Aachen: Police seizes 700 Coins near Autobahn

[chrisild]

Several hundred "historic" coins have been seized during a check on Thursday night, close to the Dutch-German border. The coins were found in the car of a 38-year-old man from Turkey who was on his way from NL to DE. According to the man, those were "flea market" pieces. However, the about 700 coins were silver pieces with a total weight of almost 3 kilos. Estimated value: roughly €200,000 ...

http://www.presseportal.de/polizeipresse/pm/70116/1494626/bundespolizeidirektion_sankt_augustin

The media release (see link above, German) does not say what kind of coins; "historic silver" applies to many pieces. And whether the initial estimate of an average €300 value per piece is accurate, well, we will see (I hope). According to the police, the man is now suspected of money laundering, possibly other offenses as well.

Christian

[Samuel Tan]

I thought there is no border between The Netherlands/Belgium to Germany anymore, therefore no Zoll. Last time I passed by Aachen, no body stop me like in the past (1970-1980). I thought that there is no duty to pay to bring merchandise through those borders. Am I wrong? Further, is it not allowed to carry valuable merchandise within EU? I can understand if somebody brought it from another country out of EU. I guess, I thought EU is like US, may be I am wrong.
Samuel Tan

[chrisild]

Right, there are no border checks at the internal member state lines. So you don't have to stop like you do when entering or leaving the Schengen Area. But customs or police officers may still ask you, say at an autobahn exit not far from the border, to stop. Apparently this was one of those cases; maybe they had a "hint" from their Dutch colleagues, don't know.

Also, when you enter the EU with more than €10,000 cash (or similar assets), you will have to notify customs and provide information about the amount, the purpose, etc. (The US has similar rules, judging from the customs form I have to fill out every time.) Within the EU the same amount applies, but you need to provide that info only upon request (I think; IANAL ). Seems he had not done that when asked, hence the assumption this could be a case of money laundering or maybe theft ...

And no, the EU is definitely not like the US. Not in that regard, and not in many others. But when traveling within the Schengen Area, you can indeed drive or fly without being stopped at an internal border.

Christian

[Figleaf]

I wonder if the guy wasn't transporting Chinese fakes from Rotterdam to a number of flea markets in Germany. I find the average weight of about 4 grams absurdly low for an average value of €300, but if the weight were 30 kg, rather than 3 kg, an average weight of just over 40 grams and an average value of €300 would be about right for the kind of silver crown-sized coins with reeded edge the Chinese love to imitate if the imitations would have been real. I have seen these imitations on markets in London, Berlin, Barcelona and Cologne. They wouldn't be illegal, they would sell at flea markets, but for about €25.

Of course the police wouldn't know the coins were all copies, but they would love to arrest a guy for driving while being Turkish.

In Luxembourg, I read in a local newspaper about a German retiree, who had left an enveloppe with €20 000 on the roof of his car. As he turned on the motorway, there was a happy rain of gaily coloured banknotes around him. This disturbed the owner, who pulled over and called the police. The police found just over €18 000, as well as the enveloppe, which still contained the receipt of the money from the bank, proving that he had emptied an unregistered account in his name, which is illegal in Germany. The Luxembourg police communicated the man's name to the German tax authorities, the article said...

Spoilsports.

Peter

[chrisild]

I wonder if the guy wasn't transporting Chinese fakes from Rotterdam to a number of flea markets in Germany. I find the average weight of about 4 grams absurdly low for an average value of €300, but if the weight were 30 kg, rather than 3 kg, an average weight of just over 40 grams and an average value of €300 would be about right for the kind of silver crown-sized coins with reeded edge the Chinese love to imitate if the imitations would have been real. I have seen these imitations on markets in London, Berlin, Barcelona and Cologne. They wouldn't be illegal, they would sell at flea markets, but for about €25.

Don't have any info about this story, except for the bits that I posted above. But then these approximate values are not necessarily "realistic" anyway. You may remember those cases of seized collections last year (alleged ancient coin trafficking), and those values were not really based on thorough checks.

Of course the police wouldn't know the coins were all copies, but they would love to arrest a guy for driving while being Turkish.

Oh really? In some German cities they would then have to arrest about 20 to 25 percent of the population.

In Luxembourg, I read in a local newspaper about a German retiree, who had left an enveloppe with €20 000 on the roof of his car. As he turned on the motorway, there was a happy rain of gaily coloured banknotes around him. This disturbed the owner, who pulled over and called the police. The police found just over €18 000, as well as the enveloppe, which still contained the receipt of the money from the bank, proving that he had emptied an unregistered account in his name, which is illegal in Germany.

What is illegal, and I don't think that applies to Germany only, is not paying one's taxes. Now you may say that, if affluent people take their money to LU illegally, it's all the German government's fault. Then again, keep in mind that other people do not even have the option to take their money elsewhere ...

But a friend of mine once actually had an appointment at the Luxembourg office of a German bank, and he told us that his friend was waiting and dozing in the car. That friend then saw a very interesting scene - the couple who had the car next to his had quite a bit of cash with them, and were discussing where to put (aka hide) the money in the car.

Christian