France Bans Gold & Silver from the Mail

Precious metals prohibited from the post in little-reported move...

 

The FRENCH government has banned sending all currency by post, including cash, coins, gold and silver.

 

"The insertion of banknotes, coins and precious metals is prohibited in mailings," says a decree approved on 23 May and published on Legifrance, the French government site accountable for publishing legal texts online.

 

The new law has been little reported by the French media, and the decree does not explain why the prohibition has been made. But in reporting the change, Service Publique – the official site for administrative updates and news in France – notes that a decree in April put a €5,000 limit on the value of any item being sent by mail.

 

"The gold trade has already undergone many restrictions," says Michel Prieur, a professional numismatist and president of CGB, the largest rare coin company in France, "particularly the compulsory traceability of transfers and cheques."

 

Also pointing to postal staff's safety when handling high-value items, Prieur says that his company had already stopped using the French postal service for mailing items to customers, as La Poste would no longer insure precious metal contents.

 

Other commentators on the French blogosphere have suggested that the law is to limit the "anonymous market", where buyers and sellers avoid taxes and people trade without being regulated by the government.

 

However, bank notes, coins and bullion in France carry no sales tax. So there is also speculation that this law is an attempt to discourage the ownership of gold, silver and other precious metals outside the banking system.