Is it safe to bring gold coins into the DR?

Dark_Scorpion

Bronze
Aug 13, 2012
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I'm planning on moving to the DR at the end of November. However, I need to make some arrangements before I leave, and one of the biggest issues I have is what to do with my precious metals. I have a bunch of silver(over 200 ounces), too much to bring through an airport without drawing unwanted attention. However, I have a much smaller amount of gold(under ten ounces).

What are the customs rules regarding bringing gold into the Dominican Republic? I'm nervous because I read online that some dude tried taking $200,000 worth of gold through Mexico and was thrown in prison. I have nowhere near $200,000 worth of gold but I don't want to take any chances. I don't want to sell the gold/silver for dollars and repurchase it in the DR because there is a 28 percent tax here in the states. So, what do I do? I don't really want to store it here in the states either. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I'm finding this to be a difficult puzzle to solve. Also, I took a vacation to the DR in 2009. I noticed that the Dominican customs opened my bag but didn't really search through it for anything.
 

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
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If you are caught at the airport with over $10,000 in cash/coins/etc. that you don't declare, it will be confiscated. If you declare it, you run the risk of someone telling someone that you have it.

Personally, I'd store the gold wherever you're leaving the silver......especially if you don't need it to live. Why ask for trouble?
 

JohnnyBoy

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Jun 17, 2012
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Dont bring it. Get a safe deposit box in your home country. If you declare it you will get robbed. If you want to sell it you will feel like you got robbed.
 

AnnaC

Gold
Jan 2, 2002
16,050
418
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Agree, leave it where it is, don't become a target. If you need it to live on go back home once in a while and sell small amounts.

I'll say it again, do not become a target
 

Jumbo

Bronze
Jul 8, 2005
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If you are thinking of selling the gold in the future in the DR forgetaboutit. Really not a big stash and not very liquid for spot price in DR. Expect to pay atleast a 10% commission on the sale.
 

captboink

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Mar 3, 2011
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Dont bring it. Get a safe deposit box in your home country. If you declare it you will get robbed. If you want to sell it you will feel like you got robbed.

DON'T bring it. Get a safe deposit box in YOUR home country. If you declare you WILL get robbed.If you want to sell it you will FEEL like you got ROBBED.

Gari...er Captboink
 
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DRob

Gold
Aug 15, 2007
8,234
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Probably. Unfortunate because it will make him a very easy target, and he'll constantly feel the need to look over his shoulder. Personally, I'd take the advice given here, and just keep it safe back home.
 

waytogo

Moderator - North Coast Forum
Apr 3, 2009
6,407
580
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Santiago DR
lol............have it made into a really LARGE watchband......
If you can't pick up your arm, don't worry about it.........lol

B in Santiago
 

Dark_Scorpion

Bronze
Aug 13, 2012
966
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18
DON'T bring it. Get a safe deposit box in YOUR home country. If you declare you WILL get robbed.If you want to sell it you will FEEL like you got ROBBED.

Gari...er Captboink

I don't trust safe deposit boxes. I notice at lot of you guys are recommending this. Did you guys know that gold was outlawed in the US under the Roosevelt administration?

The Roosevelt Gold Confiscation Order Of April 3 1933.

It could happen again, and if it does, I don't want to have my gold sitting in the USA. Many of you are also recommending leaving it here, but with who? If you were me, who would you trust holding your gold and silver? I don't trust anybody other than me, not even my own mother. The American government has set a precedent for confiscating metals, this means they can do it again. If that happens the last thing I want is to be down there in the DR, with my metals here. Then it will be impossible to get it out.
 

Dark_Scorpion

Bronze
Aug 13, 2012
966
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Personally, I'd store the gold wherever you're leaving the silver......especially if you don't need it to live. Why ask for trouble?

It really isn't that simple. Based on the comments I'm reading here so far, you guys are assuming that things are great in the USA, and that the government would never have a financial collapse or reason to ban or seize gold. The history clearly shows that the American government has outlawed, and could do so again in the future given the right circumstances. I'd like to get myself, and my assets, outside the country before that happens.
 

Dark_Scorpion

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Aug 13, 2012
966
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Dont bring it. Get a safe deposit box in your home country. If you declare it you will get robbed. If you want to sell it you will feel like you got robbed.

Alright, everyone is saying not to declare it in the DR, I will take your advice on that. Does the $10,000 rule apply down there like it does here? If so I can bring less than $10,000 worth. I really don't feel comfortable leaving ALL my precious metals in the states. Maybe some of it, but not all. You just never know what can happen these days. There has been a lot of talk on the Internet of a dollar collapse. I'm not saying it will happen, all I'm saying is that I want to be prepared for the WSC(worse case scenario). If there was dollar collapse I wouldnt want to be down in the DR only holding dollars.

Some of you are saying "don't sell it in the DR, because you will get ripped off." First off, if I sold my gold or silver, what would I sell it for. dollars? That would defeat the purpose of why I bought the gold and silver in the first place. I don't want paper money that is inherently worthless. I'd rather use the silver or gold to acquire land or property in the DR instead of selling it back for paper that is worthless. Can gold or silver be used to purchase goods directly in the DR, without selling it for currency. For instance, if I wanted to buy a house in the DR, could I use silver to buy it directly rather than exchanging it for dollars? With all the expats living down there, I find it hard to believe that I'm the first guy with this dilemma.
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
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on a more serious note: what do you need this gold/silver for? as an investment? security?
because all added up it comes to what, less than 22k dollars? this is not even enough to buy you a decent car in DR. let alone to serve as means of financial support.
10oz gold is hardly any weight. melted into small figurine (or a butt plug, as it may be) it will not catch attention (well, a plug may). i doubt anyone in aduanas will be able to recognize gold.
 

belgiank

Silver
Jun 13, 2009
3,251
103
0
for a moment there i envisioned pure gold butt plug. as a safe way of bringing the bling into DR, you know.
then i was stupid enough to google it and what do you know, there is such thing as 24 carat gold plug:
http://www.sexshop365.co.uk/catalog/anal-toys-313/butt-plugs-139/24c-gold-butt-plug-11764.html
the world is a strange place indeed.

that should be one hell of a small butt-plug. According to my calculations it will weigh 0,05 onz at that price.

Yes, I have too much time on my hands...lol

BelgianK
 

Dark_Scorpion

Bronze
Aug 13, 2012
966
2
18
on a more serious note: what do you need this gold/silver for? as an investment? security?
because all added up it comes to what, less than 22k dollars? this is not even enough to buy you a decent car in DR. let alone to serve as means of financial support.
10oz gold is hardly any weight. melted into small figurine (or a butt plug, as it may be) it will not catch attention (well, a plug may). i doubt anyone in aduanas will be able to recognize gold.

I need this gold and silver as an investment and for security. The reason I originally bought it is because anyone who has been paying any attention to the political/economic situation in the USA can clearly see that the country is deteriorating. Every paper currency eventually goes to its true value.........zero. When the American dollar goes to zero value I don't want to be caught anywhere in the world holding only dollars. Any American expat living down in the DR who is holding all their wealth in dollars with no gold/silver/platinum backing is gambling with their financial future.

The current market value of my gold and silver coins is not really relevant. Lets say I do have $22,000 worth of gold and silver that I want to get out of the country. You say that "it won't buy a decent car in the DR." Ah, but see, you are only measuring its value by TODAY'S prices. I'm looking at the future. What if an ounce of gold goes to $5,000 an ounce, or silver goes to $125 an ounce? Silver reached a high of $50 per ounce in 1980. Adjusted for inflation today that would be about $120. Silver is currently $27 an ounce. If there is a major crisis in the world banking system(which every expert I've read or listens to says is very likely), there is no telling how high silver and gold will go. If the American dollar were to collapse, there is no telling what an ounce of gold could be.......$50,000 an ounce? In that scenario, I could buy a huge home in the DR with that little $22,000 worth of silver and gold which you say is not a lot of money today........
 

CocoBoy

New member
Feb 23, 2012
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Great idea dv8. He'd probably have to do a bit of training for that method of transportation.