Nerosmyfavorite68 Posted June 9 · Member Share Posted June 9 I took the plunge on my first (and probably last) U.S. coin. So far I'm not having very good luck. I ordered one from vcoins. Vcoins and ma-shops don't have a great U.S. selection, so I had to go with an unfamiliar dealer. Furthermore, I wanted a rainbow toner, so that cut down selection even more. The choices were between priority (do I want the Negan treatment or it dumped on the doorstep?) or registered. The dodgy vcoins' dealer contact page struck again, and I don't think it even went through. I had asked if first class was possible. I also tried the formula of dealername +vcoins.com. Anyway, USPS shipping showed my coin arriving in town on June 1st,a dn then nothing after. I then tried the fellow's non-vcoins email, which showed up on the paypal receipt, and he got back to me pretty quickly, replying that unfortuntely it is common for registered to take forever, even weeks. Assuming some postal person doesn't swipe it, it will probably arrive, but I don't think I'll be dabbling too much into American coins. Not only are ancients/world coins more interesting, the U.S. coin world seems to prefer priority mail, a deal-breaker for me. Meanwhile, I ordered a test order of silver stacker stuff from the Haleybug Mint, who warned on their page that it might take up to 10 days to send out, and that it was priority. I didnt' care so much about silver rounds, so I took a chance. It showed up quickly, via Ground Advantage, in a bubble wrap mailer, perfectly packed. The Haleybug Mint is a purveyor of silver bullion, but it's handmade and the inexpensive rounds I ordered were fairly delightful. Concurrently, my Dad also bought me a very nice MS 63+ Morgan, so my brief U.S. itch is sated. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benefactor kirispupis Posted June 9 · Benefactor Benefactor Share Posted June 9 It's difficult to say with the USPS. From one side of the country to the other usually arrives within ten days, but it can take painfully longer. Registered mail from CNG is among the fastest. Most often I receive packages within a week from Pennsylvania to Washington State, but a few times it's taken up to two weeks and one time the box was completely destroyed, though as fate would have it that was one of two coins I've ever bought that were in NGC cases (since freed) and thus the coin was fine. Flat rate mail can take a very long time, though it depends on the shipping location. For some reason, Alabama and Florida are horrible. One recent package from Florida was sent via Puerto Rico. No idea, but two weeks later it reached me. I've had packages take two months, but so far I've only ever not received one package, and that was sent without tracking. In terms of actual US coins, the only ones I still own were given to me by relatives or have subjects that mean something to me (for example I have a Boy Scouts commemorative). I no longer add US coins to my collection and once in a while I give some of the dollar coins I've accumulated to kids. I just have zero interest compared to ancients. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewomack Posted June 9 · Supporter Share Posted June 9 I have sold come coins recently on usacoinbook and have used USPS Ground Advantage shipping, which is inexpensive, and provides $100 insurance and tracking. So far, everything has arrived at their US destinations within 4 to 5 days. No problems yet. These coins have varied from $60 - $250, so were I to sell something for considerably more, I may choose registered mail just to have confidence that the high-priced item arrived. Otherwise, tracking has worked fine. So far, everything that I've purchased outside the US that required a signature took anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks to arrive. I had only one, though enormous, exception when one was stuck in outgoing customs for almost 2 months. As for my current status with US coins, so far 90% of the ones sold have been from my US collection, most slabbed. My interest in US, with only a few small exceptions (half cents), has considerably waned in the past few years. Luckily, many have found happy buyers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerosmyfavorite68 Posted June 9 · Member Author Share Posted June 9 My postman is careless, but I haven't received any slip (although he ignores most signatures), and one presumes the update would say 'out for delivery.' Presumably registered parcels are also not the horrible cardboard mailers, which get destroyed. Pretty much all of those which I've received have been letter-sized. I'm pretty much one and done pertaining to U.S. coins. Two Morgans are enough for me. Registered from abroad seems to be no different than regular mail, at least for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anaximander Posted June 9 · Member Share Posted June 9 12 minutes ago, ewomack said: ...So far, everything that I've purchased outside the US that required a signature took anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks to arrive. I had only one, though enormous, exception when one was stuck in outgoing customs for almost 2 months... Like @ewomack, my experience with international mail has been acceptable, with one pandemic exception (from Italy), which took months, stuck in solitary confinement. A parcel arrived yesterday from France, eight days after notice of shipment, and two weeks after the auction. I paid via bank wire transfer, which had to wait a long week-end (le 'week-end' en Français) because of the Memorial Day bank holiday. OK, I'd say. A parcel that arrived last April from an auction house in the UAE was slow. It was shipped via FedEx 10 days after payment via PayPal and received 8 days after that, for a total of 18 days after my auction payment was received. A so-so experience. My experience with U.S. Postal Service (USPS) in the last month was good, with delivery (I kid you not) to South Carolina via registered mail three days after the parcel was sent from Pennsylvania, four days after they received my personal check, and 10 days after the auction concluded. Another recent experience may shock you: An auction concluded just over a week ago, and an invoice received electronically late the following day, and a personal check was sent via USPS the next morning, cashed 5 days later and the FedEx delivery received just 8 days after the auction and two days after receipt of my payment. The change from USPS to Fedex by the auction house in Pennsylvania was because of the 'high value' of my auction win, the threshold for which appears to be around $5000. I suspect @Nerosmyfavorite68's bad experience has to do with both a lackadaisical seller (like my VAuctions seller in the UAE) and a slow local post office. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sand Posted June 9 · Member Share Posted June 9 (edited) I live in the USA. Last year, I was thinking about using USPS Registered Mail, to mail an important income tax letter for a relative. The letter needed to be sent, to an address, which was in the same city where I live. The letter needed to be received, by a certain deadline, and the letter needed to be tracked. At the post office, the USPS employee said, that if I were to use USPS Registered Mail, then the letter would take approximately 7 days to arrive, and USPS Registered Mail would cost a lot more than USPS Certified Mail, and the letter would have to be prepared in a certain way. Therefore, I decided to mail the letter via USPS Certified Mail. With the USPS Certified Mail, it cost $5, and I received a tracking number. I mailed the letter early in the afternoon. The letter was delivered 2 days later, in the morning, according to the tracking. Since then, I've always used USPS Certified Mail, for such letters, and it always seems to work, as far as I know. Regarding USPS Priority Mail, I've never had a problem with it. I've always chosen USPS Priority Mail, for all of my coins, and any other items which I ordered, which were shipped from US sellers, unless the seller wanted a large amount of money to ship via USPS Priority Mail. The last time, I ordered a coin from a US seller, the seller charged approximately $9 to ship it, via USPS Priority Mail. Perhaps sometimes, the USPS Priority Mail cardboard envelope, may have arrived somewhat battered. But, the seller always put the coin within a sticky cardboard container, therefore it was never a problem, for me. Maybe I've just had unusually good luck. I don't know. I have a US post office box, and all of my coins have been delivered to that PO box. Out of the 200 or so coins, which I have ordered, or won at auction, over the past 6 years, I've only had 1 coin, for which I never received an envelope, but that was a coin from a seller in France, and that coin was shipped via "registered insured" mail, whatever that is. Of the 200 or so coins which I have ordered or won at auction, I estimate that I've received approximately 30 coins via USPS Priority Mail. Plus approximately 10 non-coin items (books, etc), which I've received via USPS Priority Mail. @Nerosmyfavorite68 I have a vague possible memory, that 1 of your coins arrived broken, because the seller didn't put the coin in a sticky cardboard container. Or, maybe the coin was lost, through a hole that happened, in a battered USPS Priority Mail cardboard envelope. Or, maybe the coin never arrived. Or, maybe all 3 of those things have happened. If you feel like refreshing my memory about your USPS Priority Mail incidents, what sorts of problems have happened, when you ordered coins to be shipped via USPS Priority Mail? Edited June 9 by sand 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sand Posted June 9 · Member Share Posted June 9 (edited) P.S. : Here are some of my notes, which I found, which I created in 2023, regarding USPS Registered Mail, and USPS Certified Mail. USPS BEST WAYS TO MAIL AN IMPORTANT DOCUMENT AND REQUIRE A SIGNATURE UPON DELIVERY USPS Registered Mail : Good. PROBABLY THE BEST WAY. Burden of proof is on the IRS, to prove that document was not delivered. USPS Certified Mail : Good. Burden of proof is on the IRS, to prove that document was not delivered. DO NOT USE THE FOLLOWING MAIL SERVICES FOR IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS TO THE IRS USPS Priority Mail Express (if you request a signature before delivery) USPS Certified Mail requires a signature from the addressee, according to https://faq.usps.com/s/article/Certified-Mail-The-Basics While USPS Registered Mail is designed to provide maximum security and a documented chain of custody throughout the postal network for items with high intrinsic value (such as the Hope Diamond, famously transported from New York City to Washington, D.C. by Registered Mail in 1958), USPS Certified Mail is designed to prove that mail has been sent and to confirm that delivery or a delivery attempt has been made. While USPS Certified Mail provides proof of shipment and delivery, USPS Registered Mail provides updates throughout the entire shipment process. By receiving updates after each USPS employee passes off your package, you can relax thanks to the additional security. USPS Certified Mail provides the sender proof that the shipment was mailed and when it’s delivered. On the other hand, USPS Registered Mail provides the sender package updates from every step of the shipment process. This distinction means you have more security knowing that more eyes and hands are looking out for your parcel. Edited June 9 by sand 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerosmyfavorite68 Posted June 10 · Member Author Share Posted June 10 3 hours ago, sand said: Regarding USPS Priority Mail, I've never had a problem with it. I've always chosen USPS Priority Mail, for all of my coins, and any other items which I ordered, which were shipped from US sellers, unless the seller wanted a large amount of money to ship via USPS Priority M @Nerosmyfavorite68 I have a vague possible memory, that 1 of your coins arrived broken, because the seller didn't put the coin in a sticky cardboard container. Or, maybe the coin was lost, through a hole that happened, in a battered USPS Priority Mail cardboard envelope. Or, maybe the coin never arrived. Or, maybe all 3 of those things have happened. If you feel like refreshing my memory about your USPS Priority Mail incidents, what sorts of problems have happened, when you ordered coins to be shipped via USPS Priority Mail? Yes, a Nero arrived broken last December. However, there was little damage to the packaging itself, and the break took me by surprise. It was because the seller had switched to a cheap, floppy bubble mailer, with no sticky cardboard (or equivalent) inside. I never did get a refund. I can't find the pictures of the nearly-destroyed Justinian II package, the worst of the Priority mishaps. It looks like a tank ran over it. The coin only escaped destruction by 2 mm. That dealer had hinted for me to use FedEx, so it was my fault for not taking the hint. The 'best' case scenario for Priority: it gets either folded in half and stuffed in my mailbox or plopped on the doorstep. Why would I want that? I'd pay extra, not to have priority. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sand Posted June 10 · Member Share Posted June 10 1 minute ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said: The 'best' case scenario for Priority: it gets either folded in half and stuffed in my mailbox or plopped on the doorstep. Yikes. Fortunately, I have a large PO box, at the post office. My PO box is large enough, that the USPS Priority Mail envelopes can be inserted into the PO box, without being folded. And, if a package is too large to fit into my PO box, then the post office will put a piece of paper in my PO box, so I can pickup my package at the post office front desk. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Original Skin Coins Posted June 10 · Member Share Posted June 10 (edited) I've shipped a few packages Registered Mail domestically. Typically, they arrive in about a week but I did have one take three weeks (including a somewhat nerve-racking two weeks without a status update) going coast-to-coast. Just curious though, why do you prefer First Class (or "Ground Advantage" now) over Priority Mail? Edited June 10 by Original Skin Coins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerosmyfavorite68 Posted June 12 · Member Author Share Posted June 12 I prefer first class because they're not given the Negan/Lucille treatment. I also prefer it because my crappy mailman doesn't stuff them in half to fit them in the mailbox or throw it on the front stoop. What a shock; another day, no coin. One wonders if my current order will lap the previous one. Lesson learned; don't order U.S. coins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ten-Speed Posted June 12 · Member Share Posted June 12 I like to use registered mail. You have to wrap up the box in a certain way but the package must be signed for along every stop of the way. It does take longer. But it's very safe. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerosmyfavorite68 Posted June 12 · Member Author Share Posted June 12 I guess one good thing; it would be fairly easy to track what leg of the journey it's stopped at. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sand Posted June 12 · Member Share Posted June 12 23 minutes ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said: I guess one good thing; it would be fairly easy to track what leg of the journey it's stopped at. Is your coin being sent via USPS Registered Mail, from a seller who is located in the US? Has the tracking been good? Can you tell, where your package was last seen? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red_spork Posted June 12 · Member Share Posted June 12 If your coin is being sent registered mail it will get there but it will be painfully slow. Sometimes they sit for days in the registered mail safe apparently before the right person is available to check them out and deliver them or move them on the next leg of the journey. The poor mail carrier who delivered my last registered shipment(a coin with about $3k value) flat out told me he was glad to get rid of it because he'd be fired if something happened to it. Registered international isn't taken quite as serious, but registered domestic mail is a big big deal, there's a chain of custody and one or more people will be in serious trouble if it goes missing. That particular coin came from the East coast to me in Colorado and I think it took a week or so to reach Colorado and then 4 days or so to get from the local sort center to me which usually takes less than a day: normally if the sort center scans it around midnight it's in my mailbox later that day. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerosmyfavorite68 Posted June 13 · Member Author Share Posted June 13 It's painfully slow, alright. It arrived in town June 1st. The horrendous vcoins dealer contact page struck again, or else my emails pleading for him to send it via 1st class would have gotten through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Atherton Posted June 13 · Member Share Posted June 13 4 hours ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said: It's painfully slow, alright. It arrived in town June 1st. The horrendous vcoins dealer contact page struck again, or else my emails pleading for him to send it via 1st class would have gotten through. If it arrived in your city or town and has been sitting there with no update that's a red flag. Is it at a sorting facility or post office? Either way there should have been some movement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Original Skin Coins Posted June 14 · Member Share Posted June 14 Like red_spork said, sometimes the Registered Mail packages just sit in the safe for a while before somebody bothers to get it. You can submit a USPS Help Request form, which can sometimes help get it moving again. Though really the dealer should be taking it upon themselves to do that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerosmyfavorite68 Posted June 14 · Member Author Share Posted June 14 Yeah, good ol' post office bungling. Negan should be the spokesman for priority mail. "Do you want your package smashed beyond recognition? Well, Lucille and I will do it for you!" I suppose pitifully slow is better than smashed. One could remix an old Ludacris song to, "How Slow Can You Go?" It is fortunate that Dad purchased a really nice Morgan dollar for me at about the same time I made my order. That might be the only Morgan I'll have. I'm very pleased with First Class. Priority is okay, I guess, if one is using the large box and it's something trivial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerosmyfavorite68 Posted June 18 · Member Author Share Posted June 18 I passed the USPS link on to the seller. I wonder if the order following that one will lap it? I just received a shipping notification, 1 1/2 weeks after the buy, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerosmyfavorite68 Posted June 27 · Member Author Share Posted June 27 Well, the latest report in this sad travesty is that the USPS has no idea where it is. Isn't that the whole purpose of registered, to have a paper trail? The vcoins seller seems to be an ok guy. It's where it entered the USPS system is where the real poopshow began. I suppose this is a strong sign that I was never intended to have U.S. coins. In fact, my Dad's thoughtful purchase of a nice Morgan at the exact same time period pretty much satiated my temporary desire to have one. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benefactor robinjojo Posted June 27 · Benefactor Benefactor Share Posted June 27 (edited) 50 minutes ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said: Well, the latest report in this sad travesty is that the USPS has no idea where it is. Isn't that the whole purpose of registered, to have a paper trail? The vcoins seller seems to be an ok guy. It's where it entered the USPS system is where the real poopshow began. I suppose this is a strong sign that I was never intended to have U.S. coins. In fact, my Dad's thoughtful purchase of a nice Morgan at the exact same time period pretty much satiated my temporary desire to have one. I feel your frustration. The USPS is undergoing a reorganization that, according to the Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, is going to make it more competitive, while at the same time reducing its operating deficit. However, this is impacting services, and creating confusion and uncertainty, notably for the shipping of packages, but also first class mail. Some of the changes have been put on hold by De Joy, but the system is generally really messed up now. Edited June 27 by robinjojo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerosmyfavorite68 Posted June 27 · Member Author Share Posted June 27 One thing which always sticks in my mind from the Sherlock Holmes stories was the mention of a twice-daily post. If true, how did they manage to have a more efficient postal system, using less technology? It wasn't a very valuable coin, and I was less broken up (pun intended) about it than the snapped Nero, but it's definitely a source of irritation. Paying $30 for the privilege of it disappearing really got in my craw. To be fair, the post office (at least for me) does a good job with coins shipped via 1st class or foreign equivalent. I can't believe it's only been a month; it seems like 4 years. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deinomenid Posted June 27 · Supporter Share Posted June 27 4 hours ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said: If true True. For roughly half my life there was a second post and I am definitely not from Victorian times! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expat Posted June 27 · Supporter Share Posted June 27 We have postal deliveries twice per day, Monday to Friday. There is no post at weekends. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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