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Slightly worried about my Registered package...should I be?
opportunity
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I sent an expensive coin yesterday, and packed it very well, all except for the brown tape which I do not have any yet. So I took it to the post office double boxed with the outer box being one of those VHS tape over sized boxes that USPS provides for Priority. So, the clerk got the brown tape, and just kind of slopped it around the short edges (around the circumference) and that was about it. It really looked like it could be easily peeled off and replaced. Is this normal, or should I have insisted the whole box be wrapped?
Early American Copper, Bust and Seated.
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Early American Copper, Bust and Seated.
But I am sure it will be fine.
<< <i>Ok, I guess now my worry level has deflated slightly. It's just that this is a "can't lose" coin and I used to think the brown tape was some sort of critical security measure. >>
They only require tape on the seams.
<< <i>Is this normal, or should I have insisted the whole box be wrapped? >>
In case you need something else to worry about, it's against postal regulations for the clerk to wrap a registered package for you. From the DMM:
2.3.3 Sealing
[3-3-14] The mailer must securely seal envelopes. Paper or cellulose strips or wax or paper seals must not be placed over the intersections of flaps of letter-size envelopes where the postmark impressions are made. Packages must be sealed with mucilage or glue or with plain paper or cloth tape. Packages containing currency or securities may not be sealed exclusively by paper strips, but must first be sealed securely with mucilage or glue. Large envelopes (flats) that are completely sealed and that also have paper strips or paper tape across the intersections of the flaps may be considered packages for sealing requirements. To be used on Registered Mail, tape must visibly damage the envelope or wrapper if removed and must absorb the ink in a postmark impression. USPS employees are not permitted to help customers prepare or seal mail to be registered.
Early American Copper, Bust and Seated.
My PO seals them for me all the time. You are just fine.
<< <i>Ok, I guess now my worry level has deflated slightly. It's just that this is a "can't lose" coin and I used to think the brown tape was some sort of critical security measure. >>
They use brown tape to cover the edges and then stamp that with red ink which would reveal if it had been tampered with. The brown tape has the proper surface so that the ink stamp won't smear. As long as the box surface itself [and flat rate and other USPS boxes don't]
doesn't smear, it isn't necessary to tape over the whole thing. OTOH, flat rate envelopes won't accept the ink stamp without smearing so it is advised not to use those.
Latin American Collection
<< <i>I have used Registered Mail from USPS since 1975 and have NEVER lost a package! >>
Also true. A few have had loooong delays but never lost one.
Worry more about the lack of updates with tracking.
Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. - Bastiat
<< <i>
<< <i>Is this normal, or should I have insisted the whole box be wrapped? >>
In case you need something else to worry about, it's against postal regulations for the clerk to wrap a registered package for you. From the DMM:
2.3.3 Sealing
[3-3-14] The mailer must securely seal envelopes. Paper or cellulose strips or wax or paper seals must not be placed over the intersections of flaps of letter-size envelopes where the postmark impressions are made. Packages must be sealed with mucilage or glue or with plain paper or cloth tape. Packages containing currency or securities may not be sealed exclusively by paper strips, but must first be sealed securely with mucilage or glue. Large envelopes (flats) that are completely sealed and that also have paper strips or paper tape across the intersections of the flaps may be considered packages for sealing requirements. To be used on Registered Mail, tape must visibly damage the envelope or wrapper if removed and must absorb the ink in a postmark impression. USPS employees are not permitted to help customers prepare or seal mail to be registered. >>
Cloth tape? Mucilage? Is this 1910? Now of course these days, you can use those Tyvek security envelopes that are 10x stronger than paper, waterproof,
impossible to open without evidence of such, and trusted to secure cash and negotiable securities by a number of financial institutions...
What?? No???
<< <i>I sent an expensive coin yesterday, and packed it very well, all except for the brown tape which I do not have any yet. So I took it to the post office double boxed with the outer box being one of those VHS tape over sized boxes that USPS provides for Priority. So, the clerk got the brown tape, and just kind of slopped it around the short edges (around the circumference) and that was about it. It really looked like it could be easily peeled off and replaced. Is this normal, or should I have insisted the whole box be wrapped? >>
No worries, but I asked the PO clerk for a roll of my own so I could have it done before I dropped it off. ( I use a busy PO most of the time ) She gave me a roll and said thanks for helping her out. I just drop it off and she stamps it like normal. All I have to do is fill out the paper, pay and off I go. I had heard before that the PO clerk was the only one allowed to tape it, but not sure if that is true.