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 Replies: 6 / Views: 1,000 |
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Valued Member
United States
336 Posts |
I have read that taking collectible coins in and out of China is illegal. Is this true? I will be living in China soon and was hoping to collect some coins wail I was over there and bring them home, but I would hate to have them taken away.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
1333 Posts |
May I ask where have you read that it is illegal, it isn't illegal to buy Chinese/old Chinese coin (im guess you want the real stuff). However anything with historical significance can be barred from leaving the country (and Chinese authorities can be idoitic at times).
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
1333 Posts |
Also I would highly advise against buying from Chinese vendors these days even large dealer, only the government authorized/guaranteed shops (but check their prices).
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Moderator
 Australia
16912 Posts |
For coins made in the 20th or 21st century, exporting them is perfectly legal. For older coins (such as pretty much any "cash" coin), they are classed as "antiquities" under Chinese law. Buying antiquities in China is legal, under certain circumstances. Taking them back home overseas with you is not.
In 2009, China passed a law prohibiting the export of any artifact dating from before 1900. There are no exceptions, permits or exemptions possible for tourists or temporary residents.
Fake/replica ancient artifacts are legal to export; they are supposed to have a red wax export seal stamped onto them, verifying that a government expert has examined them and proclaimed them to be non-genuine.
How well the government enforces this is another question. Certainly some people are smuggling large quantities of Chinese artifacts out of the country, mainly through Hong Kong (where export of antiquities is still legal). But from the busy air hubs of mainland China, thousands of artifacts are seized from tourists every week.
Assuming you do manage to smuggle such items out of China, there is then the problem of bringing them into the United States. A recent State Department MOU added "pre-1900 Chinese artifacts" to the list of things that US Customs are supposed to seize as stolen, and repatriate back to China, whether you've just arrived from China or not. Again, it requires US Customs agents to be familiar enough with Chinese antiquities to be able to confidently do this; in practice, it's been demonstrated that unless the box they are imported in has something like "ancient Chinese coins" stamped on it, US Customs will likely leave it alone.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
United States
819 Posts |
You could try mailing them to someone:
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Valued Member
 United States
336 Posts |
@ryurazu The Chinese Consulate in Chicago's website is where I ran into it while I was going through the banned/restricted items lists. In there is lists collectible coins.
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Valued Member
United States
336 Posts |
@Sap thank you, that is helpful to know its everything before 1900. I will keep that in mind while I'm looking. I plan on visiting and buying some older coins in Japan as well. I may just ship those back to family for safe keeping versus dealing with anything in China on that to be safe.
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Replies: 6 / Views: 1,000 |
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Posted 06/05/2018 9:26 pm
