Lost coin in the mail

I have received many, coins in the mail and have sent my fair share also. I never ever thought one would come up missing.

I purchased a MS 66 1855 RD large Cent recently for a little under 1K. Unfortunately it was in a NTC slab. I wanted to get it in a PCGS slab and thought it would go at least MS 64 RD so I mailed it to my friend along with a money order for the slabbing fee's, ins, and postage. I sent it USPS priority, 1k insurance with a signature receipt. I packed it in a bubble wrap mailer and taped all 4 sides of the mailer for additional security.

Unfortunately my friend e-mailed me that the package was received marked damaged without contents. The money was crumpled up and still in the package. Holy Cow!!! I will give USPS the benefit of the doubt and say its possible that the package was damaged, however it was securely packaged and the fact that the money order was crumpled up still inside the package gives me some doubts. The coin was also wrapped in a piece of paper with my friends address. Anyone can tell by the amount of postage on a package that something valuable is in it.

My friend almost immediately took photos of the damaged/empty and e-mailed them to me (this was very important). I contacted the post office and they instructed me to fill out an insurance claim and submit the following:

1. A receipt for the item and a copy of a credit card statement if purchased online. If no receipt is available or the item is unavailable, an appraisal and or photo with some type of proof of the items value is required. One cannot insure an item worth a dollar and expect to receive $1000 just because you insured it for that much.

2. A photo of the item if possible.

3. A photo of the package if possible. My friend's quick response with a Photo saved my claim processing time and added to the validity to my claim.

4. Any other supporting information and the original insurance claim check.

A Postal inspector did call me about the incident and told me if the coin was found it would be returned to me and if i saw it in e-bay or somewhere else to call him.

Lessons learned:

1. Keep All receipts and take photo's!!!

2. Send Registered mail if possible for larger $ amounts. Registered mail maintains a signature record each time an item changes hands.

3. Inform the recipients of mail when you send items if and have them take photo's if possible should it become damaged.

4. Yes it is possible to over-insure an item. You are only going to get the value of the item back.

5. No more bubble wrap mailers for me.

Harry

 

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Wow, envelopes are now opening themselves! I hope our money doesn't start spending itself too!

 

I'm shocked - good thing you have it well handled.

 

Maybe that is why one of the local dealers here who sells on eBay sends all of his lots out in boxes

Aside from that, I have had 3 not received. A PO MO that I sent. I eventually filed with the PO, but it cost me $5 to recover $3?. I sent a silver ingot that arrived in a state similar to yours. I also never receive a slab that I won WAY too cheaply. The seller offered my money back without a problem, but I am almost positive that he never sent it to begin with.

 

I thought lost items in the mail were common. This seams to be the biggest ebay thing and that is one reason I keep away from mail order anything. I've lost and had things lost in the mail many, many times. Ever hear about all those piles of mail sometimes found in dumpsters, back of some mail persons house, etc. I think mine were all in there.

 

Wow, thanks for the note and pictures.

Way scary.

 

Everything seemed to fall into place on this one Harry. Whew.
Count your blessings, and folks, learn from this.

ALWAYS INSURE !!!!

 

Boxes, boxes, boxes people. That's the best way to send an item. Sorry for the loss Harry....real bummer.

 

Some really good tips Harry! Sorry to hear about your experience, but thanks for the tips. If I send anything priority mail, I always send it via the small VHS prority box and insure it properly. Knock on wood, but I have never had anything go missing.

 

I have found those padded envelopes often have poorly "welded" seams, as most seem to have the bubbled stuff squeezed where they are formed and are prone to opening again. The old bubbled envelopes had more continuity and formed a pocket all around the inside space. The only thing not covered with clear packing tape on mine is the area for the scanner to read. Around and around it goes......tape is cheap and darn strong. Sorry to hear of your troubles though....always a worry whenever I mail something.

Jim

 

You could always staple them, or cross tape them.

 

what difference does it make if it's in a box or a bubble wrap?
If someone wants to get into either, like they did here, then I don't think a box will stop them.

 

That is a horrible situation. I hope everything works out in your favor.

Although, an insured packaged with a label of $17.05 for shipping cost must really stick out like a sore thumb to dishonest people.

 

Yes, it seems to me that the post office should just put something to represent the postage paid on the package without disclosing the cost of the postage and insurance. At least then it wouldn't be as obvious at just a glance how much something was insured for. I know when they generate automatic postage labels at work, that's how they are. They don't say anything on them about how much was spent on them.

 

Someone saw that 1K insurance and just snatched it. There are alot of thieves out there, including alot of postal workers.

 

There was this interesting research done by De Beers, as some would know, is a large company that deals with diamonds. They did a research on how to mail diamonds as safely and cheaply as possible which factors in insurance and so on. Not surprisingly, regular air mail is shown to be the most efficient.

 

The difference is that if a package would be damaged by accident, it would have a more difficult time being damaged in a box. But, this does not appear to be a damage but a theft. I guess anybody that saw the package knew that its contents was insured for $1000 therefore something of value is in it. Maybe the deliverer has the job solely for the purpose of scoping out expensive packages. I wonder what his (the drivers) track record is? That sux. A coin of that year and grade doesn't come around too often. That was a trophy coin.

 

Claim has been paid, just wanted to add DO NOT THROW AWAY the original package if damaged. The post office needed it for verification purposes.

Harry

 

It appears that the envelope was torn open rather than cut, as someone would likely have done. I'd say the envelope was torn when it went through the sorting machinery. These bubble mailers can't go through the same sorters that regular envelopes do since they're too thick. If that is what happened, it's easy to see why the heavier coin just fell out while the money order was still there. The coin probably landed in the machinery or on the floor where some worker picked it up. If he was honest, it would have gone through the lost mail procedure and would be delivered to the person whose name was on the paper it was wrapped in. Otherwise it went into his pocket.

I've found that a good alternative to envelopes is the little boxes made for mailing cassettes (both audio and VHS). These are available at the Post Office and are a bit pricey - $2-3 - but are sturdy, and who would want to steal an audio cassette or a VHS tape? They also have CD/DVD mailing boxes but those might be more likely to be stolen.

 

I read once that diamonds worh up to a million dollars are routinely shipped in the mail uninsured. They are packed and addressed with no mention of any company, only individuals.