Airline woes for coin dealers

BillJones

I was glad to see on last night’s TV news that one of the reasons that business airline travel is down is security hassles. If you are a coin dealer, or if you are in any other profession that requires you to carry valuable merchandise, airline travel is a potential nightmare.

One of the only defenses that I have is to blend in with the rest of the passengers. That means no jewelry and no flashy clothes, in short nothing that will make you look wealthy or prosperous. I carry my coins in a standard travel bag that either goes over my shoulder or a standard suitcase on wheels.

When I was going to the FUN show last January I knew that I was going to subjected to a private search. I don’t count on the other foolishness. When my bag went the x-ray machine the idiot who was monitoring the screen yelled to the top of her lungs, “He’s got coins!” Thanks lady for telling every crook within earshot exactly who they could target for a robbery or mugging.

I’ve been lucky that I have not been one of the random passengers who gets picked at the boarding gate. If you are subject a search at the entrance you can get a private search. If you fingered at the gate there seems to be no place for that.

If the airlines want people to use their services, they need to be concerned about the safety of their passengers, not only from hijackers but from muggers and other violent criminals as well. Until they fix that problem, flying on airplanes with expensive goods will be like going to the undertaker or the dentist. You might have to do it, but you are never a happy customer. That makes marketing your product very difficult.

gsaguy

BillJones,

So far I've experienced it all....from no check at the x-ray machine to a complete search in a private room followed by another at the gate. Fortunately, in the latter instance, the airline employee took me a bit farther aside and just glanced in my case. He seemed to understand my uneasiness about pulling coins out of my bag before boarding the plane, not to mention that I told him it'd take 20 minutes for me to repack it all.

One security agent, after looking at a couple of PCGS boxes of coins, gazed at the coins through a translucent NGC box and then handed it back to me. This prompted me to later post on this forum that perhaps PCGS and NGC should consider making their boxes of clear plastic so the coins would be easily visible without opening the box. While not every security agent would forego looking a every coin in the box, some would, thereby saving everyone time.

I did have one agent look at every single coin in 5 PCGS boxes, front and back!

GSAGUY

tradedollarnut

He was probably a closet coin collector getting a free peek show! ;-)

CharlieB

Interesting to hear what you coin dealers are experiencing at
the airports. I was wondering what problems you might be
encountering. As for the idiot who yelled "He's got coins",
I'd have to answer back "Do you have an accomplice here or something?"

Nice thread. I like it anytime you dealers post threads related
to running your businesses. They are interesting to read.

- Charlie B -

kieferscoins

Article about the screeners 15 minutes of training

Cameron Kiefer

agentjim007

So I suppose I shouldn't try to make a deal on the first day while the dealer is still pissed off about the flight. From now on I'll give him/her a day to cool off.

jom

<< <i>I did have one agent look at every single coin in 5 PCGS boxes, front and back! >>



Maybe he was intesting in buying. You should have quoted him a price! lol

jom

nwcs

<< <i>

<< <i>I did have one agent look at every single coin in 5 PCGS boxes, front and back! >>



Maybe he was intesting in buying. You should have quoted him a price! lol

jom >>



Yeah, and then you get the REALLY special treatment for sarcasm! The last time the searched me thoroughly, it was all I could do not to smart off. Like talking about my hidden nuclear device or something. They spent more time looking at my bag, than me. And all that was in my bag was 3 sheets of paper and my Bible!

Neil

rkfish

I have only carried more than 1 box since 9/11 and that was to Long Beach in the spring. No problems until leaving LAX....same thing as happened to Bill, the screener sees em on the screen and calls another person over to look and then...."COINS" let em ride! I'm thinking geeeezzz guys and girls....next time pull em out and show to everyone! If they are singles (5-6) with a rubber band around them they don't pay any attention to them.....at least so far.

Funny, my wife and I flew out of Atlanta this past weekend and they finally took my keychain scissors that I have taken with me 8-10 times without a problem.....then I get to my destination and turn on CNN and a lady gets through ATL security, boards a flight, and gets to her destination with a pistol....hmmmm.

Trust me.....I'm a Law Enforcement Officer.....I don't have a problem with security....would like to see a little more privacy in the searches if asked for and without the announcements!

TomB

It doesn't always work, however, you can request a private inspection as allowed by law. Laminate a card and have written on it that you are a courier carrying valuable merchandise and have written on it that you request the private inspection as per 14 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 108, Section 108.9. This information may be found in a more complete version in the December, 2001 Numismatist.

As an aside, I have been inspected twice. The first time was when traveling by car at the US-Canada border and they nearly tore the car apart. It probably held me back by two hours. My companion's luggage was completely gone through with all the clothes left on a table while my luggage was not touched. It was the only thing not inspected. The second time was at this past ANA in NYC where a security guard, who had seen me and spoke to me during the previous days of the show, asked me to open my bag for inspection. He told me that I fit the profile they were using that afternoon.

dbldie55

<< <i>He told me that I fit the profile they were using that afternoon. >>



Wonder if they will ever profile the criminals. Seems they choose to pick on people who they are sure will cause no harm. The airlines are no safer now than they ever were. But now they are working on getting rid of their customers.

UncleJoe

TomB, What kind of profile may I ask?

Joe.

jom

<< <i>TomB, What kind of profile may I ask? >>



Evil looking guys with a green face.

jom

1jester

The only time I was searched (in the US) was about 6 years ago, and I don't know what set off the search, the Bible in my briefcase, or the film canisters and vitamin bottles that the agent kept searching through. He had a very sarcastic, sneering attitude and as he opened the film canisters and vitamin bottles, he kept looking at me and asking, "maybe it's in here,...or in here...!! Or maybe you have it in HERE...!!" What an a$$hole.

braddick

<< <i>

<< <i>TomB, What kind of profile may I ask? >>

Evil looking guys with a green face. jom >>


Yes, but TomB can be proud. We all know that green is the hardest toning color to find.

1jester

Green isn't that hard to come by. Just slap them puppies in some PVC, and presto---GREEN POISON.

supercoin

He had a very sarcastic, sneering attitude and as he opened the film canisters and vitamin bottles, he kept looking at me and asking, "maybe it's in here,...or in here...!! Or maybe you have it in HERE...!!

I take it he didn't find it.

So where was it?

cointagious

even if it means driving 1200 miles each way(and i have), i avoid the airlines. the horror stories you guys are telling are the reason why.

BillJones

I must fit the profile for almost EVERY airport inspection. I’m a 53-year-old white male with gray hair, a bald spot and paunch. The vast majority of times that was I have flown since 9/11 I’ve been pulled over for the magic wand and shoe inspection. At one point when my wife and I had connecting flights I was pulled over 3 out of the 4 times where there were inspections despite the fact that I had not left the restricted boarding area of either airport since I had left Boston. In Miami the person who searched me was abusive and surly, and could barely speak English.

If the airlines want to known, that’s one of the reasons why we are staying away in droves. Airline travel stinks!

My wife and I have concluded that this is reverse profiling. Since the inspectors have been told not to unduly hassle minorities, especially those of Arabic decent, they’ve stepped up their inspections of white males. After all we are the one group that can be discriminated against with impunity.

And oh yes they pulled over my 87 year old mother when she flew twice last year. And on a flight from Tampa – St Pete they were looking hard at all of those folks in airport wheelchairs with canes, walkers, rheumatism and advanced arthritis too. Terrorism comes in many forms.

griffin6

The height of ludicrous "security" procedure is when you fly two legs on an outbound trip only to have the computer randomly pick you for the gate search on the second leg. You've already flown xxx hundred miles on one of their airplanes, been in the security area all the time in between, but...

I am a great believer in good security, was a security NCO in the army and know all the drills. What we have today is ten percent security and ninety percent eyewash. The reality is that the American public would not accept the measures it would take to have real security. We are a free society used to free movement and are further hampered by our fear of being politically incorrect.

Anyway, reinforced coc kpit doors is a good thing. Sky marshals may be a good thing if they have sufficient qualifications and training (otherwise, they're a weapon source for a trained terrorist who boarded without one). The hoopla at the airport with armed reservists at each check-in x-ray is more fantasy than real value.

As an American, I appreciate THAT efforts are being made, but not the specific efforts. As a coin dealer, the procedures are particularly frustrating because they put me further at risk without being effective. The worst is when they want to search both you and your bag... in different areas. That's when you have to put your foot down!

1jester

Supercoin, you're right! He didn't. I had forgotten about it, but it was in a film canister that he (luckily) didn't check.