Customs Seizing Coins !! What you think ?

Hi everyone,

I was taking a stroll across this site- mainly, checking different user accounts of my home country India, when I noticed an unusual and sad trend. The Indian Customs Office seems to seize many, actually quite many, packages containing coins. Almost 70% of all negative reviews I read on different Indian accounts seems to involve the customs office in one form or the other- be it the Kolkata office or the Mumbai one, this problem doesn't sadly seem to be specific to a region but spread across the nation.

I'm yet to have a swap over numista, as I still live with my parents and they overthink safety issues about making our address public. Therefore, I exchange/buy outside of numista as of now. It would be helpful if you could share any similar experience, and how you got around it/are stuck to it.

regards,
Soubhik.

PS- Also, are there any laws, in India or other nations, which protects the interests of us numismatists?

Hi Soubhik,

I can unfortunately just answer for France.

And no, no specific protection for coins.

Either we use private services (UPS, DHL, DPD etc.) and the service is expensive but safe. I have not heard of any lost sendings.

Or we use the public service ("La Poste") and the situation is totally different, from the best to the worst.
The best: your coin is delivered the following day to any domestic location, for less than 50 euro cents.
The worst: your coins are stolen, the envelop arrives emply and torn, you can only complain to the post office, which does not care. Even registered letters can disapear, the post administration explaining you that since the sending of coin is stricly forbiden, the insurance won't cover the loss.

I ask the question to the community in an other thread.

Have all a good day, take care,

vp

Quote: "Chatterjee_Soubhik"​Hi everyone,
​
​I was taking a stroll across this site- mainly, checking different user accounts of my home country India, when I noticed an unusual and sad trend. The Indian Customs Office seems to seize many, actually quite many, packages containing coins. Almost 70% of all negative reviews I read on different Indian accounts seems to involve the customs office in one form or the other- be it the Kolkata office or the Mumbai one, this problem doesn't sadly seem to be specific to a region but spread across the nation.
​
​I'm yet to have a swap over numista, as I still live with my parents and they overthink safety issues about making our address public. Therefore, I exchange/buy outside of numista as of now. It would be helpful if you could share any similar experience, and how you got around it/are stuck to it.
​
​regards,
​Soubhik.
​
​PS- Also, are there any laws, in India or other nations, which protects the interests of us numismatists?

​your address does not become public on Numista through swapping. You would have to send a private message to your swap partner informing him of your address once you confirm the swap. If someone were to post your address publicly on the forum, you can report it and have it removed immediately.

I’m no longer in India, but I had to go to the customs house a couple times in Bombay. Thankfully I got the coins in both episodes. Technically it is illegal to send money (coins or banknotes) through the Mail. Similarly it is illegal to take out coins that are 100 or more years old out of the country by post or physically travelling without ASI and customs permits. However there are no restrictions on bringing coins into India no matter how old they are.

You have no recourse if the letter never arrives from abroad or if your letter never reaches its destination even if you send by registered post. You are not suppose to send/receive coins in the first place. Similarly you would not be able to insure that package for the same reason without lying on your declaration form and in effect voiding the insured amount.

That said, I still sent coins by the mail and I would have done around 300 swaps between 1999-2013. There were only a couple instances where the coins did not reach or I did not receive. A couple other times, I was simply cheated by my swap partner (pre Numista days).

Although I’m Indian myself, I have to say I would be very careful swapping with fellow Indian collectors. Unfortunately, while it’s true that to some extent customs comes in the way, very often there are plenty who register as users with the sole aim of cheating genuine collectors. It was a major problem in the early 2000s, however I feel it has definitely improved these days.

In my opinion, indian post was by and large reliable provided you used registered post and packed the coins well. However, you would also have to ask your swap partner to send by registered mail if you want to receive the coins In one piece, this is by no means a guarantee of course. Sometimes misunderstandings arise as a result which lead to bad ratings