I have some old Indian and other assorted coins at my parents home in India.
I have been getting a few back every year.
During the last journey back from India, the Indian customs officer saw the coins in my hand luggage and questioned me. Some of the coins were from the 18th century.
He saw the coins and then proceeded to enter my details in their database. Didn't say anything. Confirmed I was a collector and not a dealer.
My question is - should I be worried when do I do this the next time.
Is it better to be the member of a coin collecting society and get a letter from them.
Can Numista provide something like that?
Any suggestions.
regards
you are now a licensed collector.
you can pass easily from now carrying some coins, just do not abuse your privilege. and do not ever be a mule for others.
I agree join a society and get credentials.
Jamais l'or n'a perdu la plus petite occasion de se montrer stupide. -Balzac
Quote: "Mr. Midnight"you are now a licensed collector.
you can pass easily from now carrying some coins, just do not abuse your privilege. and do not ever be a mule for others.
I agree join a society and get credentials.
Thanks Mr Midnight.
When you said licensed collector - is that from being a member of Numista.
Technically you have a get a licence from the Archeological Survey of India to take coins that are more than 100yrs old out of India. I don’t know the details on how that process works. But unless you are a commercial coin dealer (eg auctioneers like Todywalla), I don’t think customs is very strict on enforcing the law on collectors who do not have a very significant value
Quote: "ashlobo"Technically you have a get a licence from the Archeological Survey of India to take coins that are more than 100yrs old out of India. I don’t know the details on how that process works. But unless you are a commercial coin dealer (eg auctioneers like Todywalla), I don’t think customs is very strict on enforcing the law on collectors who do not have a very significant value
That is good to know.
I was worried my trivial collection would be confiscated. I did explain about it being my collection - although I had no proof of it.
Quote: "ashlobo"Technically you have a get a licence from the Archeological Survey of India to take coins that are more than 100yrs old out of India. I don’t know the details on how that process works. But unless you are a commercial coin dealer (eg auctioneers like Todywalla), I don’t think customs is very strict on enforcing the law on collectors who do not have a very significant value
That is good to know.
I was worried my trivial collection would be confiscated. I did explain about it being my collection - although I had no proof of it.
I took out earlier this year about 20kgs of coins among my 2 check in plus one carry on. I was stopped at bombay security as the coins in my carry-on were left in their sheets. It looked like a big green blob when it passed through scanning. They asked me to remove the coin sheets and they passed the bag through security again, then just waived me through. I had to go through a similar thing at Heathrow during my layover. The security over there advised to just put it all in check in next time. In Toronto, I simply declared I was carrying a large quantity of coins which were my collection and they waived me through. My sister carried a similar quantity of coins last year. I still have many more kilos to bring over until I finally move my entire collection here to Canada. Luckily I do have any gold or a significant quantity of ancient Indian coins that sat/are sitting in Bombay
Quote: "ashlobo"Technically you have a get a licence from the Archeological Survey of India to take coins that are more than 100yrs old out of India. I don’t know the details on how that process works. But unless you are a commercial coin dealer (eg auctioneers like Todywalla), I don’t think customs is very strict on enforcing the law on collectors who do not have a very significant value
That is good to know.
I was worried my trivial collection would be confiscated. I did explain about it being my collection - although I had no proof of it.
I took out earlier this year about 20kgs of coins among my 2 check in plus one carry on. I was stopped at bombay security as the coins in my carry-on were left in their sheets. It looked like a big green blob when it passed through scanning. They asked me to remove the coin sheets and they passed the bag through security again, then just waived me through. I had to go through a similar thing at Heathrow during my layover. The security over there advised to just put it all in check in next time. In Toronto, I simply declared I was carrying a large quantity of coins which were my collection and they waived me through. My sister carried a similar quantity of coins last year. I still have many more kilos to bring over until I finally move my entire collection here to Canada. Luckily I do have any gold or a significant quantity of ancient Indian coins that sat/are sitting in Bombay
I was unsure about putting coins in the hold luggage. But your incident makes it sound reassuring that the authorities are not troublesome.
