Taking gold coins to Mexico

[Joycee]

Hi
Does anyone know if there are any restrictions regarding taking gold coins to Mexico? I am flying to Mexico on Saturday and I wanted to take half the gold coins I have bought as a hedge against inflation. The amount is under $10,000. Also what about taking jewelry when I move to Mexico in about 6 months. Are there any restrictions?

Thanks

[jlms]

I think you are out of luck.

You can check what you can get in your luggage here: Pasajeros - Which items may be included in my personal luggage exempt from duty? - SAT México

In the same website you can find how much money you can carry, in this case the allowance refers specifically to currency and commercial documents, gold is not mentioned, so most likely you will have to declare it and pay tax for its importation.

If I was you I would be calling the Mexican Consulate or even Aduanas (Customs) in Mexico in order to be absolutely sure about what the position is regarding your coins.

As for jewellery it is a bit of a grey area, they can be considered personal clothing items, so you are unlikely to be bothered if you have a few items with you when you fly to Mexico, since they can be considered also art objects they can be part or your household, so depending how you are moving (household or just luggage) and how much jewellery we are talking about, the situation may be different.

[Hound Dog]

Originally Posted by Joycee

Hi
Does anyone know if there are any restrictions regarding taking gold coins to Mexico? I am flying to Mexico on Saturday and I wanted to take half the gold coins I have bought as a hedge against inflation. The amount is under $10,000. Also what about taking jewelry when I move to Mexico in about 6 months. Are there any restrictions?

Thanks

Joycee:

My comment is not exactly on the subject of governmental restrictions regarding importation of gold coins but I just wonder if the concept of bringing a significant amount of gold coins down here is such a fine idea right now. Banks here in Mexico don´t often (if ever) offer safe deposit boxes to middle class clients and home burglaries are commonplace these days all over Mexico. We live in both San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas and Ajijic on Lake Chapala and both cities have had a significant increase in crime including a rash of home burglaries since economic tough times became a big issue in Mexico recently. It has gotten so bad at Lake Chapala that we just installed an expensive home alarm system after almost nine years in residence here and even with the alarm system there is no way we would have a significant amount of gold coins, cash or other valuables stored in either of our houses. Burglars at Lake Chapala are so adept they are known at times to easily break into the most expensive and formidable home safes which become an attraction to thieves just by being there and your gold coins could make you a target which is something you do not want to be.

We have seen burglars down here make off with a home´s entire inventory of furniture and appliances in just a matter of minutes and proving for a fact that something stolen initially was your property is quite problematic in Mexico for several reasons. I imagine something like cold coins would be fenced, perhaps melted and in Guatemala before the sun rises.

I would be interested to hear of how some of our fellow forum participants handled storage of valuable, easily stolen items such as precious metals, jewelry or rainy day cash in their homes or towns. As for us, we keep nothing in our houses we cannot afford to lose the alarm system notwithstanding.

By the way, during these hard times with so many unemployed poor about in desperate need, the same problem we are experiencing in Mexico plagues friends and relatives of ours in various parts of France and the United States.

Good luck to you . It´s your decision. Just trying to alert you to a problem you may not have considered as of yet.

[RVGRINGO]

The simplest security measure is to avoid having any of those valuables in the first place. Then, you won't have to worry about them. A safe deposit box in your US bank would be my suggestion.

[Joycee]

Thanks to all for your replies. The coins in question are Swiss francs so they may be considered currency. I understand the robbery concerns. I also realize the shortcomings of Mexican banks. My sister-in-law lost her life savings when two bank officials of a Puebla bank made off with all the money forcing the bank to close. Unlike here, there was no FDIC to replace the funds.

Joycee

[jlms]

Mexican banks in big towns have safe boxes. My mom is just a teacher living with a modest Mexican state pension and still has contracted a safe for important documents and a few valuables.

Mexican people have known for ever that you need to make your property safe: we normally don't buy household contents insurance because it is too expensive, so we invest the money in putting more locks, safe doors and putting protection in house windows (for some reason double glazed windows are not widely available, it would be money well spent), unfortunately Mexico has been in a state of economic crisis most of the time during the last 30 years, so the current recession is just another bump in the economic road :-/

[Joycee]

Thank you jlms. I will look into getting a safety deposit box. Even if I decide not to bring my valuables to Mexico, I may want it for important papers.

Joycee