Shipping banknotes to Europe

News: Welcome to the Canadian Paper Money Forum.

When the new $100 notes are finally issued on November 14, I'll be sending a few to a friend in Germany. What will be the best way to send them? I am thinking about sending the notes in a registered letter with Canada Post, or by Fedex or DHL. Most importantly, I don't want the notes to get lost in transit due to their high value. I also want the shipping rate to be reasonable. The shipping time is perhaps least important.

Thanks for any ideas.

Whatever you do don't choose Registered mail. Im having a nightmare with registered mail atm where after it was scanned into Canadapost's system there has absolutely been no sign of it  Worst of all I'm out $450 worth of product and there is no option to add any insurance ontop of the $60 coverage that is included.

Don't cheap out on shipping.

I had a similar experience with registered mail.  I sent a software DVD to Mexico City, and the whole time it was in transit the tracking system showed "item not found" when searching on CPC's website. CPC's customer service over the phone was equally unhelpful. "We don't know, sir", despite me actually watching the CPC clerk scan the barcode before I left.

The package did arrive OK, and quickly (5 days), but I was worried about it the whole time.

Another factor is that bank notes are excluded from insurance coverage. There is no way to ship with Canada Post with any kind of insurance for loss when you are shipping bank notes.

Get the friend in Germany to pay for the notes in advance and force him to accept responsibility for insurance.  If he wants to put all the responsibility for delivery on you, then the choice is yours of what you want to do.  Any method should get the notes there.  Paper money is considered a document by Canada Post and cannot be insured.  Declaring openly that your package contains paper money is foolish and will attract sticky fingers.  You could declare the contents of the package falsely, but that opens you up to other problems.  A package containing goods shipped to Europe can either go as a small packet (no insurance and not trackable) or a parcel (trackable and can be insured but is VERY expensive).  Customs could open your package, find that your made a faulty declaration, and seize the shipment.  In the end, there is no safe way to deliver paper money, there is always going to be risk.  Best option is to tell your friend in Germany to get on a plane and come here if he's no desperate for new $100 notes.  :-D  Failing that, pay the $60 for a Xpresspost envelope, there's only a very small chance customs would open that.

Mmars

Well said. I agreed that cash is not insurable but if you are posting it out as documents, I do not see that as an issue. Of course, nothing is 100% safe, even if you have the notes personally delivered by a friend or mate. Believe me, I lost some notes like that. Never called them friends, unless you really know them well.

In a registered post, even it is registered, there is still some risk involve. You still need the two posties to do their job right!

Whilst I note that you may not be able to claim compensation for cash lost in the mail, have you tried claiming them as numismatics or collectable? Customs may be also an issue there, and given that boarder securities is a major concern for every Western countries, what they are interested in are illegal drugs or prohibited substances. Australian Customs are also looking for import duties too. At least this is what the Australian Customs are looking for. Few years ago, I had a mail opened for inspection by the Australian Customs. The contents were well over 40+ notes. It was from Italy, but all the contents were intact. Nothing missing (touch wood). The sniffing cute little dog must be on annual leave that day!

Whichever way you want to send, sometime, an ordinary airmail is still the best, but do you want to risk that either?

From my experience, certain countries are really excellent with postal delivery. Australia is one of them. All you need is the house no, street name and the post code. China is another one. Unfortunately certain countries are famous in postal thieves. Even in US, which I lost one recently. Mail was cut opened what looks like opened by a box cutter. The contents went missing and USPS then sent me the empty envelop using their USPS large envelop. This was posted via normal air mail.

Thank you everyone who replied for your insights. In the end it's about the value of the notes being sent and the destination. ExpressPost sounds like a good option in this particular case due to the high value of the notes.

I agree that declaring the banknotes as such will cause nothing but trouble. The notes purchased on eBay are generally labeled as photos or documents. From my experience, if it's a thin, flat and light envelope, the risk of it being opened by customs is small, whether it's regular, registered, or express mail.

I just sent some notes to Spain via registered mail. It was not cheap. About $20 with signature. Will let you know how long it takes.
I haven't bothered tracking it, unless I hear bad news
FRIEDSQUID

I just sent some notes to Spain via registered mail. It was not cheap. About $20 with signature. Will let you know how long it takes.
I haven't bothered tracking it, unless I hear bad news
FRIEDSQUID

How is this possible? My notes arrived on Monday the 28th.
It takes longer for someone in Quebec to get my mail