Gold Coin Collectors Beware

Dad
May 31, 2003

DO 89316/3/80

GOLD COIN COLLECTORS BEWARE!: Altho' in many countries gold coins are legal tender & the gold coins of other countries are cashable or saleable at local banks, in some countries they are strictly illegal to possess or subject to heavy customs duties from 4% to 30% of their value importation duty & cannot be sold or exchanged without showing your customs receipt as proof of payment of the duty.

IN FACT, IN SOME COUNTRIES you could even be subject to heavy fines‚ plus forfeiture of your coins, plus an even possible prison sentence for smuggling just by having them in your possession!

SO BEWARE OF CROSSING BORDERS WITH YOUR GOLD COINS without knowing the customs regulations on the possession of gold, sometimes even including the possession of gold jewelry of considerable value!-Some systems want to get their cut! Beware of entering such countries with your gold!

IF YOU HAVE ALREADY ENTERED SUCH A COUNTRY unaware of such regulations, you have several choices:

1. You can pay the heavy duty & keep them legally.

2. In some places coin dealers will buy them with no questions asked‚ but probably at a loss.

3. You can hope to get out of that country with them eventually without getting caught.

4. If caught, you can hope to explain that they were just part of your coin collection (a bit difficult if they're all the same kind) & you didn't know about the regulations, & hope that they will believe you & be merciful & only charge you the duty, plus a possible fine, & not make you forfeit all your coins & put you in jail besides!

MATTHEW 10:16: "BEHOLD I SEND YOU FORTH AS SHEEP IN THE MIDST OF WOLVES: Be ye therefore wise as serpents & harmless as doves!"—And don't ask the wrong questions of the wrong people ..., etc., or it could get you in serious trouble!

YOUR SAFEST BET COULD POSSIBLY BE A FRIENDLY COIN COLLECTOR OR DEALER. ... Just walk into his shop like an interested customer & casually inquire if he has any gold coins for sale & what the situation is on buying & selling gold coins in his country. He will probably be your safest source of private information without being too nosey about why you want to know. ...

IN SOME COUNTRIES OF EUROPE, LIKE ENGLAND FOR EXAMPLE, IT IS ILLEGAL TO POSSESS GOLD COINS as mere cash or to exchange them at banks for cash, but perfectly legal to possess them as a part of your private coin collection & to buy & sell them with coin dealers, some of whom will even keep your coins for you & buy & sell them for you for a very small fee.

ALSO, WATCH OUT FOR PREMIUMS ON COINS, which may run as high as 10% or 15% of their actual gold value, which you pay on purchase but may lose on sale. Some coins are good in some countries but not good in others, depending on the local regulations.

IN SOME COUNTRIES LIKE SWITZERLAND, AUSTRIA & OTHERS, THE BANKS ACT AS LEGAL DEALERS & will buy & sell & keep them for you in a special gold account. Some, like Austria, even furnish gold checking–accounts against which you can write checks & from which they will deduct the amount of gold necessary to redeem the check according to the price of gold the day that they receive the check. But this usually requires a sizeable minimum deposit.

SOME BANKS IN SOME COUNTRIES WILL ALSO TRANSFER YOUR GOLD upon request from one bank to another or even to banks in other countries where it is legal, but you may find you've been charged an import duty of from 4% to 30% in the other country when you go to get it & which they have already deducted from it!

ONE WAY TO AVOID THIS IS TO SELL YOUR GOLD in the country in which you are living, then buy more gold within the next country in which you plan live awhile when you get there. Some countries are quite fair about the import duties & will charge it to you when your gold arrives or you arrive with it, but give you a receipt for the amount of duty you have paid on it, & if you have not sold the gold within their country, will return the duty to you on presentation of the receipt upon leaving their country with your gold.

THE SAME IS TRUE OF AUTOMOBILE & OTHER VEHICLES & various purchases in some countries: They may charge you import duty on the vehicle when entering the country, but which is refunded to you when leaving that country with the same vehicle. Of course, if you have left your vehicle there, or have sold it or even have given it to someone else, you will not get your import duty back, as it will be considered as having been imported permanently.

SOME COUNTRIES LIKE FRANCE & MONACO will give you a 25% reduction on some purchases if you can produce proof upon leaving the country that you're taking it with you. This can be quite a saving to tourists. Several other European countries have this duty-saving practice also on imported goods to encourage local sales.—So it pays to know the ropes!—And beware, lest your assets become liabilities!