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I've seen lots of ebay listings that mention will ship anywhere within United States only. What's up with that? Does Canadian customs open and inspect all packages, perhaps damaging or confiscating what they decide is contraband?

think they are afraid of scams and such. probably high shipping costs as well

It's illegal to melt or export large amounts of pennies or nickels.

The reg is at the top of the page.

Has anyone encountered customs issues shipping bulk coins from Canada to the US? I realize of course that there is no shipping ban in that direction but I was just wondering. Is it better to declare them as "coins" or something more vague like "collectible tokens"?

psi wrote:Has anyone encountered customs issues shipping bulk coins from Canada to the US? I realize of course that there is no shipping ban in that direction but I was just wondering. Is it better to declare them as "coins" or something more vague like "collectible tokens"?

I have shipped coins to Canada one time, and it's the first and last time I'll ever do it. It was absolutely horrible. I tried to go USPS, but there was a weight limit on the large Flat Rate box. I tried to put them into small Flat Rate boxes, but the shipping was outrageous. I tried UPS, but they won't mail coins. I tried FedEx, but they won't either. I tried a Flat Rate envelope, but it was the wrong color. Tried a Flat Rate envelope again, finally got it to go through, then my recipient in Canada had to pay something like $200 extra because it was a transaction of merchandise, even though I marked it "gift." Apparently, had I also sent along a gift card, it would have been covered.

I will never try to mail any coins out of the country after that experience. Period.

Customs opens just about everything going into Canada. The trouble sometimes results in them not re-wrapping your package half so carefully.

I used to ship glass telegraph insulators to Canadian collectors...some made it intact, others not. Never had a collector in the States receive broken glass.

After 9/11 it got worse, so I stopped international shipping.

BTW, they get to make the decision on whether your package is a gift, so I'd be careful with that.

Just discovered that Purolator bans shipping coins too, not sure why that is but Canada post appears not to have restrictions on currency aside from the $10k reporting limit.

http://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/manua ... toms-e.asp