I recently ordered a San Marino Euro set for my Euro collection. Concerned about the delay in the order, I contacted the seller via e-mail. This is the response I got. "Good Evening, I am writing in regards to your recent order. Unfortunately, the shipment containing your order was held by US customs and has been returned to us. Apparently this was caused by a change in the laws regarding importation that actually changed back in 2002, but US Customs have only now decided to enforce it. Obviously, we were unaware of the change and have been sending shipments to the US, in exactly the same way as this one was sent, for over a decade. The shipment is expected to arrive back with us over the next few days and we will be working hard to turn your order around and get it back on its way to you as quickly as possible. We will be using an alternative method to avoid any further problems. Rest assured we will do our utmost to get this out to you before Christmas, but until we receive the parcels back we are reluctant to make any promises to you that may not come to fruition. We value our customers highly and are extremely sorry for any disappointment this issue may have caused." Has anyone else had this expierience?
It depends on what country it is coming from as to whether it is legal or not. A few years ago, some countries passed laws making exporting coins from them illegal. The US has decided to honor the laws of those countries, it was recently backed up by the US courts. But it usually only applies to ancient coins. But to my knowledge, San Marino is not one of the countries. I suspect US Customs just made a mistake in this case because of the new enforcement policy. Guess time will tell.
Customs should not be prohibiting this package, but they make mistakes. There are new laws regarding coins, but remember the ones enforcing them are not collectors. So some reject any coins coming in, some allow all of them in, and others are better about just stopping the ones the law refers to. Hopefully your package will get to you. Good luck.
No, but then again I am in Europe anyway. Usually I buy coins from "local" dealers (in the EU), but my SM pieces I get directly from the AASFN (San Marino's numismatic office). People outside Europe may be better off, regarding customs etc., if they buy from dealers in their countries. And yes, it would be interesting to hear what happened to that shipment ... Christian
