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 Replies: 9 / Views: 1,189 |
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
Receive this coin yesterday from eddop in the Netherlands, I'm lucky that it arrived. The coin was delivered by the post office with the envelope and packing ripped opened. This is the second time since May that either Customs or the Post Office messed with a package from Ed. The first time was Customs and the coin took three months to get to me. I called the PO today and they claim that they did not tamper with the package. Right. Anyway, has any one else had problems with coins coming from Europe?   AE Tetradrachm Carinus AK MA KAPINOC LB Year 2 as emperor Athena seated Emmett 4001 Edited by echizento
09/20/2012 4:33 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4253 Posts |
I haven't experienced any real problems lately. I received packages from Israel and Spain in the past week, and both arrived much sooner than I expected.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2838 Posts |
Living in Europe I dont really have problems getting coins from here, no customs declarations are required in the European Union as VAT is paid in the county of origin, or is supposed to be. The last time I posted to the US, about two months ago I spoke to the post mistress (known her for a number of years and shes a nice lady and a stereotypical type you would expect to see in a Hugh Grant movie!) as she noticed I was posting a 'coin'. She told me it was illegal to post 'money' to the States and suggested I alter the customs declaration to state 'sample' instead of 'coin' to avoid problems. I think we are seeing a general clampdown on the trading of all antiquities atm. I used to sell high volumes of neolithic items on ebay but it became harder and harder to comply with their rules and regs regarding what could and could not be sold and posted. I had auctions ended and had to be very careful what I included in my description. There do seem to be problems shipping to the States but nobody (Post office included) seems to know how to avoid them and how exactly they affect ancient coins. All I can say with certainty is that the change has been in US customs and not in the dispatch from Europe. I hope this does not become like shipping to Italy, balls of steel are always required and it can take a month for items to arrive. It could seriously damage the hobby everywhere if trading is made difficult between Europe and the US. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4253 Posts |
I once sold a coin to one of the Vcoin dealers in Switzerland who told me to declare the contents of the package as a "medallion for research". There was no problem sending in that direction. I do know that many of the coins I get from Europe, especially Eastern Europe, are packaged in such a way to prevent x-ray. They wrap aluminum foil around the coins. I'm really uncertain of what this does. If I were an inspector, this kind of packaging would make me suspicious.
Anyway, I receive packages from Europe all the time with no problems whatsoever.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2624 Posts |
I would think coming from the Netherlands the packages are more thoroughly vetted than from other countries due to the copious amounts of drugs sent through the post from there (as you are probably aware marijuana is de-criminalized in the Netherlands)
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
DavidUK, now that you mention it that could very well be the reason. Ed doesn't use any special envelope but does use the sticky cardbox to incase the coin. I could see where Customs might think it was drugs.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10045 Posts |
I've bought coins from the UK, Spain, Austria, Germany--all arrived quickly and without any signs of tampering.
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Pillar of the Community
3352 Posts |
Ummm, I've ordered a few coins from Spain and they've arrived without incident ... Oh by the way => nice coin, echizento ...  |
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
Thanks, I would like to get at least one of these from every emperor that struck the. So far I have Carus, Carinus and Numerian.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1549 Posts |
Even within a country like the US, you never want to use the words coin or money when referring to your mailings. You can not insure money but only send it Registered and flagging a letter as containing cash is like writing 'Steal Me' on the front. There are various things you might call what once was a coin but no longer is legal tender (you can't fit a tetradrachm in a vending machine so it can't be a coin). You don't have to lie; just select a vague description or word with multiple meanings (finding, parts, portrait, specimen and sample). What we collect stopped being coins when they stopped being legal tender. I am a little unclear how you are supposed to mail a high dollar Lincoln Cent because it still is legal tender for a government set value of one cent. That is not a problem for denarii unless we make it one by saying coin while in the Post Office. Frank Robinson's mailings come marked on the envelope "FSR Parts Warehouse" which translates to mean "The lumps you feel inside this envelope are not worth stealing." As an exercise, try to come up with a return address stamp that would accomplish the same thing. You want it to sound boring and not worth a second glance. My experience has been that more uninsured things arrive safely than those that are flagged as valuable. There are countries I will never again order a coin from simply because a couple bad experiences make me figure it is not worth the effort. If you are ordering from eBay/Paypal you only have a certain time to complain of non arrival but I have had things take over 8 weks to arrive from some places. Not worth the effort. |
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Replies: 9 / Views: 1,189 |
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Posted 09/20/2012 5:17 pm
