Buying banknotes from US seller

[rzzad2013]

Hi all.

I live in NSW, and I found a listing for a set of what appear to be North Korean banknotes. With North Korea being as isolated as it is, I think these would be some interesting notes to start a note collection with.

The seller's based in the US with 99.9% positive feedback. However, I heard something about Australia Post not accepting legal tender.

 Basically, would I have any luck trying to get them sent here?

[kopenhagen5]

Normally sending legal tender is not allowed through most postal systems.

However sending few banknotes as collectable items is permitted by most countries marked as numismatic items.

BTW North Korean banknotes are on the very cheap end of banknote collecting, so make sure you don't pay too much on those.

[numismatichemist]

The American postal service website lists "coins and banknotes" right at the top of their list of items that are prohibited to send to Australia; link to USPS page in question. This is primarily due to an overzealous interpretation by the USPS of Australia Posts' own guidelines (see section D3.2 of the downloadable Guide) on sending money and valuables within Australia, that it has to be Registered; Registered items lose their "registed" status once they leave the country of origin so, since Americans cannot send Registered items to addresses in Australia, they cannot send coins or banknotes here either.

So if your American seller has never sent coins to Australia before, they may be in for a nasty surprise and have their shipment to you rejected by the USPS person behind the counter, if they choose to try to be honest on their customs form and accurately describe the contents as a "banknote". You may want to warn them of the possibility after you buy it. You might also try asking the seller to describe it as a "historical document" instead. This has the double advantage of being both true and more in line with the reason why you are having the item shipped to you in the first place.

It is exactly this sort of weirdness that makes many American sellers refuse to ship internationally.

[rzzad2013]

Thanks for the reply. By the way, the notes are US$0.99 (AU$1.07) + $2.50 (AU$2.70) postage, so I don't think that'd be overly expensive considering what I'm thinking of buying

[rzzad2013]

Thanks for the info. That page you linked to was helpful. I'll keep that in mind.
BTW, I'll just point out that according to the listing, the seller ships worldwide with no countries excluded - but that being said, I'm not sure if they've actually shipped to here before and know to mark it as a historical document or what not

[rzzad2013]

OP here.

I took the risk last week and bought the notes. They arrived perfectly fine without any dramas today.

Thanks to those who replied.

[kopenhagen5]

Glad to hear it.

Thanks for letting us know.

[siddieswans]

Indeed thanks for letting us know. We so seldom hear the outcome for those who come with questions. Glad it worked out well for you.