Options
Shipping coins USPS
KISHU1
Posts: 2,314 ✭✭✭
What’s the cheapest way to send a raw coin say a half dollar less than $25 value. Bubble wrap ground advantage or first class or other
Thanks
Frank D
1
Comments
First class; put the half dollar in a flip and staple or tape the flip to invoice to keep it from sliding around. The flip can be further protected in a folded piece of 1/16" thick foam wrap (also attached to invoice) if desired.
Bubble mailer or craft mailer etc
Thanks
Frank D
Keep it under 1/4" thick and mostly flexible and it can go as nonmachinable first class. $1.31 if under an ounce, add .29 if over an ounce. Wrap securely so envelope doesn't rip open.
A bubble mailer will cost you $8 or so.
You can just use a regular letter envelope. Just be sure to seal it well (an extra strip of packing tape doesn't hurt!).
The key is to have your flip securely attached to the invoice or letter so that it can't slide around in transit. The edge of a flip is sharp enough to tear through the side of the paper envelope if it slides back and forth enough times (had this happen once with an Ike dollar sent to me).
As other have said, a regular envelope with a stamp is cheapest, I wouldn't use it for anything over $20 in value though, but that's me.
Successful BST:here and ATS, bumanchu, wdrob, hashtag, KeeNoooo, mikej61, Yonico, Meltdown, BAJJERFAN, Excaliber, lordmarcovan, cucamongacoin, robkool, bradyc, tonedcointrader, mumu, Windycity, astrotrain, tizofthe, overdate, rwyarmch, mkman123, Timbuk3,GBurger717, airplanenut, coinkid855 ,illini420, michaeldixon, Weiss, Morpheus, Deepcoin, Collectorcoins, AUandAG, D.Schwager, blu62vette, morgan13, torinoCobra71, JWP, promethius88,
Just a coin by itself can do that.
Experiment: Put a coin loose in an envelope and seal it. Grab the envelope by a corner and hold it back behind your shoulder. Flick the envelope forward and see what happens, best if you do this outside.
Spoiler alert: You might not get the coin back.
I once bought a raw low grade Barber quarter on eBay … maybe 20+ years ago. It came in a regular #10 envelope. No paperwork, no 2x2, no nothing. Worked fine!
Dave
Cheapest, but riskiest way is loose in a normal letter envelope with a stamp-sized sticker where the stamp should be. I've never sent anything like this, but I have received something.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
It must had somehow avoided the machine to not slip out.
I remember a long time ago a friend sent me one of the state quarters they found in standard circulation in a plain paper envelope. It slipped out since it was just sent alone with nothing protecting it inside the envelope. I could see the slit on the edge of the envelope where it had slipped out. I was sad I never got the quarter but I think I found that state quarter I needed a month or two later.
I use a flip and tape it to 3 x 5 card and put another card in front. I put all that in a 6 3/4 envelope with a stamp or 2.
INYNWHWeTrust-TexasNationals,ajaan,blu62vette
coinJP, Outhaul ,illini420,MICHAELDIXON, Fade to Black,epcjimi1,19Lyds,SNMAN,JerseyJoe, bigjpst, DMWJR , lordmarcovan, Weiss,Mfriday4962,UtahCoin,Downtown1974,pitboss,RichieURich,Bullsitter,JDsCoins,toyz4geo,jshaulis, mustanggt, SNMAN, MWallace, ms71, lordmarcovan,JWP,dantheman984,olah_in_MA,USMC_6115
👍
Had a customer years ago "tom brown" sucker would spend 50k on a coin, but when it came time for stuff like shipping, he'd cheap out. Once sent me a 1798 bust dollar in xf in a plain ol envelope, and when it arrived, the envelope at bottom looked just like the above post slit from coin rolling back and forth , but luckily was still inside!!
Do you care more about cheap?....or do you care more about safe?
I ship a lot this way. I use one of the POs Priority Mail cardboard flat rate envelopes. I cut it into roughly 3 inch by 9 inch folding sections (you will get 4 out of each Priority Mail envelope). With the coin in a flip, I tape it to the inside of the cardboard, fold it over and tape shut. Then place it into a standard business envelope. It is flexible enough to be machine processed and stays under the 1/4 inch limit.
mbogoman
https://pcgs.com/setregistry/collectors-showcase/classic-issues-colonials-through-1964/zambezi-collection-trade-dollars/7345Asesabi Lutho
Not if you're using "used" envelopes. I've got a stash of them (USPS, FedEx and UPS) enough to last me a few years. The point is to use flexible thin cardboard.
mbogoman
https://pcgs.com/setregistry/collectors-showcase/classic-issues-colonials-through-1964/zambezi-collection-trade-dollars/7345Asesabi Lutho