Bringing back U.S. silver coins from abroad

[Recyclersteve]

I've got another question for a friend of mine doing some upcoming travel to Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

If he buys U.S. silver coins (silver American Eagles or junk 90% silver) in Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, is there any problem bringing those into the U.S.? Are there any special taxes or duty fees to be paid? I know, for instance, that England has the infamous 20% Value Added Tax (VAT), which (I assume) functions like a sales tax. I doubt he'd spend more than a few thousand U.S. dollars on silver in all the countries combined.

I'm gonna try to give him a short course in counterfeit detection, but any comments in this area would be appreciated too. Even though he's not going to China, I understand there are lots of counterfeits which come from China. Presumably some of those could have ended up with trading partners like Australia and Singapore and I will be very cautious about explaining this aspect to him.

Thanks in advance for any assistance or websites that members might provide.

P.S. I asked a different question for the same friend on a different thread- it was about the acceptability of certain coins in those countries.

[johnbrickner]

From US Customs on importing gold coins. Couldn't find anything on silver. Don't see how it could be much different for silver. Best advise given is "There is no duty on gold coins, medals or bullion but these items must be declared to a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officer".

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail ... uggested/1

I also remember seeing something about their might be a problem importing/exporting gold/silver during times of national emergency or war, but I don't think that's an issue right now. And while searching I found all over the place importing counterfits unproperly marked is a very bad thing to do.

This from Robert Bauman of the Sovereign Society:
"If you must personally carry coins, my advice is to contact the nearest office of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency, well ahead of travel, and explain what you propose to do and ask them how you can conform to the law. You should ask for and receive a written response so that you can show it if questioned by ICE (immigration and customs agents). Also ask Customs if you need to notify them of your date and departure flight as a precaution against the very real possibility that a local Customs agent at the airport may not know the rules that cover this situation."

[fansubs_ca]

Usually once a broad gets her hands on your silver coins odds aren't good of
getting them back... ^_-

[Shazbot57]

Usually once a broad gets her hands on your silver coins odds aren't good of
getting them back... ^_-

I resemble that remark!

[Recyclersteve]

To clarify my initial question I was actually referring to taxes, duties, hidden charges and the like when leaving other countries and coming into the U.S. So if U.S. 90% junk silver is bought in Malaysia, taken to Singapore and then to Australia and New Zealand before coming back to the U.S. are there any special charges or taxes for doing so that anyone knows of?

I'm not sure of the order of travel to the above countries- I'm just speculating based on where they are on the map relative to each other. For instance, my friend could start off in New Zealand and end up in Malaysia instead. And I'm gonna tell him that if he does something on his own like go to North Korea, then he should expect trouble.

Thanks to those who responded. Any other thoughts or websites on this?

[galenrog]

There should be no problem with bringing old silver US coins into the US, as long as they are not fakes.

As to traveling with the coins from one country to another, that is up to the other countries. You may need documents showing where the coins were obtained, and where the final destination is, which would be shown upon leaving or entering those countries. Best to check with consulates or embassies of the countries you plan to visit.

[fansubs_ca]

Normally if you will be taking the coins back out of the country when you leave
most countries won't tax that but the problem is when you arrive they might not
believe you will take them back out so with multiple countries there are multiple
chance for problems.

I remember someone telling me the Phillipines will want you to put up a security
deposit to allow you to bring certain possesions into the country for up to 6 months
but anything that stays longer than 6 months is subject to full import tax. (In his
case he was looking into bringing his motorcycle with him.) That is just one country
as an example though, every country will be a bit different.

If it's anywhere other than the very last country before returning home you may
want to ship them directly back to a friend at home who will hold them for you
until you are back so you don't have to drag them through multiple border
crossings. (Unless it's a really small quantity that you don't consider worth
the shipping cost.)

[frugalcanuck]

I would not ship them from over seas. I can speak from personal experience when I shipped things from southern India to my parents here in Canada. Both times the packages were opened and the the items that were made of wood were drilled into or broken open and the items that were glass were cracked or smashed open. Every single item in both packages were tampered with and either scratched, drilled, or smashed. This was done by the government. CBSA (Canadian Boarder Services Agency) put 1 piece of CBSA tape to close the boxes and shipped them the rest of the way to my parents house. After I found this out I stopped mailing things from non-western countries and started paying for extra luggage on my return trip.

I don't have an answer on bringing back silver from abroad, but I would not trust international mail.

When I was looking for silver in my travels there was about a 50 : 1 ratio of counterfeit to non-counterfeit for most of the stores. I had to go into "high end" stores with lots of security to find real stuff. The jewelry was really nice and reasonably priced but the coins were all way over priced in those stores compared to what things go for here on realcent.

[AGgressive Metal]

You are not really importing or exporting them commercially if its just your personal collection. Coin dealers fly in from all over for the FUN show in Florida. US 90% is no different legally than US clad.