Shipping To Uniited States

I've just had this exact issue with shipping to PCGS
Canada post only insures up to $500 in Collectable coins (with extra insurance)

I haven't had any experience with 3rd party insurance, but am interested in trying in the future, so +1 to doubleeagle

Personally I have used FedEx:
Setting up a personal account (with unique account number)
Labelling things as "Numismatic Collectables" because I was scared of theft within Fedex... and then later having to clarify my shipment with Customs anyways.
Properly labelling coins as coins when using more high security shipments such as FedEx is a must to prevent delays.

I was able to ship to PCGS $14000 worth of declared coins for $575 (two day overnight shipping) including what I believe is covered insurance. I'm not entirely sure if I would win a lost/damaged claim due to the obscurity I had to do to make the FedEx online form accept such a high value.

When I talked to a local FedEx agent, they told me FedEx only covers $1300 worth of Coins ""Officially"" but I believe I have found other ways around that. Giving rise to 3rd party insurance more interesting for me in the future.

(Whereas Canada post I always write "Coins" and $100 value no matter what due to a high occurrence of theft of various items that I have personally seen)

I intend to share my experiences more fully in a new thread about my experiences sending things to PCGS in the near future.

- ebay Member for 6 years and shipped over $20,000 in coins.

It would probably be cheaper, if you are within 100 miles of the border, to drive the coin across and mail it in the US.

I have done some research on this since I wanted to send a few coins to PCGS to cross-grade, though have not jumped the gun yet. I would like to share some possible alternatives, though you will have to do some homework to see if these are secure and reasonable options.

I found a few companies (Chit Chats Express, Stallion Express) in the GTA which will drive your parcel across the border, and ship it with USPS. Stallion Express will also ship with Fedex and UPS. The prices are much lower than anything I have seen with Canada Post or any of the major parcel services to ship from Canada and I think is worth a look. I do not think they will ship items valued over $1000, I remember reading it though I don't recall the exact amount. I am not sure how the insurance would work, or what it would cost. I think Chit Chats Express also offers a service to ship back to Canada from the U.S.


(USPS may require a notarized form for the following two options)
To get your parcel back into Canada, there are many companies that do postal forwarding from the U.S. (i.e. https://www.shipito.com/). They charge a fee to receive the package (which is usually between $2-$5 per parcel), and the cost of whatever shipping option you choose to have it sent back to you. PCGS shipping and insurance rates within the U.S. were much lower than international, so you save money this way. Again, I have not used this option, so do your due diligence.

In the past, I have used services such as CBI http://www.cbiusa.com/), to receive ebay and Amazon parcels. Like the option above, PCGS will be able to ship to a U.S. address, so your shipping/insurance cost should be far lower. Once shipped, you can drive down to Niagara Falls (US side) and pick it up. This option is worth it if you live close to the border. There are many different companies across the Canada-U.S. border that offer this service. I have not had any problems in the past (my items were valued between $100-$500).


GregJG, I look forward to reading about your experience.

Well it turn out to be no problem I called ahead to the Port of Entry that I was going to use, the US boarder control guy was a great help. He just told me to mention that I was the coin guy when I arrived and then they asked a couple questions and waved me through and told me where the post office was. It was kinda funny there where several guards and they are "oh your the coin guy". The USPS person was really helpful ended up shipping registered with $6000 US insurance with signature was $26.95us.

((okiecoiner / Pacificoin / collector67))

I'm curious about something. I'm in Michigan and have crossed the border many times, but have only made the crossings using our three (another on the way) bridges or one tunnel. I've also used the two bridges at Niagara and Buffalo to cross, but never a land-to-land crossing.

The tunnel/bridge rates aren't outrageous (but not cheap either), so I'm wondering if there are fees to cross over using roads. If so, how much does it cost to drive across the border where you are? (I pay $4 to $5 each way).

If you use a received and hold service, make sure their insurance can & will cover the value of the parcel between the time USPS delivers it and you pick it up. USPS' responsibility ends with delivery!

As promised I have written up my PCGS experiences, thank you to gawd0wns & DEVLEC for being curious about it and motivating me to type it all out

https://goccf.com/t/257720