Tgp - Good And The Bad

[TomGoodheart 373]

Sent to the US. Not fully insured.

[azda 973]

Had no one told him that Paris has an office? Who sends a Fistful of coins uninsured though?

[Rob 3,002]

No sympathy. Why will people spend thousands, yet not insure for a few quid? Insured with a courier should be no more than £30 or so even if the post office wouldn't take them. You can insure virtually everything against virtually every possible event - if you are prepared to pay. Still, one may assume that it only represents a small part of the collection because nobody puts all their eggs in one basket - do they?

[TomGoodheart 373]

No sympathy. Why will people spend thousands, yet not insure for a few quid? Insured with a courier should be no more than £30 or so even if the post office wouldn't take them. You can insure virtually everything against virtually every possible event - if you are prepared to pay. Still, one may assume that it only represents a small part of the collection because nobody puts all their eggs in one basket - do they?

Says he's been sending coins from the UK to US for five years no problem.

Had no one told him that Paris has an office? Who sends a Fistful of coins uninsured though?

Sent International Tracked and Signed For (the old Airsure) Standard insurance is £50. He didn't think it worth paying for enhanced insurance as that only goes to £250 which was less than the £600 value he put on the coins ...

*shrug*

[azda 973]

And here's the large BUT. If he makes a claim and says it was Coins inside he'll not get a penny back as the PO states that Coins and jewellery should not be sent via post.

[Rob 3,002]

You don't have to use the post office.

[Paulus 1,942]

Is what Dave is saying correct, all coins sent by the Royal Mail are uninsured??

[Peckris 579]

And here's the large BUT. If he makes a claim and says it was Coins inside he'll not get a penny back as the PO states that Coins and jewellery should not be sent via post.

Not so. That only applies to legal tender items. If it's of "numismatic interest" those rules don't apply.

[azda 973]

It does apply Peck. I had a few Coins go AWOL and all i got back was Stamps in return. You shoukd read up on the regulations as i don't think jewellery is currency either.

[Peckris 579]

It does apply Peck. I had a few Coins go AWOL and all i got back was Stamps in return. You shoukd read up on the regulations as i don't think jewellery is currency either.

No, jewellery isn't, but coins are only exempt if they are classed as "money" which numismatic items aren't. If you only got stamps, you were robbed - Special Delivery definitely covers numismatics. You should have stood your ground.

[Gary1000 41]

It does apply Peck. I had a few Coins go AWOL and all i got back was Stamps in return. You shoukd read up on the regulations as i don't think jewellery is currency either.

No, jewellery isn't, but coins are only exempt if they are classed as "money" which numismatic items aren't. If you only got stamps, you were robbed - Special Delivery definitely covers numismatics. You should have stood your ground.

Special delivery covers jewellery as well. Recorded delivery is really designed for documents and the like so you get proof of delivery. It should not be used for valuables.

[Colin G. 147]

I have had full payout for coins in the past on recorded delivery, Peck is correct that it is only currency coins that are not covered. They will try and tell you it is not applicable, but their description is quite clear. Special delivery covers even currency coins and all valuable items.

[Peter 615]

I bought a nice Liz 1 3d and the seller sent it recorded.

It never arrived but he got his £ back

[azda 973]

Ok, seems you are correct Peck and i was ripped. Although, Special delivery only insures up to £500, so if you're sending anything of higher value than that then you'll have to go elsewhere. Here is the regulations from the PO Page

If you need to send valuables, money or jewellery, you should use Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed™ as this will enable you to claim compensation in the unlikely event of loss or damage. Valuables sent using any other service are not eligible for compensation.

Money should be packaged securely and should not be visible from the outside. Do not indicate anywhere on the packaging that money is enclosed.

Coins should never be sent in envelopes - our automated sorting machinery may damage envelopes containing coins, which can lead to delay in delivery and increase the likelihood of the contents being lost.

The Royal Mail definition of money includes:

• coins & Bank notes of any currency which are legal tender at the time of posting;

• postal orders, cheques and dividend warrants uncrossed and payable to bearer;

• unused postage and revenue stamps and National Insurance stamps; Exchequer bills, bills of exchange, promissory notes and credit notes; Bonds, bond coupons and any other investment certificates; and

• coupons, vouchers, tokens, cards, stamps and other documents which can be exchanged in whole or in part for money, goods or services.

The Royal Mail definition of jewellery includes:

• any precious metal that has been manufactured in such a way as to add value to the raw material, including coins used for ornament;

• diamonds and precious stones;

• watches - the cases of which are made wholly or mainly of precious metal;

• similar articles with an intrinsic value other than the value of the workmanship.

[Paulus 1,942]

You can up the insurance if you wish, it doesn't cost much extra. I have posted several packets with £2k insurance using Royal Mail SD.

[Peckris 579]

You can up the insurance if you wish, it doesn't cost much extra. I have posted several packets with £2k insurance using Royal Mail SD.

Yes, I was going to add that the £500 limit is only for the basic SD price. I think even doubling it to £1000 is only about 50p or £1 extra? (Or was.)

[Rob 3,002]

The limit for SD is £2500, which is only £3 more than it costs for £500 compensation. At less than a tenner even at the max limit it is hardly extortionate, so if people aren't prepared to insure one must assume they only place a nominal value on their coins - in which case it doesn't really matter financially if they go missing.

[Gary1000 41]

The limit for SD is £2500, which is only £3 more than it costs for £500 compensation. At less than a tenner even at the max limit it is hardly extortionate, so if people aren't prepared to insure one must assume they only place a nominal value on their coins - in which case it doesn't really matter financially if they go missing.

It does if you are the buyer and the seller is unaware of what he is selling. Do you ask for extra insurance or keep your head down and hope. Either way you could lose the coin.

[Rob 3,002]

The limit for SD is £2500, which is only £3 more than it costs for £500 compensation. At less than a tenner even at the max limit it is hardly extortionate, so if people aren't prepared to insure one must assume they only place a nominal value on their coins - in which case it doesn't really matter financially if they go missing.

It does if you are the buyer and the seller is unaware of what he is selling. Do you ask for extra insurance or keep your head down and hope. Either way you could lose the coin.

Agreed, but importantly you will not be out of pocket. In the case of sending things to PCGS you are already aware of its value and presumably are likely to have paid an amount not too dissimilar to its value. That sum is what you are protecting. In the case of that something you have bought but never receive, you will be reimbursed.

[TomGoodheart 373]

Just spotted this on the PCGS Europe website. I'm ... a bit horrified. Rob will know why:

I know everyone is different and some collectors want their coins to look pristine as if they've just come out the mint, but ..

..well, I just wouldn't.

[Rob 3,002]

Just spotted this on the PCGS Europe website. I'm ... a bit horrified. Rob will know why:

I know everyone is different and some collectors want their coins to look pristine as if they've just come out the mint, but ..

..well, I just wouldn't.

Another provenance gone down the Swanee. No time now to find the coin, and the image, and make a note of the slab number to retain the info. It will be too much to hope that any former owner will be mentioned on the slab, and even if it is there's less chance that it is correct.

One can only hope that nobody from a TPG ever gets a job at a museum, otherwise all history will be eradicated prior to the date of their appointment.

Are PCGS offering this as a promotional piece, because if they are it might just be possible to get them to add a rider that cleaning wax off a coin destroys any hope of finding a provenance in the future? That would have some measurable effect on the degree of cleaning because not everyone is a ****.

[TomGoodheart 373]

It was just used to illustrate their 'Restoration Service'.

"PCGS Restoration is a new service designed to help collectors overcome environmental problems that may have occurred with their coins. Preserving originality and the natural condition of every coin is the number one objective of PCGS Restoration.

All coins submitted will be evaluated by experts before any restoration is attempted. Coins will not qualify for restoration if, in the opinion of these experts, the coin should not be restored or if any attempt at restoring the coin could possibly worsen its condition."

[Rob 3,002]

It was just used to illustrate their 'Restoration Service'.

"PCGS Restoration is a new service designed to help collectors overcome environmental problems that may have occurred with their coins. Preserving originality and the natural condition of every coin is the number one objective of PCGS Restoration.

All coins submitted will be evaluated by experts before any restoration is attempted. Coins will not qualify for restoration if, in the opinion of these experts, the coin should not be restored or if any attempt at restoring the coin could possibly worsen its condition."

Yeh, right.

[Coinery 926]

Charge an extra £100 or not? Hmmmm! To hear people talk, you would think their only interest in numismatics was purely financial!

Provenance unnecessarily lost, I totally agree!

[DaveG38 387]

If I were going for restoration, as opposed to minor cleaning, which this appears to be, I'd go for CRS-Stockton.com. His restorations are fabulous. I know, some of you wouldn't go near the idea, but where there's a rare coin in damaged condition, I'd use his service every time to bring it back to really nice condition, where it would look good in the collection. For instance, I've got a 1725 WCC shilling in GVF condition, a really nice coin, but somebody soldered a loop on it in antiquity. Now, I can live with it with the loop, but for a few quid, I can have the loop removed and the edge repaired and toned to the point where nobody could tell the difference.

So should I or shouldn't I? Ideally, I should sell it and buy one without the loop in the same condition. Leaving aside the astronomic price increase, there's the simple matter of whether I can actually find one in GVF to take the place of mine. On balance, I'm happy to take the restoration, but I appreciate that others might not go there.