coins and bullion are prohibited by Australia Post

Did you know Australia Post prohibits coins and bullion?

  • Yes

    Votes: 28 53.8%

  • No

    Votes: 24 46.2%
  • Total voters
    52
1

11471147

Active Member
TLDR:
-I didn't know that coins and bullion are prohibited by Australia Post...
-I shipped some silver Perth Mint coins to a friend overseas, via Australia Post.
-Tracking shows the coins were stuck/lost somewhere between customs and my friend (cleared by customs many weeks ago, but no other info logged in tracking since then).
-Australia Post called to say they will give no compensation, because the coins are money, and money is a prohibited item...
Question: How do other SilverStackers use Australia Post without any problems..?

So that's really a summary of my problem, not much more I can add to it.
Pretty sure it's my fault for not properly informing myself.
I can see it here now:
https://auspost.com.au/content/dam/...ents/dangerous-and-prohibited-goods-guide.pdf

...Prohibited goods:
- D3.2 – Banknotes and coins
Banknotes are currency notes that are legal tender in the country of issue. Australian notes of whatever age, currency or denomination are legal tender within Australia. Coins are coinage in either Australian or foreign currency and includes coins made from precious metals whether or not such coins have a denomination. Australia Post prohibits banknotes or currency notes and coins in:
• the International Post
• all services within Australia, except Registered Post, or a parcel service in conjunction with Extra Cover and Signature on Delivery. In Registered Post or parcel services when used in conjunction with Extra Cover and Signature on Delivery within Australia, Australia Post accepts banknotes or coins to a maximum face value of A$200 in any one consignment. However, Australia Post accepts no liability for the loss of or damage to any such articles containing banknotes.

D3.3 – Bullion
Bullion is lump or bulk metal, pure or impure, refined or unrefined. Bullion includes ingots but excludes manufactured items, such as jewellery. Australia Post prohibits bullion in all services.

I pretty much just copied everyone here in the forum, because I've seen so many members shipping bullion by Australia Post, and shipping more than AUD$200 of coins by Australia Post.
So now I know that if I do that, and the $200+ of coins or any bullion is lost (like it seems my coins were lost by customs overseas), then Australia Post will offer no compensation.

So yeah, I feel a bit stupid now that my coins are lost, but how do you guys get around this?
People in this forum must shipped hundreds of thousands of dollars of coins and bullion through Australia Post. Do you guys know about that Australia Post prohibits this stuff? If so, why do you still use Australia Post..?

Also, now that we all know that Australia Post is not an option for shipping any bullion or more than AUD$200 of coins, which shipping service do you guys recommend?

Really looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts on the subject...
 
I'm not sure about international (don't really care either as I don't intend on posting overseas) but we have Bullion dealers, established business, that are posting bullion to customers all around the country every day, as are everyone on this forum/ebay etc so I'm somewhat surprised to see this

I guess with international they could pick things up when scanning etc, but obviously it's not really being enforced domestically considering the amount that is currently being posted every day without issue, so for that reason I'm not concerned at all
 
Yeah I already knew about this. Also a few years ago I got caught shipping jewelry to myself from NZ. I left my sister in charge and she was supposed to list it as costume jewelry but didn't and I got stung with a bill for import duty and an angry letter. I have never had a package lost by Australia Post, they are usually pretty good
so it has never worried me.
 
tongkat said:
It only seems to be an issue if you seek compensation.
Click to expand...

I reckon it's an international only thing

We have Bullion dealers and everyone else posting daily without issue, and I remember calling Aust Post about a missing package, told them it was coins and they didn't say a thing
 
Soprano16 said:
I reckon it's an international only thing

We have Bullion dealers and everyone else posting daily without issue, and I remember calling Aust Post about a missing package, told them it was coins and they didn't say a thing
Click to expand...

It would be interesting to know if bullion dealers “self insure” or not.

For me, Australia Post manages to lose about 3 things a year of ours but the extra insurance cover is so expensive it’s better to just eat the cost of the ones that go missing than insure them all.

Just a side note AustPost Chuloora NSW hub is the Bermuda Triangle. About 1/3 of the stuff we’ve lost over the years went walkabout after being scanned in there.
 
"Just a side note AustPost Chuloora NSW hub is the Bermuda Triangle. About 1/3 of the stuff we’ve lost over the years went walkabout after being scanned in there."

You haven't been posting Aborigines have you?
 
11471147 said:


...Prohibited goods:
- D3.2 – Banknotes and coins
Banknotes are currency notes that are legal tender in the country of issue. Australian notes of whatever age, currency or denomination are legal tender within Australia. Coins are coinage in either Australian or foreign currency and includes coins made from precious metals whether or not such coins have a denomination. Australia Post prohibits banknotes or currency notes and coins in:
• the International Post
• all services within Australia, except Registered Post,
Click to expand...


Well that buggers Grandma sending little Tommy $20.00 in a card for his birthday...."Nanna, why you in gaol?"
 
raven said:
On the shipping docket you list them as "metal shims" for an engine pump, if coins.
bars are listed as "metal spacers" for a wheat silo.
Click to expand...

Many (all?) of the dealers do this for privacy reasons.
And yes, it works because Australia post do not inspect domestic packages. And the sellers often just eat any losses, or claims insurance on the "metal shims". When you claim insurance you get back what you insured it for, doesn't matter what it was, unless you tell them of course.
 
OK so i take it no one here has experience in reading and interpreting legislation.
"except Registered Post,"
means you have to register the item, that is all, there are restrictions regarding face value and international post as well but honestly you need to do your homework if your sending large amounts via post.
remember that you can also send your stuff via courier, so that has you covered if you want to send 20 or so $200 gold coins
 
11471147 said:
TLDR:
-I didn't know that coins and bullion are prohibited by Australia Post...
-I shipped some silver Perth Mint coins to a friend overseas, via Australia Post.
-Tracking shows the coins were stuck/lost somewhere between customs and my friend (cleared by customs many weeks ago, but no other info logged in tracking since then).
Click to expand...

Sorry for the sad news. Could you share where did you send the coins to and did you use international express?
 
SilverDJ said:
Many (all?) of the dealers do this for privacy reasons.
And yes, it works because Australia post do not inspect domestic packages. And the sellers often just eat any losses, or claims insurance on the "metal shims". When you claim insurance you get back what you insured it for, doesn't matter what it was, unless you tell them of course.
Click to expand...

Australia Post does not inspect domestic packages BUT the AFP does random blitzes of mainly domestic Express Post and incoming International mail/packages looking for drugs/illegal contraband etc. AFP , as many as 100 at a time at the same hub , do this in the major sorting hubs using xray scanners and sniffer dogs. So it is possible they could also pick up cash/coin/bullion along the way.
 
Does anyone know of anyone who knows anyone or even heard of anyone, who was criminally charged for sending silver or gold bullion or bank notes. In the context of a trade in SS
 
Ipv6Ready said:
Does anyone know of anyone who knows anyone or even heard of anyone, who was criminally charged for sending silver or gold bullion or bank notes. In the context of a trade in SS
Click to expand...

No, because it's not a criminal offence as far as I know; it's simply a violation of AusPost's conditions of service.
 
Wow. Great thread.

This is out of date; but:

had chats with Reputable Bullion Company Guy (Perth) who said he didn't care what Australia Post said about it being illegal to post bullion, his company had its large amounts of customers' products picked up by Australia Post every day. Some arrangement . . . ??

[We diligently researched this in 2013 'cause we wanted to facilitate crypto-bullion trades.]
 
hey guys i had this post tagged for alerts, but I didn't receive any, so i thought no one was interested in the topic...
But thanks for all your contribution, I really appreciate it. Especially the first reply from Raven:
"On the shipping docket you list them as "metal shims" for an engine pump, if coins.
bars are listed as "metal spacers" for a wheat silo"

If you noted 2 rolls of lunar coins as "metal shims for engine pumps", and insure them at $1500... would that raise any questions..?

Another interesting thing that happened, was when i told the Post Office owner about the prohibition, he was surprised and admitted he didn't know about it...
 
'you list them as "metal shims" for an engine pump'

I didn't insure. (Small amounts as trials); but I described the silver coins as 'metal castings and instructions.' On a piece of paper wrote: 'Hold until value increases.'
 
inmizu said:
'you list them as "metal shims" for an engine pump'

I didn't insure. (Small amounts as trials); but I described the silver coins as 'metal castings and instructions.' On a piece of paper wrote: 'Hold until value increases.'
Click to expand...

Don’t insure if sending bullion by standard or express, auspost will deny any claim.

Registered different but I believe they is a $1000 cap.
 
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