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Last Monday I posted a rare 1862 over 1 penny (Example 2 on my rare penny site) to Scotland by Special Delivery. It never arrived and has been lost in the Royal Mail's process (noted as received at the Post Office with no further notifications).

They have advised me to make a formal claim.

Can I ask anyone who spots it being advertised for sale to contact me via this site.

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:( That's disappointing for you, the buyer and the numismatic world.

Fingers crossed it will eventually surface.

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They don't always enter the transfers in a timely manner, though have to say that Special Delivery has been the only part of the postal service that has functioned reasonably normally. I've had everything from a second class to somewhere south of John O' Groats taking one day, to a tracked to Liverpool taking 3 weeks. It is a genuine lottery.

If it has unintentionally gone astray then it could go anywhere, including worldwide which might take a week or two to appear (from wherever) on the tracking. If it entered the international chain it is safe to say it will take a minimum of a couple weeks to reappear as most of my tracked international shipments have taken 2 weeks to be registered as leaving the country.

Even though it went Special Delivery, I wouldn't panic yet.

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Bit worrying for a tracked next day special delivery to go astray. This is the first time I've (personally) heard of it happening. It's normally so reliable.

Presumably when you enter the tracking number it's never gone beyond "we've got it"?

Here's one that I've just received. if yours doesn't even get as far as your home mail centre, it might suggest that it's been misplaced at your local post office, or lost at the mail centre without ever being scanned in. .

https://www3.royalmail.com/track-your-item#/tracking-results/JS220236496GB

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Things are not normal as far as the PO is concerned as for some reason they continue to be in panic mode. A lot of things are not documented on track and trace at present, which is not altogether too surprising given they aren't asking for a signature on delivery. Although this is an internal shipment, there is no clear pattern as to how they are providing their service. I have had several items take an eternity where track and trace just said received at the post office, but then the next day something arrives quicker than the last half dozen shipments. When people ask me when it can be expected to arrive, I usually say any time in the next few weeks. For all the delayed items, nothing has gone missing with Royal Mail in recent times because even when you think something is lost it has turned up eventually.

At the end of the day, it is insured, so nobody loses out.

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"At the end of the day, it is insured, so nobody loses out."

Really?

Over the last five years Royal Mail and their overseas confederates have lost somewhere in the region of £835 of my tracked/signed  goods.

Their reaction for on line auction sales was to ask for the ebay or equivalent link, proof of my original purchase (I've had some of this stuff for over 50 years) and try to pay me my opening bid price. i.e. 0.99p

 

My actual financial recompense from the £835, has so far been £312, so it looks like these *&^%£$" are costing me £100 p.a.

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I've had 4 or 5 things go awol in the 6 months prior to lockdown and had no issue getting my money back whether itemised and accountable to the penny or not. Values were anything from a fiver to about £100

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10 hours ago, Rob said:

At the end of the day, it is insured, so nobody loses out.

Financially, maybe, but what about the loss of a scarce coin to the collecting community?

You own a number of coins that are probably unique, some of which you've likely had your eye on for years. What if they were lost on the way to you from the auction house? You are refunded, as is the auction house. Has anyone lost out? :unsure:

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1 hour ago, mrbadexample said:

Financially, maybe, but what about the loss of a scarce coin to the collecting community?

You own a number of coins that are probably unique, some of which you've likely had your eye on for years. What if they were lost on the way to you from the auction house? You are refunded, as is the auction house. Has anyone lost out? :unsure:

Coins have always been lost to the collecting community. The mint has been melting demonetised coins throughout its existence, or in the case of current coppers is trying to withdraw as many bronze coins as they can. Burglaries such as Willis in the 1970s it must be assumed have resulted in a number of unique gold coins being melted for scrap because they haven't appeared in the market in the ensuing 45 years. Stewartby's Scottish collection is still missing, which although destined for a museum still constitutes a loss. It's a fact of life that many bequests are made to museums, thus saving the coins in question for posterity, but in the case of many, safe from the public. I would like to assemble a full run of Somerset mints, but thanks to the only Petherton in private hands (the Lockett coin) being donated to Somerset Museum, this is no longer possible. I have to live with it because I certainly can't do anything about it.

On a personal level, as per your above point, the unique Freeman 689A did a 7 month tour of the world's postal system before finally returning to Heritage in 2007. It was accompanied by a Peck 1156, so a potential loss where there were 1 and 4 known respectively, but the money was reclaimed following their non-arrival and the coins subsequently repurchased at the prevailing exchange rate once they had reappeared. That is the only unique example I have that has gone awol in the past.

Edited by Rob

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2 hours ago, Rob said:

Coins have always been lost to the collecting community. The mint has been melting demonetised coins throughout its existence, or in the case of current coppers is trying to withdraw as many bronze coins as they can. Burglaries such as Willis in the 1970s it must be assumed have resulted in a number of unique gold coins being melted for scrap because they haven't appeared in the market in the ensuing 45 years. Stewartby's Scottish collection is still missing, which although destined for a museum still constitutes a loss. It's a fact of life that many bequests are made to museums, thus saving the coins in question for posterity, but in the case of many, safe from the public. I would like to assemble a full run of Somerset mints, but thanks to the only Petherton in private hands (the Lockett coin) being donated to Somerset Museum, this is no longer possible. I have to live with it because I certainly can't do anything about it.

On a personal level, as per your above point, the unique Freeman 689A did a 7 month tour of the world's postal system before finally returning to Heritage in 2007. It was accompanied by a Peck 1156, so a potential loss where there were 1 and 4 known respectively, but the money was reclaimed following their non-arrival and the coins subsequently repurchased at the prevailing exchange rate once they had reappeared. That is the only unique example I have that has gone awol in the past.

is there an inventory list somewhere of what is missing from Stewart collection?

 

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35 minutes ago, rpeddie said:

is there an inventory list somewhere of what is missing from Stewart collection?

 

Presumably there is, but I've never seen it. It's reasonable to say based on his English that it will be comprehensive with a mixture of choice and low grade examples. I don't know how many coins are involved, but presumably sufficient and varied enough to make disposal problematic.

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I wouldn't give up hope on it being delivered or safely returned by the postal service...an item I sent to Singapore in February landed in my post box a few weeks ago, envelope was covered in stickers from Germany, who ended up receiving it in error - I assume it got stuck to something on the way...

 

 

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47 minutes ago, JLS said:

I wouldn't give up hope on it being delivered or safely returned by the postal service...an item I sent to Singapore in February landed in my post box a few weeks ago, envelope was covered in stickers from Germany, who ended up receiving it in error - I assume it got stuck to something on the way...

Yep, just like the parcel of Northumbrian stycas I sent to France that went awol for 10 days before turning up in Tahiti. Still, I suppose it is French, so close............

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I had a package for Israel - it got sent to Illinois when the Royal Mail misinterpreted the international country code "IL". It came back to me about 3 months later and I resent it to the buyer, so eventually he was happy.

 

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Judging by some of the tales here, I think I must have been lucky. In 15 years of serious collecting, not one tracked next day delivery has gone missing. They've all arrived safely on time. 

It's OK saying its insured for its monetary value, but as a collector if it's a coin you particularly want and covet, then it's obviously a huge disappointment if it goes missing. 

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It is a disappointment, but by the time I pop my clogs there will still be plenty more unfilled gaps in the collection, so in that context not a disaster.

However, some good came out of the 2006 debacle because I played devil's advocate and queried whether the coin had been shipped at all. At the time they used USPS which was tracked only within the UK. As it hadn't arrived in the UK, I queried how I could be certain it had left Heritage - after all, tracked should mean you know where it is at any point in the journey and not have to rely on hoping it reaches a point where tracking starts. After that they only used fully tracked Fedex or UPS, which although more expensive, did at least provide a chain of responsibility. I call that a win for common sense.

Edited by Rob

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I won a coin at Katz auction in December 2019 which was sent with tracking. It disappeared at the border. They confirmed to me yesterday that Czech post still hadn’t been able locate it so a refund will be made. Credit to them. 8 months later, pfff. It’s the only one I’ve had go missing 🤞🏽but not a pleasant experience at all.

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A couple of years ago I had one tracked to the US. Tracking showed it handed over to the Customs people at JFK and thereafter, disappeared. Customs refused to acknowledge receipt, Royal Mail refused refund as it had left their control. £200 coin lost.

 

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Think positive Richard, most likely it will eventually get there, don't know when however.


I know the feeling.... Top 3 stories that come to mind right now.

I lost an F-76 that way many years ago....

The seller tossed it in loose in an envelope where it rattled around and punched a hole in the side where it slipped out....  I was the proud recipient of an empty envelope.

The F-76 was purchased from a non coin dealer on ebay who did not know how to properly ship a coin....

As infuriating as those who go to the other extreme and overly secure the coin DIRECTLY to a cardboard sheet with an exuberantly abundant supply of tape..

I only lost a few dollars, but I missed out on a substantial upgrade.... as well as the loss to the collecting community.....

I can only hope that it was found by some who knew what it was so that it would not be totally lost and might surface again one day..... 

C'est la vie. .... 

I mention this ONLY as a contrast to your coin which was properly packed.


Similarly, with a happier outcome, was an F-103 that went missing in December, in the midst of the Christmas rush.....

I received the missing package in a USPS body bag about 8 months later with the coin still intact inside. The outer packaging was all torn up. Fortunately the seller knew what the coin was, knew how to properly package it to survive mishandling, and had images posted of it, should it appear anywhere else in the future.....

Not numismatically related however, was the time I sent 2 Christmas cards to the EXACT SAME ADDRESS, a friend of mine and a gentleman who lived in her basement apartment.
She received her card the day after I mailed it. He was miffed because he never received a card. I told him that I had sent him one at the same time, but I'm sure he had his doubts.
Fast forward to the following September or October, and I received the card back as UNDELIVERABLE, along with postmark from around the country, Texas, California, Nevada, Illinois, New Jersey, of course New York, etc.
We all had a good laugh at the well traveled card.

Point being, short of being totally destroyed, it will most likely eventually turn up, either with the proper recipient, or with the sender, you....


As an aside, although it is uninsured and more expensive, I prefer to ship more valuable sales by FedEx, as it is tracked at every stage and generally arrives within 2-3 days. This also applies when I want to ensure that something that I ordered safely arrives. Nothing is perfect, but Fedex seems to offer the best odds. And, although I never pursued it, I believe you can purchase 3rd party insurance for shipments.

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Correct. Postal services the world over operate in mysterious ways. I had a letter returned to me as address unknown. I don't think the 30-odd thousand staff and students of Southampton University would have been too chuffed when they realised they worked/studied at a fictitious institution.

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14 minutes ago, Rob said:

Correct. Postal services the world over operate in mysterious ways. I had a letter returned to me as address unknown. I don't think the 30-odd thousand staff and students of Southampton University would have been too chuffed when they realised they worked/studied at a fictitious institution.

no such number, no such zone

Edited by Peckris 2
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I happened to be in the front garden this morning when the usual post guy came. He knows the number of tracked next day delivery packages I've received over the years. I asked him how many go missing. His words were "very few", and that Royal Mail take great care with them because of the cost implications. The main reason they do go missing is that senders sometimes make a mistake with the recipient's address, particularly the house number. Under normal circumstances the person answering the door where it's delivered will point out it's not them, or equally likely, they're not in and they get the card left. Many clearly just ditch the card and don't bother contacting Royal Mail over it. So in either circumstance, as long as there's a return address on the package, it should be returned to the sender after 18 days.

We had a laugh because in place of a signature they are just writing "CV19" in the space, for "Covid 19", and as this area's post codes start with CV, people have apparently been contacting the  Post Office to say they're not in the  CV19 area !!! - apparently there isn't a CV19 post code anyway. It doesn't exist.      

So it might be worth checking the receipt to make sure the house number and post code match up with the correct details. Although I'd imagine you've done this already.      

Edited by 1949threepence

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The last few months the post office have gone to pieces on recorded delivery and registered post , I had a neighbour come up to me in the street and say "Is this yours " and hand me a 1999 silver brittania coin i had ordered from ebay, it was on the floor wet and just  there in the street

The funny thing is with a coin of that size its pretty obvious there is something valueable in the package , I really was surprised to get given it .

It seems like there is no requirement for the postman to get a signature anymore , the comunications trade unions are still fairly powerfull so I guess they have been told not to get signatures anymore

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Pete (here) sent me an Unc 1959S 1/- he had spare. I never got it but when I checked the tracking it had been signed for - with a squiggle. I never found out WHERE it had been delivered to but Pete had addressed it correctly. To be fair, that's the only mishap I can remember.

Edited by Peckris 2

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3 hours ago, 1949threepence said:

Although I'd imagine you've done this already.   

Oh yes.

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