes, they should obtain whatever permits they might need to export them from their own country; failure to do so puts the coins well and truly into the "black market" category. But the seller's obligations to obtain permits etc ends at their own country's borders. If an American imports the coins, it's up to the American importer to make sure everything is above board and the coins can be imported legally. It is entirely possible to legally export something from one country that is illegal to import into another. As was proved in the original Cyprus test case, where Cypriot coins legally bought in Britain and legally exported from Britain were seized on arrival in America.

Coin collecting is fairly popular here, though not as popular as it is in America or Germany. There aren't any major legal issues or hurdles we have to overcome.

The biggest problem we have here in Australia regarding coin collecting is trying to buy coins from dealers and sellers in America. The American postal service has, for reasons known only to them, declared "coins" to be a prohibited import into Australia (even though they are not) and therefore refuses to accept "coins" for shipping to Australia if people do the right thing and actually put "coins" on the customs form. There are ways to work around this, though many American sellers are understandably reluctant to tell lies on a customs form.

They're cheap, compared to, say, coins of equivalent rarity and age from America or Germany, simply because of the reduced demand. And, as is the case in most places, local demand is mostly for local coins rather than foreign coins.

As for coin ships, there's just one coins & collectables shop in Darwin - the NT is pretty barren, numismatics-wise. I've only seen a couple of collectors from there on the forums. I think the next nearest coin dealer to Darwin is in Mackay, 2800 km away. Perth has several coin dealers, as well as a couple of active coin clubs in the greater Perth area. Plus of course the Perth Mint.

Odd the international trade thing. I've not experienced (nor am I aware of) any problems getting coins shipped from the US to England or coins from Australia. It's been a while since I sold anything to someone in the US, but again, had no problems getting it to them.

For British coins, there are potential bargains in the US, both in terms of mis-attributed coins and the apparent lack of home interest in raw (unslabbed).

There is of course the flip side which is that some American dealers seem to think that anything a few hundred years old must be worth a corresponding number of $$.

As with collecting any coins, it's a matter of knowing your stuff when you buy.

As for coins from overseas ... I know it's not where the majority of interest lies, but think it would be very sad if the day ever came when the only coins you could collect were those from your home country. But there are hints it's starting to head that way in some places ...