Hello everybody, I will probably need to ship a few coins across the pond via FEDEX. Which is the best way to describe a collector coin in the documentation? I can think of 'Collectable Coin' or just 'Collectible'. What is appropriate (to minimise the chance of loss/theft), and at the same time compliant with customs regulations? Thanks for any suggestions!
As coins are on the restricted/banned list of many couriers they would be shipped at owners risk. My wife's cousin in Scandinavia ships coins around the world and only chooses a carrier with tracking capabilities and describes the contents as Numismatic Collectibles .Europe is considered a trade free zone and the contents of packages rarely get checked for accuracy against the description. However when shipping to the US for example they go through customs and are scanned.
Thank you, @expat. This is very useful to me! This is going to Latin America so I need to make sure I comply with regulations and minimise the risk of loss/theft.
My shipping experience is mostly with USPS and I understand other carriers sometimes have their own interpretation and implementation of regulations. That being said, the prohibition of "coins" generally refers to legal tender only. Antique coins constitute a different legal category and will normally be specifically mentioned if prohibited. I usually write "numismatic item for study". Insurance and excellent online tracking are essential. The third-party online insurer insurepost dot com is inexpensive and their terms explicitly include coverage for "collectible coins". I always use those two words on their insurance declaration. Personally, I avoid shipping to Latin America these days. I had a few problems years ago and with potential customers from the region being so few, I decided to save myself the worry. For Latin America broadly speaking, I would be more concerned with sticky fingers than with fine points of regulation.
Precision Metallic Components. This is what a mail order dealer friend of mine uses as a description.
Have received a few coins with descriptions such as "metal tokens" or "metal samples". I would never use the word "coin"
Using the word "coin" - especially "collectible coin" - instantly asks for a closer look by any would-be thief.
Customs agents can be downright unfriendly. I wouldn't want to be the one who is chosen to be made an example.
Lmao I’m loving all these obtuse references to coins. How about round metallic item, or small bronze coaster haha
It is fun to speculate about labeling. I would like to see some real numbers. How many shipments go missing, and how are the missing ahipments labeled?
You need to be careful. If you declare it as a coin, several countries don't permit it to be shipped and per FedEx it's not insurable. http://www.fedex.com/ne/shippingguide/terms/ If the description is too obscure they may well refuse to pay off on the insurance. There is no duty importing gold coins, but it must be declared https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-1594?language=en_US Numismatic (collector's) coins are duty free https://hts.usitc.gov/?query=numismatic and I'm not a customs broker, but I would use "Numismatic items, HST 9705.00.00" if I were going to send something.
