The IRS is its own animal. How the receipt of gold or silver is counted for tax purposes is different from the legal value of the coins for other purposes. Frankly, the way the IRS values of gold and silver actually umakes sense. We all know that an ounce of gold is not worth $50. However, the regulations related to transporting value out of the country may be different. Before coming to any conclusions, I would think that it would be wise for all of us to actually see what the facts are in this situation.
Also keep in mind that it is not illegal to take more than $10,000 of your own money outside of the country. It is merely illegal to not tell the government about it. So, if you tell them that you’re taking 20 ounces of gold out of the country, then they have no legal basis to confiscate it. Another thing to consider is that the value of bullion is easily determined. The numismatic value of a coin is not so easy for the average person, and perhaps specifically the average TSA or customs agent, to determine. You could, for instance, take a single gold piece out of the country that is worth $50,000 without raising any eyebrows. It would be a simple coin inside of a 2”x2”plastic holder. It wouldn’t even need to be a gold or silver coin, as many pennies, nickels and clad coins have substantial value.
You could take 500,000.00 of more out of the country without raising and eyebrow. Any number of slabbed colonial coins have such value as determined at auction.
Are you well versed in coins and numismatics? My grandmother collected coins and she gave them all to me before she passed. I think most of them are basically worth the silver content, but there are a few that I think might have some collectible value. How would I go about getting an honest assessment of what I have? I’m talking on the order of probably 1000 coins total, so it doesn’t seem very practical for someone to put hands on every single coin, but since I’m not really a collector myself I would hate to overlook something that I think is unimportant, but could have a collectible value.