Shipping 1 oz. Coins

What is the best way to ship a one ounce bullion coin?

What is the most economical way to ship a one ounce bullion coin?

 

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Silver - 1st class.

Gold - Registered if insuring, if sending uninsured, 1st class.

 

I just shipped a 1 ounce gold eagle and it cost me about $18 to ship it. I sent it priorty with $1200 of insurance.

 

Registered it comes with insurance ")

 

Bad advice! for an ounce of silver cost of around $18.

Registered mail is far too much effort for sending one ounce of silver that only costs approx. $18. For Registered mail you have to pack and seal with brown paper tape and stand in a queue at the PO to get it in the system. Time and materials defeat insuring the piece unless you are sending to particular international destinations where security is an issue.

IF you are just mailing to a domestic address, then First Class insured to the minimum $50 with tracking will suffice. Avoid Priority Mail as the fees are excessive and not worth it for one piece. Avoid Priority Mail flat rate envelopes and boxes as those fees are insane unless you are able to stuff a lot of heavy things into a flat rate box.

There are discounts to postage if you use the online rate calculator and print/ship that way.

For a single ounce of silver shipped coast-to-coast domestically in the US, in a padded envelope, First Class and insured upto $50 you should pay less than $3 for postage. Tracking, Delivery Confirmation, et al. services are extras which you can elect to buy.

Registered Mail will cost you around $13 for the same thing, plus add on the materials you need, brown tape and the time spent in line at the PO.

Check out the USPS Postage Price Calculator

 

You can buy insurance with registered mail but I don't think it's automatic.

http://www.usps.com/prices/registered-mail-prices.htm

I shipped a Gold Eagle recently and it would have cost me 15.80 just for the registerd fees. You still have to pay postage for first class, priority, ect. on top of the registration fees.

 

You need to read that again because it's RIGHT THERE in the language of the page you linked to:

 

Maybe I have a different interpretation of what the page is saying. I will ask next time I got to the post office. I thought you had to declare a value to be able to file a claim for insurance. If $25k was automatic then why do they have the chart for all the different values? Does anyone else see where I am coming from?

 

Yes, you must declare a value as insurance is built into the cost of the service. The chart tells you the cost of the service based on the declared value. Coverage is built in up to 25K. Insurance is not a separate charge with Registered Mail as it is with other services, which are sold separately from the rate based on weight and estimated time for delivery: first class, priority, media...

 

Exactly!! I just shipped some notes off to PCGS and it cost me $10.60 for reg mail
Plus $1.90 for postage, For those of you who are financially challenged thats $12.50

Depending on your security concerns this is a good way to go, Lesser concerns
Can be shipped for less but you will steal need to buy insurance, If not just send
First class and hope for the best......LOL

 

Just give it to me and I'll take care of it. :vanish:

 

Ok, but how would I ship it and know you received it.

 

Rusty: Submitting items to PCGS implies items of a certain value and or rarity where security is necessary, so one would certainly consider sending by Registered Mail. With PCGS submissions, don't forget you are paying shipping for the submitted items on their way to PCGS as well as for the return postage.

Declared values of any parcel that exceeds $500 cannot be sent insured by First Class nor Priority Mail. But we are talking about an (approx.) $18 dollar coin and you are suggesting the OP send it Registered??? Who's financially challenged?

Anything shipped First Class or Priority and properly insured is not a "hope for the best" but rather an economical and adequately covered parcel. Again, based on security issues and the destination, one must decide if Registered Mail is warranted whatever the declared value may be.

 

The most economical way is place it in a flip and then in a security envelope with just a stamp on it. :goofer: I would send it in a padded envelope, priority mail, with delivery confirmation. I am not sure insurance is needed for silver bullion worth $18. TC

 

If the 1 oz bullion coin is an item you sold, insure it and get some form of tracking on it. The buyer can say you never sent it or that it never arrived and ask for a refund and how can you prove it did or didn't arrive if you didn't cover the parcel? If this were an ebay/paypal auction or sale, they could file a claim getting their money back and you would be out a coin and the money. Without insurance and some form of tracking they could actually have the coin and make off with the claim. If this is the case, insure the parcel and pay for a tracking number to CYA.

 

Don't make the mistake of thinking "padded envelope = secure from damage"

I've received a bunch of them that were put through heavy mechanical rollers by the post office, and the contents inside were dinged as a result. Envelope air bubbles are nothing in the face of a multi-ton sorting machine.

Be sure to put the internal contents in some sort of additional wrapping, case, or hard protector.

 

1oz silver- Padded mailer delivery confirmation $2.75

 

and don't forget insurance!

 

I have heard the biggest reason for using registered mail is that it establishes a clear chain of movement that the package was sent and delivered through the postal system. So if someone tries to pull a fast one by either not putting a coin in the box or saying they didn't get said coin, then technically they have committed mail fraud. While it might not prevent something like this from happening, it's got to be a deterrent. I'm thinking that no one really wants to deal with a federal investigator.

 

My understanding is that for precious metals and coins... that you cannot insure these items UNLESS it is sent via registered mail.

In other words... if you send silver or gold coins via priority mail or first class mail even if you have purchased insurance the post office will not make good for a loss once they learn that it was a PM.

Or am I wrong on this???