I came home from work today and opened my mailbox, only to find this: Well, that explains what happened to my latest coin shipment... But, I bravely opened the envelope, and all my coins were still safely inside the cardboard inner container, with just some minor damage to one coin's 2x2. All modern world coins, of minimal value, but still, I am glad to have received them safely! Let this be a lesson to those of you who ship coins in the mail: Make sure you pack them very securely, so that even a gaping hole n the outer envelope will not mean loss of contents.
Wow that was lucky! Taping the entire perimeter with clear packing tape like John Anthony does is the way to go.
This. I've been asked why I package my coins the way I do: in larger envelopes, all edges covered in thick packing tape. A larger envelope isn't easily tucked into a pocket, and the packing tape makes it difficult to tear apart. The best way to deal with a thief is to put enough roadblocks in his way to prevent having to deal with him. Also, never mention anything about coins on the envelope, and if you have to fill out a customs slip, declare the contents as religious tokens, lol. Hey, it's not a lie - most every ancient coin has a religious aspect.
As an interesting aside, the reason you see so many dealers sending mail with vintage stamps is because you can buy them cheaper than their face value on eBay. Literally the entire stamp collecting hobby is dead, except for a handful of old timers that trade rare stamps worth hundreds or thousands. I can buy my entire birth year stamp set, sealed in its original packaging (Year 1985, 27 stamps, plus US Post Office 1985 collectors' booklet) for less than the value of a frapuchino at Starbucks. Sad.
I learned my shipping lesson when an 1876-CC Seated Liberty half dollar in original and lustrous AU was damaged. Of course the buyer sent it back with the original damaged packing. Now I mummify the inner and outer pakaging with lots and lots of tape. One time I got an eBay feedback that said "enthusiastically pakaged". I laughed but he got his coins nice and safe.
I expected another horror story. Glad it wasn't. I do have to say its all in the packaging. I sell and ship sports and other types of memorabelia. So far all my customers have received their items undamaged. And JA's mailers, I've had difficulty sneakin past my wife lol. But I've received every one of them.
