Curious whether anyone in the U.S. has had to pay the new tariff on a coin from outside the U.S. If so, how much was it and how was it collected? If it’s collected based on the value of the customs document on the package, does customs try to verify the value of the coin. For example, if a coin is worth $1,000 and the foreign shipper puts $100 on the customs document, what’s the chance that customs will determine its actual value and charge accordingly? Cal
Easier to say for US coins. If you collect foreign coins, they are quite often not in the US. A large portion of my foreign coins have been bought... foreign.
I agree there's plenty of options here in the US, yes some collectors are gonna want an out of the country coin but I bet they don't want to pay extra and they're not gonna. Especially if they're as tight as a drum like me!
What I do know is that all tariffs have been paused for the most part. There is supposed to be a 90 day pause put in place around a week or more ago. Gold and Silver were never supposed to be a part of the tariffs to start with. That is what I heard thru many different sources. I have never searched to find that that is something that the president said, or not.
That's an excellent question. I received a coin, ordered right before the tariffs, without problem. I haven't received the other, but it was sent later, about a week-and-a-half-ago, and was under $100. It will probably come through, but I suspect that things are also taking longer at customs than they used to. Until things become more clear, I'm putting a kibosh on overseas buys.
I have a couple in NY customs right now. Says they processed through yesterday. No mention of additional tariff cost or delay. Coming from Portugal. Didn't realize it when I made initial purchase but decided to get another one from him to throw in the box. Not really thrilled ever having to have things go through customs and try to avoid it in normal times.
I received two emails in one day from NGC and Heritage last week regarding the tariffs. This is also a concern for the TPGs and auction houses. I recall the NGC email contained instructions on what to do, and Heritage basically said "call us." All of the coin stuff is meaningless to me considering my wife's company, where she's worked for over 25 years, is just going to have to fold.
Great thing is, that there were 70 or so countries that came to the table for negotiation. I am a fan of free trade.
I hope you come out of it unscathed. We won't. Economies don't like chaos. I won't be buying any more coins for a long time.
The info below is from Shanna Schmidt Numismatics who is the U.S. partner for NAC (Numismatica Ars Classica), an old, well known Swiss coin auction house. It’s from her recent newsletter. NAC auctions mostly ancient coins, but I think the essay applies to all coins. Cal ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tariffs on ancient coins? Unfortunately, the U.S. coin market is subject to a 10% tariff on most incoming coins. This is based on the information I have and my own experience from last week, when importing some coins from Switzerland, which were subject to a 10% tariff. Auction houses and coin dealers use the harmonized code beginning with 9705 to import any ancient coins. There was some discussion, and it remains, regarding the re-categorization of coins under a different harmonized code, which includes “informational material” that is currently exempt. The issue is that without agreement by the shipping services (i.e., Malca Amit, FedEx, DHL, Brinks), using such a code could be akin to fraud, and unless one has an attorney to fight this, it is likely not a viable long-term solution. The coin industry is already poised to write letters in opposition to this exemption and will continue to fight this. Coins have been tariff-free since the 1930 Tariff Act. That said, when tariffs were imposed on materials from China or Russia during the first Trump administration and continued through the Biden administration, coins were affected. I had firsthand experience with this, as I saw hefty tariffs on any coins with a country of origin (COO) from those two places. Most collectors of ancient coins were not affected by these tariffs, and consequently, many believed that coins had never been subject to such taxes. I would like to clarify that coins have been subject to tariffs in the past. With this new push to try to get coins exempt, I realize that previous tariffs might have been unjustly levied. Perhaps moving forward, we can change this. For the time being, there is one silver lining that is upheld by the shipping services. Anything that we sent from the U.S. to another country and is returning within the last three years is exempt under code 9801.00.10. NAC has tested this with our courier, Malca Amit, and confirmed that it is accepted and compliant with the law. Therefore, there are a few consignments from this upcoming NAC sale that will be exempt from any tariffs: the Carl Subak Collection of Quinarii, and several coins from NAC 154, which will be marked with an asterisk noting their tariff-free status. I will continue to monitor this tariff issue and inform clients as new information becomes available. My advice is to figure the 10% tariff into your bidding levels. You can bid 10% less to justify the purchase. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have not. I believe I read this week that silver and gold are exempt from tariffs, but don't hold me to it.
