SHIPPING COINS
DisneyFan
Posts: 2,172 ✭✭✭✭✭
Shipping coins can be totally frustrating. I just shipped a registered package today and this is how it should be done.
Can use a Priority Mail box. I used shredded paper as a filler. Only use brown mailing tape. The P.O. will not accept clear tape! Our P.O. no longer provides/sells tapes. All exposed edges must be taped. Box itself can be addressed. The P.O. will then postmark over all tape surfaces. Registered Mail Form needs to be completed.
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It's done every day by thousands of people with no problems.
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sounds like S.O.P. to me for registered. i bought my own tape and did it at home so as not to wait in line 10 minutes. clear tape is MUCH more easy to manipulate. that brown stuff is really onery not only to tamper with or get off but to even APPLY!
this is where i advise checking with a private shipper/insurer.
i'd prefer shipping 6 or 7 figures worth of coins (or anything) with a well-known, reliable, easy-to-work-with private specialty carrier ANY day of the week due to work-flow efficiency. too much fudge room for high-end stuff via usps, ups, fed-ex, dhl, etc. take a vid of packing the stuff up to prove protocols were followed. tbh, i now wonder how they'd feel if i/we used the brown tape to seal up the edges on overnight/express packages as well for private. hmmm.
why? there is nothing like working with true professional specialists for their field. shipping numismatic items is NO exception.
to be honest, so you REALLY feel how deep it goes with me. i'd go private insurer/shipping co OVER armored vehicle 98% of the time. best to leave a little exception on the back-end for specific situations.
I'm just relating my experience as a "first time" shipper of coins to a TPG. It's not going to be a regular habit. It's a heck of a lot easier to drop them off at a show. : )
As for the tape, it has to be paper tape so they can postmark it. That’s part of the security.
I've probably shipped 50+ coins, even with USPS and never had any issues knock on wood
glue back paper tape is on the shelf at most Staples stores. Just picked up a large roll last night for under $12.
Repetition of ignorance is ignorance raised to the power two.
Delighted to say mine cost $7.41 including tax, Thanks to the postal clerk who directed me there. : )
The best tape in my opinion is RAM board flooring protection tape. It's at box stores. Extremely strong. Tears easy to apply. Wide and one roll does many packages.
https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-909/Carton-Sealing-Tape/Pressure-Sensitive-Kraft-Tape-2-x-60-yds?pricode=WB0824
If you ship registered with frequency, get this stuff. I use clear reinforced tape on seams, then this goes on top.
"It's like God, Family, Country, except Sticker, Plastic, Coin."
When securing high value packages that meet USPS registered mail requirements most will agree that you should use a reinforced tape that does not tear easily as well as a water activated tape that cannot be removed once applied. Also works well for securing heavy non-registered flat rate boxes that might otherwise be easily damaged/dropped during shipment.
Repetition of ignorance is ignorance raised to the power two.
I’d never used or even considered using registered mail before becoming a coin collector a couple years ago. Now I can’t imagine life without it - for all of USPS’s faults, this is the one thing they do better than any other carrier when it comes to security (excepting private white-glove services that most of us can’t afford to use regularly).
Sent thousands of coins with envelope&stamp, normal box, and registered all with clear packing tape. Post office in the town over yells at me for everything, the other doesn't yell at me for anything. It might just be your post office.
I take 2 or 3 soaking wet folded paper towels and set on the kitchen counter. I pull correct length, pre-cut strips of the sticky side of the paper over the wet towels. They are perfectly wet and easily applied to the corners of the mailing boxes.
No. Clear packing tape is not allowed on registered mail because it won't take the cancel ink. If your PO allows it, they are the exception and in violation of postal regs.
https://faq.usps.com/s/article/What-are-Some-Packaging-and-Shipping-Tips-for-Mailing-Parcels#:~:text=(Registered Mail must be sealed,withstand normal processing and transportation.
https://pe.usps.com/archive/html/dmmarchive20030810/S911.htm
I use brown water activated tape for all my packages. You can pick up a dispenser for $30 online which makes applying it much easier. It’s very similar tape to what most e-commerce businesses use.
The first time I shipped registered, I wasn't aware of the paper tape requirement. Because of that, I have to open up and repackage the items into a new priority mailbox and use the tape that the lady behind the counter provided me. Appeared to be the safest way to ship and would use it for any high dollar shipment I have.
Collector
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Apparently the P.O. doesn't provide the tape anymore. I was told to go to Staples.
I have sent packages in padded envelopes first class mail never had any issues might take longer but it gets there and i use heavy duty packing tape clear
never use any other service but first class retail with tracking
Coins are available for sale at the link below.
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipMB44QKnEm-42vYDAe4e3qTATmDQNxOiN5_SCx7
For some, the cost of going to a show is much more. I have never sent a submission registered, but have never sent a submission worth more than $5K.
There are a lot of expert shippers here who really know how to safely package items for safe deliveries.
If you have problems you can come to my post office where the usps workers are used to unbelievable hand-holding for unprepared customers who want the usps folks to do everything for them including filling out the label.
They don't want the red ink stamp to smear so no clear tape. You can buy the brown tape at Staples among other places. Registered mail also gets kinder and gentler handling.
Get the string reinforced tape.
https://staples.com/Staples-Standard-Grade-Paper-Packing-Tape-2-8-x-125-yards-Each-468231-CC/product_468231
Also that's a lot of tape so unless you're a big user you could offers to sell a few feet to fellow members for a couple bucks.
i don't see it from the image, although the label specifies "fiberglass reinforced"; does this have those white threads?
Just learn the usps shipping rules, get the necessary material, package it go up to the counter ask for insurance, get tracking, return receipt, and ship.
I wouldn't recommend sending $25,000 worth of coins that way...
Hopefully that's not the only reason why you would go to a show. : )
Which was the reason for my post. I was hoping to share my newly learned knowledge with others.
Unfortunately, that was not the experience at my P.O. Oh yes, I was the only one there the whole time. Thankfully, this is not my normal experience as people are often so helpful.
Except that a couple weeks ago there was a registered package left in one of the oversize lockers for me. No signature, nothing. I was ready to get in line to tee off on someone for the way it was handled (they've bungled normal signature confirmation this way in the past), but there were 8 people in line and nobody working. I contacted the shipper, told him I had it, then told him to inquire as to the package's whereabouts just to send my PO into a panic.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
yes. If you try to tear it they become easily visible.
Repetition of ignorance is ignorance raised to the power two.
it would seem unnecessary for you to do something like that except, if no signature is acquired from the recipient, there is a chance also chain of custody may have been broken and if you hadn't been the one to receive the box, someone could have been out 4, 5, 6 etc figures worth of items, in this case probably coins or had one nasty fight on their hands to get compensation.
those lockers are VERY convenient but i'd have had 1-2 or so go missing from those. i won't speculate if they went into another locker or never even made it. i had the key but nothing in there. i've also received pick-up slips in my normal box but they coudln't find anything and i ended up never receiving the item(s). THANKFULLY, this never happened with anything of value but easily could have. also, these are the exceptions whereas i've done thousands to and fro, mostly problem-free.
anyone who receives high value parcels in a community box/locker should seriously consider using a post office box for such shipments.
Repetition of ignorance is ignorance raised to the power two.
Unless you buy one of the big PO boxes your packages that don't fit will end up in one of those lockers.
Not at my post office. They leave a notice to pick up item from the counter. And even if I did have to share a community locker inside the post office I would consider it more secure than one on the street or at an apartment complex where there are no employees or video cameras nearby.
Repetition of ignorance is ignorance raised to the power two.
and in that one sentence you make me re-evaluate the cost/value of "expensive" larger PO boxes. (say 250-450 per year)
i guess it would make sense if i'm hypothetically receiving/shipping 6-7 figures worth of coins and don't want them coming to my home, the larger boxes do make sense, unless most of those are signature required but i guess for packages that aren't and aren't really all that big but too big for the small boxes, it would make sense to have a bigger one. just not by the front door.
also, the cost is a write-off.
Mine, either (all three of them).
Small town POs are particularly good for special and personal handling. I have a small PO Box and anything oversized gets held behind the counter, not jammed into the box.
Just a WAG, but I'd bet somebody just screwed up. Registered Mail always requires a signature and there's no way to get one from a PO box.
If a signature is required you should get the pink slip and not the package. You have to sign before they turn the package over to you. UNLESS COVID changed that.
You should. That's what I meant when I said somebody screwed up.
That's what is supposed to happen. Instead, someone took the package out of the "cage" and put it in the locker. Of course, there's no actual accountability for doing this, so complaints outside of a congressional inquiry will be meaningless.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
it is kinda moot but do you think perhaps it was never in the cage and went straight from a truck to the locker?
i really only ask because of where you live. a BIG city or at least close to one. i can't even FATHOM the amount of mail big cities like yours process daily. although, if it followed protocol after it left your hands, it should have only been in hands of people that should know better and probably know that people have possible been fired/investigated for handling those packages improperly because they are usually heavily insured, ie the PO has exposure.
It has to be signed out of the cage so someone would be accountable unless they didn't sign. I'd get clarification from the PM.
Technically, unless you pay extra for restricted delivery, anyone at the delivery destination [which is the PO if you have a PO box] can sign for it; possibly even a USPS employee if they have your permission. Not a bad thing if you can't access your PO box during normal business hours.
Not a terribly big city or post office where my box is.
"Removed from locker" isn't a good look for the last tracking update.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
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ya know, now i do recall you saying this before. i was initially thinking your were closer in chi town.