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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;lrbguy, post: 3200321, member: 88829&quot;]Folks were recently discussing how nerve wracking it can be to wait for coins to clear customs.&nbsp; You never know when a coin is going to clear, nor how long it will take.&nbsp; But U.S. customs may not be the worst evil demon to bedevil our overseas purchases.&nbsp; Consider this.</p><p><br /></p><p>Last April I purchased these three coins from an auction house in an Italian State.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]828095[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]828096[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]828097[/ATTACH]</p><p>The total came to 351 euros with DHL shipping (at a whopping 50EUR), which I paid via Paypal on April 14.&nbsp; Time went by and to be perfectly honest I forgot all about them.&nbsp; Recently I started getting notices that DHL was going to make a delivery for so and so, and for the life of me I could not recall what it was going to be.&nbsp; Yesterday I took delivery on these three, a full 7 months plus after payment had been made.&nbsp; But this time customs wasn&#039;t the culprit, nor was the house being negligent. </p><p><br /></p><p>Each coin was accompanied by a release from the Italian Cultural Ministry.&nbsp; The Faustina was approved for export to the US on June 18.&nbsp; But the other two, for reasons unknown, were not approved until September 11 (by a different hand).&nbsp; I&#039;m guessing that the file got parked someplace after the Faustina was approved, and there it sat, held up by a combination of government strikes, staff changes, and neglect for a few more months.&nbsp; As soon as the house got them back they hustled them off by express.&nbsp; At least that way they didn&#039;t have to worry about handling by the Italian Post (notorious entity that).</p><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;m leery of buying out of Italy (can you tell?) but the folks at this house are not to blame.&nbsp; Fortunately I was NOT on pins and needles over this one.&nbsp; My system for keeping track of these purchases is practically non-existent.&nbsp; When it comes it comes.&nbsp; THEN I log it in.&nbsp; Until then, it is not yet mine (even if it legally is).&nbsp; One nice thing is that I now have paperwork for an ironclad provenance basis.</p><p><br /></p><p>Anyone else with a cultural ministry story to tell?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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