2012 New Zealand Silver Currency Set

Hi

I live in Austria and have ordered from NZ post B4. I purchased the first Silver currency set that came out. It was impressive and I was pleased with it. However the service from NZ post is very Parochial. These are the things to expect.

1. Postage charges will be high because of the value of the set NZ post will only send by courier ( despite listing cheaper postage options). There will be a track and trace number..but read on

2. You make your order on line. Give your credit card details etc then once you've ordered that is it. There is no confirmatory email when the item is sent. It just arrives in the post. Now about that tracking number the only time you find out what it is, is when the parcel arrives! ( I sometimes wonder; does NZ post think the Monty Python Parrot sketch is a training video?)

3. Mintage limits mean the same thing that they do in China with a nasty little difference. Ie: for the set the mintage number is the maximum amount authorized. They quite often produce less ( great!) but as happened ( I think in 2007) they realized that a Kiwi dollar was very popular with Collectors (Because people had discovered the actual mintage was much less than authorized) so they restruck it( included it in a set) I and a few others exploded I even wrote to the reserve bank of NZ. Of course It was found that NZ post had done nothing wrong.

I don't know how it is in Canada but Austria has some pretty annoying Customs officials. To make life easier I like to do my customs clearances in advance. NZ posts' SOP makes this impossible.


I have never had anything go missing from NZ post but the service provided is as one would expect from a little country town where the staff are used to knowing everyone. You might guess I am annoyed by the fact I have paid for courier service but effectively only receive registered mail service.

With the Silver currency set it is very nice and I would recommend it. Its price sets it beyond the level of most NZ based collectors so there is potential for its rarity value to appreciate( I always look for, initially, Unpopular issues from NZ they seem to be the ones that 10 years later appreciate the most in value).