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With all kinds of sanctions going on, it is legal to sell N. Korea coins?

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  • SapyxSapyx Posts: 1,977 ✭✭✭✭✭

    It's perfectly legal to sell North Korean coins, so long as the funds are not being directed towards the North Korean regime. So, you couldn't buy or import coins directly from the North Korean mint. But if you own a brick-and-mortar coin shop and someone walks in with a DPRK bullion coin, it's perfectly legal for you to buy it - and then on-sell it to another customer.

    It is not, however, permitted to sell such coins on eBay. EBay has bots that check for "North Korea" in the title and description of items being listed, and refuses to list items containing that phrase. EBay also will very likely pull a North Korean coin that is sold without that specific phrase int he name eg. "Communist Korea", "DPRK" or "Pyongyang Korea", if someone reports it to them. These are eBay policies and rules, however, not laws. The same rules applies to Cuba, Syria, Iran and Russian-occupied Ukraine. EBay policy page.

    It's also particularly annoying that eBay applies these US-sanctions-based policies to eBay worldwide. I'm in Australia and use eBay Australia. The Australian government has no diplomatic problem with the Cuban government. Yet eBay's policy against selling Cuban coins affects me, too.

    Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.
    Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"

    Apparently I have been awarded one DPOTD. B)
  • amwldcoinamwldcoin Posts: 11,269 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The big gripe for me about Cuba and ebay is they won't allow the pre-communist coins that were actually struck her in the USA and perfectly legal to buy and sell here. I had an in depth discussion up to a supervisor level and was finally told they just don't want to deal with separating the 2!

    @Sapyx said:
    It's perfectly legal to sell North Korean coins, so long as the funds are not being directed towards the North Korean regime. So, you couldn't buy or import coins directly from the North Korean mint. But if you own a brick-and-mortar coin shop and someone walks in with a DPRK bullion coin, it's perfectly legal for you to buy it - and then on-sell it to another customer.

    It is not, however, permitted to sell such coins on eBay. EBay has bots that check for "North Korea" in the title and description of items being listed, and refuses to list items containing that phrase. EBay also will very likely pull a North Korean coin that is sold without that specific phrase int he name eg. "Communist Korea", "DPRK" or "Pyongyang Korea", if someone reports it to them. These are eBay policies and rules, however, not laws. The same rules applies to Cuba, Syria, Iran and Russian-occupied Ukraine. EBay policy page.

    It's also particularly annoying that eBay applies these US-sanctions-based policies to eBay worldwide. I'm in Australia and use eBay Australia. The Australian government has no diplomatic problem with the Cuban government. Yet eBay's policy against selling Cuban coins affects me, too.

  • coinkatcoinkat Posts: 22,721 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 12, 2021 4:50AM

    Pre 1959 Cuba without question should be fair game to buy and sell... period. Laziness is simply not an excuse. Overtime and likely in my lifetime, the Cuban coin/currency market has significant potential. Watch the ABC Peso series- great design and the surviving population will remain a source of controversy. The surviving population may be significantly less than we currently think. And that may even turn out to be true for the Star Peso.

    Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.

  • WCCWCC Posts: 2,349 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @coinkat said:
    Overtime and likely in my lifetime, the Cuban coin/currency market has significant potential. Watch the ABC Peso series- great design and the surviving population will remain a source of controversy. The surviving population may be significantly less than we currently think. And that may even turn out to be true for the Star Peso.

    I agree with the direction of your sentiments in the sense that there is a "natural constituency" for this coinage who may have a willingness to pay higher prices. However, if the supply is more limited than generally believed as you claim, it's potentially going to be a negative.

    Scarce can be both a positive factor and a limitation. Morgan dollars aren't so expensive because the coins are scarce. It's because under the current TPG economic model, the supply and quality distribution enables a large collector base to buy what they want across a range of price points. From this far above average collector base, a low but large enough number compete for the most expensive highest grade examples.

  • SaorAlbaSaorAlba Posts: 7,466 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I have a couple of cheapo FAO commemoratives from DPRK, not sure where or how I got them but I know I didn't buy the damned things and Kim Jong Un doesn't like my American self. So who knows?

    In memory of my kitty Seryozha 14.2.1996 ~ 13.9.2016 and Shadow 3.4.2015 - 16.4.21
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