Sent Gold coins to be graded - $5,000 Max insurance???

Hey everyone,

I just sent in 4 buffalo proofs and a UHR double eagle to be graded to NGC. I went to my normal pak mail shipping place which I used last time to insure a $4100 package which was sent via UPS no problems. Known the owner for years and have never had any issues.

Well NGC has a PO Box listed for submitting coins which according to my guy has to be sent via USPS as UPS won't do it. OK Fine. Well then his computer system will only allow him to insure the package for $5000 max, even though I wanted $7200 to cover them all. :headbang:

So he reassured me it would be handled with special care etc. so against my better judgement I went ahead and sent them as I don't see any other option then driving them down to NGC myself which is not really an option...

What do you all do for shipping coins of high value? Does everyone just have private insurance??

I could probably still go and get them back before the post man gets them - guess i'm just being nervous and paranoid?

 

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use usps registered mail...25k insurance. Other than that yeah, just get your own insurance, much cheaper.

 

You could also package them in two separate boxes, unless I'm missing something.

 

Then you would have to send an order form in each and pay the separate return postages for each, which would be more than the difference between insured and registered-insured, which is the only way to go unless you have very good 3rd party insurance. Even if you send 2 orders in one box, you still have to pay both return postage fees, as they may be returned at different times.

Jim
​

 

I'm almost positive that a Registered Mail package insured for $7200 would have cost you less than a First Class package insured for $5000.

Use Registered Mail, it's cheaper for packages insured for over $1500 or so and it's much safer.

 

Thanks for the replies... I guess I should have gone straight to the post office
Now I am worried about my coins. *sigh*.

 

Also, take lots of pictures for photographic proof of ownership. Maybe place a local news paper in the background so you photograph that along with the coins. You always hear of the horror stories about the postal service not servicing claims and such. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

Your right!! the post office will be more then happy to take your money
For insurance, But just try to collect when there,s a problem not the
Best people to do business with (ALOT OF RED TAPE!!!)

 

In cases where insured or registered mail was used, senders insured for realistic values and provided proof of such, I have heard of very few problems in getting paid by the Post Office.

 

Yes it would have been by a LARGE margin. The break point is about $800. Less than that First class insured is cheaper, higher than that Registered is cheaper and they separate in cost FAST. Insurance on $5,000 for first class is $51.50 plus first class postage. Registered/insured for $7,200 is $23.90

 

great now i'm worried about my coins AND ****ed! Freaking cost me like $114 to send them!! ARGH!! Well lesson learned I guess - As long as all 5 coins show up in NGC's hands OK I will call it a cheap lesson learned... otherwise it may be an expensive one although I hope not!

 

Registered Mail for Safety!

I retired from the USPS as a manager back in June of 2009 after 40 years of service. I was the national Registered Mail Guru and helped HQ write and update all the rules and regulations regarding Registered Mail issues. I can tell you that there is no other safer way to send your valuables than by Registered Mail, and it can be insured up to a maximum of $25,000 per package.

You would be surprised at what goes through the Registered Mail system. Did you know that the Hope Diamond was sent by Registered Mail in November of 1958?

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://postalmuseum.si.edu/museum/1d_hopediamondwrapper.jpg&imgrefurl=http://postalmuseum.si.edu/museum/1d_Hope_Diamond.html&usg=__noWowKVbWUh1K8LnfJ3OObnJi5Q=&h=410&w=523&sz=61&hl=en&start=16&um=1&tbnid=fybs1FGrYsahnM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=131&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhope%2Bdiamond%2BRegistered%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4ADRA_enUS354US354%26sa%3DG%26um%3D1

Let me know if you have any questions?

 

Hello and welcome to CT. Do you collect coins, currency or invest in bullion as well? Or just troll the forum sites for Reg. mail topics? I've heard of the Hope Diamond story before too. Do you have any Postal horror stories regarding coins or related valuable collectibles? I'm sure you could start a thread on what you just posted here and attract a lot of questions, especially if you are willing to field a bunch of queries. I think a lot of people would be interesting in parcel Insurance related issues as well. Again, nice to meet you, welcome.

 

Thanks, I could probably write an interesting book on Postal related horror stories, but I won’t. Every business has them, but with over 750,000 employees nation wide at one time, you tend to get more than your share. As you know, the Postal Service is having financial difficulties and our compliment has shrunk down considerably.

I used to collect coins years ago, and still have them. I regularly received Bureau of the Mint Proof sets, and have Proof coins that go back into the 70s and 80s. As far as starting a new thread, I’m new at this and wouldn’t know how.

 

To start New Threads, just pick a category from the main CoinTalk page and look for the New Thread button at the top of the page, like in this screen grab image:

 

It has been my experience that Registered Mail is the safest way to ship coins. Registered Mail packages travel in a special pouch and receive VIP status.

 

Do not worry they will be alright, I mean if they are already

Do not worry they will be alright, I mean if they are already sent and you did the best you could (at that facility) worring now is useless right?

 

Registered Mail, could you estimate what percentage of each class of mail is lost? First clas, priority, insured under $200, insured over $200, Express, and Regstered? I already know that Registered is the safest, but I'm curious about data on how much safer it is. For example if 1% of insured goes astray and .01% of Registered does then we know that Registered is 100 times less likely to be lost etc.

 

Registered Mail Security:

I don’t have figures on what percentage of other types of mail gets lost, because my area of expertise was primarily with Registered Mail. For those of you that are not familiar with the process, I can tell you that Registered Mail hardly ever gets lost, it could get misdirected by accident for a short time, but it rarely, it ever gets totally lost.

From the time the retail clerk takes it from you to the time it is delivered to the addressee your piece of Registered Mail has been signed for by nearly every Postal employee who handled it, and that could be dozens depending on the distance it traveled. FedEx and UPS does not have that kind of hard core security for their shipments, and I doubt if they would even consider it because it is so costly to handle.

Go up to a FedEx or UPS office some time and ask them what it would cost to ship $6,000,000 in negotiable securities from New York the Seattle and they will probably tell you to go to an armored car company. The Post Office will accept it as long as certain restrictions are met.

Registered Mail has a lot of restrictions, so it is not a fast type of mail service, and some shipments may get delayed simply because of security regulations. If you want something to get there fast, it needs to go by Express Mail, but Express Mail doesn’t have the hard core security that Registered Mail has.

There isn’t any other package carrier in the country that has the type of security the Postal Service has, and that is why some businesses, especially government businesses, require their shipments to go by USPS Registered Mail. That’s also why the Hope Diamond was sent by Registered Mail in 1958.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://postalmuseum.si.edu/museum/1d_hopediamondwrapper.jpg&imgrefurl=http://postalmuseum.si.edu/museum/1d_Hope_Diamond.html&usg=__noWowKVbWUh1K8LnfJ3OObnJi5Q=&h=410&w=523&sz=61&hl=en&start=15&um=1&tbnid=fybs1FGrYsahnM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=131&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhope%2Bdiamond%2Bregistered%2Bmail%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1R2ADRA_enUS354%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1