not sure about the technical nature of the scanners but my wifes 9ct bangle sets off the siren but none of the higher carat stuff bothers it. I took through equiv 24oz silver and some platinum at sydney recently and noone batted an eyelid
Probably dumb question from me but how much gold and silver can one bring in from OS. I am going to India in November, it is my first trip os.
I got pulled aside at Perth airport by security after a visit to Perth mint. Had a couple 10oz ag bars in my laptop bag that they wanted me to take out of the bag for them to inspect. Bastards had their grubby little fingers all over my bars.
I will tell you how it works. After they check someone for explosive material they take the next person that comes off the line. If I see that I am going to be that person I just take alittle longer to leave the screening area that way the person in front of me gets the honors.
The walk through dectectors work by "magnetic reflection" which works by first setting up a reverberating magnetic field. The machine knows what sort of signal profile it is suppose to pick up based on its settings or the gain (how high its turned up). The higher the conductivity of the metal, the "louder" the reflection. So gold and silver would actually be the easiest to detect. When a changing magnetic field passes across a conductor, it creates currents within the metal. Likewise, when there is a change in electric current (when the magnetic field goes back to zero for an instant), there are small magnetic fields created as the current dies down. These perturbations are what the walk through metal detector picks up. I had a US silver dollar (Ag/Cu) in my pocket that I had forgotten to take out, and it went off as loud as if I had walked through with a steel pocket knife. So when the gain is turned down, it is feasible that people with Titanium or stainless steel surgical implants can walk though, because they are poor conductors anyway.
... To recount an actual airport security experience. I was flying last week with about 50 ounces worth of bars, rounds, and some coins including silver and gold to show my family back home. It wasn't until they pulled me over that I remembered I had coins scattered all over my bag! I had a little pouch with $10 face in US silver change in one pocket, a couple loose silver dollars in another, and about 4-5 rounds in a bag in another pocket, in addition to the 50oz in the box. They were training some new girl and kept wanting to run it all through to check it, needless to say I was watching them every step and I expressed that I was doing that (just to keep the honest people honest). They were cool with it and didn't take offense. It was the Midland, TX airport and there is only one terminal and like 5 gates. Not a busy place. At least they were wearing gloves. On the return flight I made a point to consolidate everything and say to the guy checking tickets/ID "I've got some valuables in this cigar box, and I'd like to just keep an eye on it, how should I go about it?" He said, just put it through in its own tray and you can keep an eye on it ... but its still gotta go through you know! I said, of course. anyway, they barely even opened the box, didn't touch anything that time. But then again, that was the Charleston, SC airport and they are VERY BUSY AND VERY IMPORTANT with two terminals, five gates each!
The metal detector doesn't make a sound, because it knows it will get round-house kicked to the floor.
A few years ago I took a BB handgun through Rome, London, Singapore and Australian airports. Didn't get pulled up for it. This was after 911 too. But take some 10oz Silver coins through a local airport and get pulled up for it. They must look like land mines on the screen. The guy was surprised to see these large "coins". Never put a padlock on your hand luggage. They will pull you up straight away for a bomb check. My girlfriend found that one out. She was meant to check-in the luggage but at the last minute she decided to carry it on and left the padlock on it. She asked the officer why she got pulled up. And they mentioned that it looks suspicious when a carry on hand luggage bag has a locked padlock in it. If you dont want to get pulled up don't put a padlock on your carry on luggage.
I was pulled up at Sydney airport once. I had in my carry on luggage what appeared to be knives or metal pokers of some kind. They told me to take them out. I really didn't want to in front of everyone, but I knew hesitation would look dodgy. So my new custom made purple satin steel bone corset was unveiled at Sydney Airport, and the security guy genuinely didn't understand what it was, so I had to explain it to him. He still didn't get what it was. At least they let me go.
I've flown from Melbourne to Sydney with a mini Leatherman on my keychain, didn't even think of it, got through Melbourne security even though it has a folding blade and scissors. Sydney DID pick it up. Probably a good thing I was suited up with a laptop etc - I was allowed to leave security, bought an express envelope and posted it, then cleared security no problems. Get caught with a knife - go away. Get caught with silver - private screening for 20 minutes. Go figure. Wear a suit when you fly.
itd be funny if they disd start confiscating gold/silver and you go on aflight with a full bag of hge(plated) layered 10 oz bars and they forc you to sell it at spot.
I am quite sure that the only limit you have when travelling OS with precious metals is the carriers weight restriction .
Had my first fuss with silver in carry on yesterday. I keep my first silver coin I ever bought in my manbag as a kind of lucky coin thing. I saw it come up on the x-ray as a black circle, they pulled me aside to check through my bag. Five times they rummaged through my bag, found nothing and scanned again. In the end I opened my bag pulled it out and asked if they "were looking for this?" She acted like I pulled a gun initially and in a panic tried to snatch the bag while I was grabbing the coin. After I showed her what was coming up on the x-ray she said that wasn't what they were after, 2 more passes of the x-rays, had another dig later she confiscated an inch long precision screwdriver I had. Gutted if I just left my lucky kook at home I could have got some stabbing in with that screw driver. Great laugh, I don't think she comprehended that the coin was.
