Trip to Germany

4 posts • viewed 210 times

Hi, 

 

I will be going to Germany next month, and was wondering if it is legal to export ancient/old coins from Germany. Unfortunately I can’t bring any coins with me to swap because I’m taking a 10 day tour across Germany, and I don’t know where I will be when.

Legality aside, I had absolutely no issue carrying coins in my carry on luggage, mind you these were silver German states coinage.

Kenny

- Verifying your Asian and British-territorial coins everyday with the best quality photos and the best information.

Check out my Facebook, Kenneth Gucyski.

Thank you for the replies so far. I’m particularly interested if it’s legal to own, sell and export ancient coins from Germany. I would guess they are cheaper to buy there than in the USA.

Export coins from Germany to places outside of EU?

Depends: If bought in a local coin store or at a coin fair from an official dealer, in most cases “no problem”.*

If you plan to steal from a museum or dig up an ancient coin in a field => always illegal

If you buy from a shady guy that might have sourced the coins in a museum or dug up a field => illegal

If you buy legit but plan to export to a country currently under sanctions prohibiting export of valuable coins (e.g. russia) => illegal

 

* For single coins older than 50 years and also worth more than  50000 Euro a piece you need a special permission for export (older than 50 years and worth under 50000 Euro a piece is no problem, no permit needed here. Export of an entire collection worth >50000 Euro combined if they have numismatic value (it's a bit vague what that is, but a collection of German States could fall under this, probably more of a money laundering prevention…) also needs a permit. Should be no problem to get one unless you plan on exporting something rather unique that could be a museum exhibit.

 

So unless you are super rich and plan on exceeding the 50000 Euro limit, you are good to go without any permits or problems, as long as you don't do shady deals acquiring stolen stuff.

 

» Forum policy

Used time zone is UTC+2:00.
Current time is 21:26.