Funny Stories Involving the TSA and Coins
airplanenut
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I posted a coin earlier today and was reminded of an enjoyable story involving it and the TSA, and then another story popped in mind. So, if you have any good stories of coin interactions with the TSA, let's hear 'em.
My first story was at Newark when I was on my way to the Summer Seminar. I didn't have much on me and there was plenty of space, so I didn't need a private screening. The screener was very discrete, picking up a few slabs part way out of my one slab box. After he closed the box, he dramatically looked both ways, then turned to me and went, "you got any CC dollars?"
Second story. I was flying out of Sarasota, where it was packed, and I opted for a private screening. I was carrying inventory for a dealer going to a major show (including a bag of at least 100 modern commems in capsules), and the guy at the x-ray machine comes to me and says, "yeah, so there's this... giant mass we can't see around... and we're going to have to search your bag." No problem. I get two TSA agents and a private room. One is watching, and one is doing the searching and SUPER interested (I later found out that among the various dealers in the area and NGC, he is/was well known for being interested in coins). He's asking about about everything to the point where the other guy had to go, "dude, there's nothing he can't have and he has a flight to catch... let him go." Anyway, to the aforementioned coin. He pulled out these two, which were one after the other in a box:
He exclaimed, "Wow! Do you think they were in the same mint bag?"
And I just replied, "they're different years..."
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I'll post the opposite and the last time I flew with coins.
I was going to a show with a good friend that had what ever the top tier flying miles status was. We had been through the private room search and went to board. Because of his status we were the 2nd and 3rd person to board the plane. Yep a dumb ass pulls me to the side and said you have been randomly selected to be searched. I explained to him to no avail that we had a private screening and I was carrying valuables. Didn't do any good. That asshole searched my bags in front of everyone boarding the plane.
I used to fly a lot - for business mostly. I often had coins that I was going to show someone at my destination, or coins I had purchased during my trip. Other than often having a special search, due to the 'mass of metal', I encountered no difficulties. I used to throw change into my carryon during trips, and the coins would accumulate over several trips. One TSA agent asked me to please remember to take them out before traveling again, because they have to personally check the container since the x-ray cannot see through/past the mass of coins. Cheers, RickO
Story told to me by a reliable source ...
An ancient coin collector was flying to a show and was selected to have his bag hand-searched. He had boxes of ancient coins in 2x2 flips. The screener insisted that he must "check every coin" and proceeded to take out the first coin, then the second, etc. This was not the first time this approach had been taken with this collector. What the screener did not expect, was when each coin was pulled, the collector started to tell him a story about each coin ... apparently in excruciating detail. This annoyed the screener so much, that he stopped after just a few coins. The collector left the screening area, smiled to his traveling buddy and said, "Works every time."
See http://www.doubledimes.com for a free online reference for US twenty-cent pieces
Not really funny but... When I set up at an out of town show I often throw a couple of lamps or a couple boxes of low end tokens in my checked bags so I am used to getting home and finding the usual TSA "opened for inspection" flyer lying on top of the dirty socks.
Three (3!) separate times early on right after TSA was set up the agents were kind enough to leave an extra present in the checked bag, namely one of their recognizable blue box cutters which was a bit unsettling at the time so soon after 9-11. Now they are my go-to implements for opening Fed Ex and Priority boxes. Thank you TSA.
Back in the day when the mint sold proof sets at the ANA convention, and they were only 5 coins in a single pane, I would order a case or two for the shop. One case would go into checked baggage (remember it was the old days when people were more honest....) and one would be broken down into the 5 set boxes in my luggage. I was stopped in Orlando and opted for private screening. Upon opening 4 of the 20 boxes and removing each of the sets from the sleeve I pointed out that they were sealed by the US Mint and were all the same. I was told, in no uncertain terms, that each of the 100 sets would have to be removed from the holders for inspection. Almost missed my flight that time....
Another Orlando adventure. I was in the security check line and again opted for a private screening of my valuables. The lady reached under the counter and pushed a button. After a few seconds she excused herself and went to the supervisor. The supervisor then loudly exclaimed "You pressed the RED BUTTON? THE RED BUTTON? She then grabbed the walkie-talkie and began yelling into it. At the same time I saw a uniformed police officer the size of New Jersey running down the hallway towards me. It was August in Orlando and about 10,000 degrees and he received the call to ignore the call just as he arrived in the bag check area. Needless to say he was sweating profusely and out of breath from his sprint. I looked at him and sheepishly said "I didn't hit the Red Button" and he responded, F'ing new girl!
A: The year they spend more on their library than their coin collection.
A numismatist is judged more on the content of their library than the content of their cabinet.
Not coin related but my wife and I were bringing a quantity of exotic spices back from the South Pacific. If you have ever traveled to the remote regions you know that you have to go from island to island picking up and dropping off locals and each island makes you get off and go though their customs.
My wife had the idea to hand carry the spices in her bag and at every stop the dogs triggered on her (apparently common masking agents for the good stuff) and like 5 stops in a row she had to spend the entire lay over getting taken away for a full search while I sat there snacking talking to islanders. I chalked it up to solidly her problem, I didn’t want to been seen associating with troublemakers
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
I’ve been through screening several times with a full PCGS Box of 20 in my carryon .... not once has it ever been flagged or caused a search.
I often had a box or two with me going home for weekends in college. I’d say I got stopped more often than not, though usually it was a cursory glance to make sure those small little dots on the X-ray weren’t a bazooka.
My Bachelor and Master degrees are in Aeronautics, and the TSA is common joke in class for "Taking Stuff Away" and "Touching Sensitive Areas". No coin loss stories on my part.
BST transactions: dbldie55, jayPem, 78saen, UltraHighRelief, nibanny, liefgold, FallGuy, lkeigwin, mbogoman, Sandman70gt, keets, joeykoins, ianrussell (@GC), EagleEye, ThePennyLady, GRANDAM, Ilikecolor, Gluggo, okiedude, Voyageur, LJenkins11, fastfreddie, ms70, pursuitofliberty, ZoidMeister,Coin Finder, GotTheBug, edwardjulio, Coinnmore, Nickpatton, Namvet69,...
Not coin related but I was going OCONUS for work and had a jam packed carry on. I was TSA pre-check but got the random selection for swab and search... As the TSA agent was opening the bag, I said "careful, it might explode" at which point he stood up straight and gave me a stink eye. I quickly clarified my statement that it was full and not packed with explosives which he also didn't seem to like me saying. He wasn't a nice person.
We were in Hawaii and trying to board to return home.
My wife had somehow misplaced her DL after checking in at the desk about 20ft away.
"Need a state ID... mam"
She digs out her concealed weapons permit and hands it over.
She just about shut down Kuai Airport.
Luckily she found her DL... and the CWP just hurt some feelings.
I was going to miss her.
BST: KindaNewish (3/21/21), WQuarterFreddie (3/30/21), Meltdown (4/6/21), DBSTrader2 (5/5/21) AKA- unclemonkey on Blow Out
Back in the halcyon pre-9/11 days of airport security, on the day in October of 1986 that the official distributors of American Eagles were allowed to deliver products to customers, I caught a 6AM flight from O’Hare to LaGuardia where a limo picked me up and drove me down to Mocatta Metals where I picked up 100 pre-paid gold ounces. I had my trusty brown Samsonite briefcase with me, but I was afraid of a snatch and grab walking out of a bullion house so I put the five rolls in my suitcoat pockets before I left.
Limo takes me back to the airport and I decided to test the rumor that the x-ray machines (of the time) did not detect gold. Walked through the X-ray with the 100 oz. on my person and nothing.
This happened to a dealer friend rather than to me personally.
He was flying back from a show with a large silver bar. The TSA screeners made him put it on the security belt twice and kept asking him to "open it up and show us what is in there." He explained that it was a solid silver bar, not a case of some kind, and that there was no way to open it. They inspected it a couple more times and then eventually let him through security with his hefty bullion cargo.
When he got to the gate, they pulled him aside for a second search. Once again, they asked him to "open it up." After explaining again, the agents eventually realized that this really was a solid piece of silver and that you would have to drill into it to see inside! At that point, they let him carry on with his day...
I've been through the Long Beach and Vegas airports a few times with no problems. They must see the stuff often enough to know what it is. In Salt Lake City I've had the "show-and-tell" in the private room experience a couple of times. One agent was genuinely interested, I had plenty of time, and we spent about 15 minutes talking coins. He was too terrified to actually touch the slabs though, even when I offered.
The only funny thing is the time I could overhear two guys at the monitor trying to figure out what they were looking at. They came up with some pretty interesting ideas.
My TSA agent pulled me aside had me open my PCGS box and pull out a few coins then he wanted me to open the slabs!!!
I said they were sonically sealed because etc etc. said I was going to the national coin convention ANA.and that satisfied him. Whew!!
One summer break from college I got maybe an hour or two of sleep after packing up my room before I had to get up to go to the airport. My bag got stopped and the TSA guy asked a very delirious me if there was anything he could hurt himself on when he searched my bag.
“Not that I know of”
“That’s the wrong answer. Try again”
“No”
“Very good”
And he carried on with his search. I answered that I couldn’t imagine anything in the bag could hurt him. He heard someone else got into the bag unbeknownst to me. But he was cool about it.
When I fly I’m always searched, always! I had six boxes of slabs with me, about 125 coins or so, they looked at each one!
I just remembered a funny one!
This was at the local airport in Moscow, Russia. It was the beginning of summer and was going to spend a month at the Dacha in Siberia. I'm in the waiting area after checking my bag and all the sudden there is a commotion and one of the security guards heads towards me. I sure am glad I had an interpreter with me. They take me over to the x-ray machine with everyone keeping there distance from my bag. Then the lady running the x-ray machine points to an image of my bag rambling on at 1000 words per minute. My interpreter told me they want to know what that is in your bag and for you to remove it so they could see it. What looked like a bomb to them was a 3 pack of mosquito repellant. In the end, I don't know who it scared more, me or them!
When I read that you spent a month in Siberia, my first thought was "What forum rule did you violate?"
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I will add another gem from my wife's luck:
My wife is a pretty conservative and way too much school judge type but once she went down to a bachelorette party down in Miami Beach with her Law School friends. They had a house with a pool where a male blow up doll hung out the entire time (affectionately called Tom Selleck due to a mustache). Once again my wife tired to bring Tom home in her carry on where she was flagged by the Xray but not for a private screening. A rather large and aggressive old lady TSA agent proceed to go through her bag and pull tom out in the middle of security making quite the scene while informing my wife that the sand in his feet (to help him stand) had gotten saturated and now classified as a liquid that exceeded the ounce limit and she would have to mail Tom home. Mind you this is while about a Dozen mostly still drunk ladies were dying laughing and filming the encounter. They still make Jokes of Tom stranded down in Florida waiting to come home a decade later. It wasn't even hers, she just offered to carry as she had room. Nice to a fault.
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
BST: KindaNewish (3/21/21), WQuarterFreddie (3/30/21), Meltdown (4/6/21), DBSTrader2 (5/5/21) AKA- unclemonkey on Blow Out
Travelling back and forth betwixt the USA and Ukraine a few years ago I usually changed planes in Amsterdam to catch my flight to Donets'k. One time I had some AGE in my carryon, and you guessed it it set off the metal detector. I told the agent that I would like a private screening and they refused. He then proceeded to rifle through the carryon and pulled an AGE out in the holder and held it up for everyone to see "Oh, interesting" My though was "EFF!" Handed the coin back to me, I tucked it back into the bag and slithered onto the plane.
Kinda about coins and TSA. A few years ago I when to visit my grandparents in Israel and I brought along some coins and old pocket watches to show my grandparents my collection. TSA thought it was a suspicious package and sucked me. When they saw my suspicions package was just an old watch they laughed.
Not coin related but my wife's 90 year old aunt came to visit several years ago, pre TSA and when you could actually escort folks to the gate for their flight. Well she decided she wanted to bring a couple of cap guns home to her grand kids. Here she goes, with a bad hip, a limp and a cane and, you guessed it, the cap guns in her carry-on instead of her checked bag. You can imagine how much commotion that caused at the security check.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
OK . . deep enough down the thread I won't have anybody see or have to answer questions . . . . . . and I will be careful to not incriminate anyone.
Several years ago I was returning from a trip to a little coastal coin show in OR. I am a smaller part-time dealer who does it for fun and had 8 or 9 PCGS inventory boxes of coins (which did NOT end up being the problem). I was flying Frontier . . .an airline I had not had any experience with before, and had a stopover on the way back to SLC.
At check-in, I walked up to the counter and asked if there might be any seats left in the exit row so I could get a bit of legroom. A very professional staff member checked, told me yes, and printed another boarding pass for me. I took it, dragged my one bag of inventory and one bag of dirty underwear down the ramp to TSA where I got in line.
I yanked my shoes, put the two bags on the conveyor, and walked up to the agent with boarding pass and ID in my hot little mitts. I showed the pair to the agent who nonchalantly handed me back just my ID (????) I was a bit pre-occupied with keeping an eye on my inventory proceeding under cover through the machine and was back in the line moving to baggage retrieval when . . .
. . . my first perception was one of just motion, breeze, and speed. In a mere 2-3 seconds I noticed I was in a phalanx of closely positioned military-outfitted personnel. Fatigues, tactical vests and mags, and tightly slung M-4 variants. A new guy in a suit took a position in front of me and I was bull-rushed out of the line in e left direction nearly buoyed up by the fast walking of the 4-5 guys around me. In a literal matter of seconds, we disappeared through a milky-plexiglass door into a very small cubicle. The military relaxed slightly and I am standing there in my socks, inventory gone, with a suit in front of me.
He asked for my ID . . .still in my hand, compared it with the boarding pass he now had (that had NOT been returned to me), and asked my name. I said **** ********, my accurate name (of course. He looked at the two pieces of ID and said, "Is this your boarding pass?" I looked at the pass, started to say yes as I saw my exit row number, but then . . . .
The name. Nope. "Adnan Ashwari." Not my name. I said . . . "Um . . . no. That is somebody else's name." All my coins and underwear have disappeared long ago and frankly I didn't care. The guys around me just had so many rounds in those magazines I had other thoughts. Suit compares the pass and my name over and over off the ID I gave which had my obvious pic. He opened the door behind him and said "Follow me."
Out we went back into the public. Myself, Suit-man, and my squad of M-4 boys. Up the ramp . . . past a now-frozen TSA line that had been shut down as they ultimately believed Adnan Ashwari was loose in the terminal with nefarious goals and I was his willing accomplice). . . back to Frontier . . . .where Suit and 2 M-4s went with me (not restrained at all), and two M-4 boys went behind the counter. Suit asked me, "Where is the agent that helped you?" I pointed her out. Blasting through to the front of the line, the somewhat non-plussed agent stared at Suit-man.
"Did you issue this man a boarding pass?"
"Yup . . just a few minutes ago!"
"Is this it?"
"Lemme see . . . " She checks it . . . looks at her computer. . . asks my name.
"Oh . . . my mistake. I clicked on one name below his. Adnan Ashwari is on the flight . . . .this is for **** Ar******. Sorry about that." There is an instantaneous relaxation . . and I can hear all the simultaneous clicking of the safeties locking back in on the M-4s. As a motley crew, I am taken back down the ramp to the catcalls and abuse of 300-400 people who will now miss their flights because the attendant just clicked on the wrong name on the flight manifest. The entire airport area had been shut down as the searched for the culprit, who did not know he had become so instantly notorious.
I am taken back to an anteroom where all my PCGS boxed are laid on tables . . . my underwear is now skid-mark-up on another table, and a sheepish watchman is laughing at my predicament. My entourage vanished . . . . I was reunited with my shoes . . packed up my inventory and unmentionables, and headed for the flight.
Never could really identify Adnan on the flight. Hope he had a good time.
Drunner
Just did a copy and paste of this to my Word Files . . . . .not going to type it again . . .
Drunner
Not coin related, but 11 years ago, the first time I went to the Tucson Gem Show, I was amazed at how the TSA did NOT feel the need to search any of my carry-on luggage after it passed through the x-ray. Nothing dangerous, but I had all kinds of rocks and crystals, along with 2-3kg of iron meteorites and some big pieces of Spanish pyrite (which naturally forms in cubic shapes)