Buying coins from other countries

QuantumTurk

Hey, so I'd like to pick up some coins (indian rupees for one) and am being waylaid by the fact that online all people want to sell are collectors items. I was wondering if there were any sites doing currency exchange with a low fee. I just want regular ass coins from different countries, mostly to upgrade the coins we are using as money in various board games, metal just feels nicer and we'd like it to be something exotic.

bowen

You might try western union or a bank or something?

I know my mall actually has a currency exchange place now. You'll be paying for the conversion though so that may not be optimal.

QuantumTurk

I really figured that the banks would only do x currency into American dollars, honestly. And really, a small fee is fine, I am shooting for currencies where I can get a lot of 1, 5,10, 20/25 50 coins for not many dollars, the problem may be finding anyone willing to DO such a small conversion who ALSO has those small coins.

Enc

Banks do convert US -> other things, especially for their established clients. You might have to make an order of it or drive to the regional branch with that service, but most major banks do that fairly frequently.

Also, most major airports can do the same, but with higher conversion costs.

Edit: To clarify, my family did something similar with Wachovia a few years back to order cash currency from a specific Caribbean country. It took two weeks for the order, but one of the three local branches offered the service.

bowen

Yeah if you know someone personally that'd be your best bet, but I know there's a lot of stupid laws around this thing.

Banks typically only deal in big travel places like Canada or Mexico, at least in the US, and you pay a fee. I'd probably call them or WU to see if they'd be able to get me some rupees.

Stuff like this might be worth looking into too:
http://www.dirtyoldcoins.com/shop/Uncleaned-Roman-Coins.html

Darkewolfe

While banks do conversions, when you've got a currency with low value coins, in my experience they'll still only be able to give you large bills.

baudattitude

Currency exchanges are only going to do bills for you. Your best bet is coin shops or friends who travel a lot and are bad about dumping their change at the end of trips.

bowen

Another option might be posting on r/India on reddit or something and seeing if someone will help you getting ahold of some coins.

matt has a problem

Searching "bulk (type of coin)" on ebay usually gets you moderately sized lots of circulated coins. Rupees are difficult to get, and priced accordingly, because India doesn't let foreigners leave the country with them.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/NRIs-foreigners-cant-leave-with-rupee/articleshow/22679752.cms

Tofystedeth

Yeah, there are import laws on currency, but I think you only have to declare if it's worth 10K plus. When you're flying at least. I don't know shipping, but it's probably similar for low value coins.

baudattitude

Huh, this is fascinating:

http://www.dw.com/en/vanishing-coins-are-turned-into-razors-and-ornaments/a-16287938#nomobile

I have a pint jar full of yen, RMB and won and have never been hassled leaving a country with a pocket full of small change, but apparently India in particular is a pain.

Iruka

I would, personally, just grab some tokens. People make metal coins for games that look neat: Like these or these or these. It'd save you the hassle of bank dealings. Maybe that's what you already have and want real coins, but thought I'd throw that out there.

QuantumTurk

Iruka wrote: »

I would, personally, just grab some tokens. People make metal coins for games that look neat: Like these or these or these. It'd save you the hassle of bank dealings. Maybe that's what you already have and want real coins, but thought I'd throw that out there.

I found those but just got increasingly annoyed with paying ~10$+ per set of non real currency when in theory, I could get 100's of value units for a few bucks with exchange rates/inflated currencies. And there are definetly some cool coins out there in the world, so that would just be a bonus if they were from a real place. (Also the memory of spending 500 rupee notes, which while I know it was ~10$ at the time, still felt baller)

Anyway thanks all, I think my only real bet will be finding someone coming back from somewhere with the coins.

Roe

Walk into a coin shop and ask them if they have coins from the country you want. Either that or search ebay for coins.