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Periodically, I go out-of-state for business and I'm gone for a good bit of time in the new state. I have been thinking about bringing my (small) collection with me in my laptop bag and the usual permitted one carry-on, weight permitting. Does anyone have any experience or thoughts on flying (domestic) with your collection? I don't have that much, really. Two (2) small 1 foot by 4 inch by 4 inch high plastic boxes that weigh less than 10 pounds, and with very little actual silver. Mostly sorting equipment or plastic tubes that are not yet full etc, as well as maybe 20 white basic slabs for the decent coins that were found while sorting. Again, very basic stuff here.

Key Questions:

1. What will the TSA not permit? Example: anything to 'pick' or clean your coins with is probably not allowed. Maybe no gram/weight scale or batteries. I would think rolls of US coin should not be a problem. I would imagine going through security will be a pain, as they will look at me a lot more closely. Comments are appreciated.

2. Airlines. Is there anything the airlines will not allow?

3. MOST importantly, I have my typical (5) Dansco folders, which I do NOT want to let out of my sight, nor put them in checked baggage below the plane for obvious reasons (ie theft). I've spent WAY too many hours upgrading and trying to get a really good set (pennies, nickels, halves, wheats ). Total weight maybe only 10 pounds. Of course, I could send all of this registered mail before my flight and insure it so that they have to pay for it if they lose it. Still, I'm really hesitant, especially with the really good quality albums. How would you take your Dansco albums with you to your destination?

4. Silver/gold in very small amounts. Any particulars on flying with this? Example: 5-10 oz silver and maybe 1-2 oz gold.

I have flown with a quarter pound of pennies, a bunch of nickels, and 8 oz. silver bullion rounds in my carry on with no problems.

I've flown with rolls of quarters, pennies, and other denominations with no problem.

After visiting a refinery in Toronto with Daniel recently, I flew home (domestically) with 4 kilos of gold and a 100 oz silver bar in my carry-on bag
The initial security guard hauled me into a private booth and began to have a fit, but luckily the supervisor on duty was of East Indian persuasion.
He pointed to the exit and simply said "Go." I could have sworn he gave me a wink.

Travelling domestically in Canada with any amount of coin/jewellery and/or bullion is not an issue. But the TSA is nuts so who knows.

Nickelmeister wrote:After visiting a refinery in Toronto with Daniel recently, I flew home (domestically) with 4 kilos of gold and a 100 oz silver bar in my carry-on bag
The initial security guard hauled me into a private booth and began to have a fit, but luckily the supervisor on duty was of East Indian persuasion.
He pointed to the exit and simply said "Go." I could have sworn he gave me a wink.

Travelling domestically in Canada with any amount of coin/jewellery and/or bullion is not an issue. But the TSA is nuts so who knows.

Thats a nice travel perk

There is not a limit on how much coin you bring, but if you have a lot, expect a search at security. I had a large ziploc bag of halves that got me a search once. I also frequently have a full box of coin in my carry on as well. When I have a box, I just take it out of my carryon and put it in the bin with my keys, etc. This way they glace at it, maybe test it for explosives, but they leave my bags alone.

Nickelmeister wrote:After visiting a refinery in Toronto with Daniel recently, I flew home (domestically) with 4 kilos of gold and a 100 oz silver bar in my carry-on bag
The initial security guard hauled me into a private booth and began to have a fit, but luckily the supervisor on duty was of East Indian persuasion.
He pointed to the exit and simply said "Go." I could have sworn he gave me a wink.

Travelling domestically in Canada with any amount of coin/jewellery and/or bullion is not an issue. But the TSA is nuts so who knows.

With $200,000 in gold and silver in a carry on, I would not let it out of my sight for a second.

Damn...200 Grand?? My my...good thing they didn't stop you. Although I'm sure that you would have shown some sort of paperwork etc.

Question removed due to being none of my damn business.

Nickelmeister was nice enough to share his story with us lets not poke and prod into his personal and business life....





There is no law against flying with bullion. They will have to search/look at your bags to see what it is, since they can't scan through it, but there is no reason why they shouldn't let you go.

I've carried a three-ring binder full of gold and silver coins through the airport before. They wanted to see it just because it looked like a bunch of metal but it was not much hassle. The guy goes, "are you a dealer?"
"No just a collector"
"OK, I just had to take a look cause I couldn't tell what it was."

Unless you are leaving the country, in which case you might have to declare stuff over $10k, it shouldn't be a problem.

Also I traveled to Europe with a bunch of forex coins on two occasions. One time to Germany with a few hundred D-marks and one time to Spain with a few thousand Pesetas. No issues.

I have flown to mexico twice with several thousand peso's and had no issues. I forget about that untill AM mention his forex metals

highroller4321 wrote:I have flown to mexico twice with several thousand peso's and had no issues. I forget about that untill AM mention his forex metals

10,000 Pesos is ONLY $817 U.S.

Remember 20 dollars is .9675 au aprox so 4 kilos was near $2,658 in gold dollars . USA , sure carry your Au/ Ag but keep it under 500 oz as the carry on would be quite heavey top put in overhead bin.

When on business trips I would do a bit of sorting. I learned more than one roll together would make security look in the bag, but if you disperse them through the bag they sail through well.

Large quantities of coin will always get you a cursory questioning - but I have always just said, 'It's coins.' They take a quick look and let you go. There really shouldn't be any paperwork necessary unless you are carrying over $10,000 USD face value. Which would of course be A LOT of coins.

you cant hurt anyone w/ PMs

.02FYI wrote:Remember 20 dollars is .9675 au aprox so 4 kilos was near $2,658 in gold dollars . USA , sure carry your Au/ Ag but keep it under 500 oz as the carry on would be quite heavey top put in overhead bin.

500 oz is only 31 lbs

slickeast wrote:

highroller4321 wrote:I have flown to mexico twice with several thousand peso's and had no issues. I forget about that untill AM mention his forex metals

10,000 Pesos is ONLY $817 U.S.

And he lived like a king for a month on it one corona at a time

One time I flew with a roll of Kennedy halves and a bunch of copper pennies/proof sets. The TSA folks did pull me aside and go through my box. They didn't seem to know what they were looking at but were curious. I explained it was from my coin collection when I was a child and my parents wanted me to clear my stuff out of their house. They had no problems with it and I went on my way.