Frequently Asked Questions

What is the status of my order?
Will I pay customs or import tax on my shipment from ECI?
Do you have this coin available, or can you get it for me?
May I update or add to my order?
Can you send me a catalogue of ECI products?
How can I pay for my order?
I placed an order but did not receive a confirmation email.
I have a coin that I am looking to sell. Are you interested?
I have a coin and want to know how much it is worth. What should I do?
My coin arrived damaged, incorrectly described, or was not the item I ordered, how do I return it?
What are your hours of business?
What means do you use to ship orders?
Can I have my order shipped by FedEx?
What will be the shipping charges applicable to my order?
What are "Bonus Points" and how does it all work?
The image for a German coin I am looking at shows the wrong Mint Mark, why is this?
I signed up for the newsletter but am not receiving it. What's the problem?
Do you attend coin and collectibles shows and if so, which ones?
Where can I find general information about Euro Coins?
What is the difference between an Uncirculated (UNC) coins/sets, Brilliant Uncirculated (BU) coins/sets, Specimen and Proof coins/sets?

1. What is the status of my order?
As our product warehouse is located in Melbourne, Australia, we ask customers outside Australia to please allow approximately 3-4 weeks for delivery. This time covers the processing of the order by our Client Service department, despatch department, and any unforseeable delays with shipping using international postal carriers. In rare cases we may offer products on our site that we do not yet have stocks of in our warehouse ready to ship, in these cases a note will be placed in the product description informing of any extra waiting time. In normal cases, however, if your product(s) have not arrived to you in three to four weeks please contact our Client Services department using the form provided on our Contact Us page. Orders are processed on a first come-first served basis.
Please Note: In the case of shipped packages returned to us due to incorrect or incomplete address information supplied by the customer, Euro Collections International may charge the actual cost of re-shipping the item.

2. Will I pay customs or import tax on my shipment from ECI?
Customs and import taxes are dependant on the countries the products are being shipped to. We recommend you contact your local postage carrier for more information. Any customs/import taxes on items purchased through ECI will be the responsibility of the customer.

3. Do you have this coin available, or can you get it for me?
ECI is unable to fill any custom orders. If the item you are looking for is not listed on our website then we do not have it in stock. Likewise, we are unable to provide information on coins that are not listed on our website. Visit our coming soon page for upcoming releases or to get instant notification of new stock arrivals and "back in stock" items you can follow us on Twitter.

4. May I update or add to my order?
We are happy for you to contact us with addition items to add to an exisiting order, provided that the order has not already been processed by our despatch department.

5. Can you send me a catalogue of ECI products?
Euro Collections does not currently offer hard-copy product catalogues. Our parent company, Downies, does have a monthly "Money" magazine in print form. Please contact our Client Services department using the form on the Contact Us page to request a hard-copy Money magazine, or you can view the magazines online in the catalogue section of the Downies website.

6. How can I pay for my order?
ECI accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Bankcard, Diners Club and Discovery Card through our website. A 3% surcharge applies to all American Express and Diners Club transactions. If you prefer to pay via cheque or mail order it is recommended you order via phone, fax or regular mail. Visit our Contact Us page for all contact details.
Please note we do not accept payments from Western Union, BPay or PayPal services.

7. I placed an order but didn't receive a confirmation email.
Any orders made through the ECI website should generate a confirmation email. If you believe you have not received a confirmation email we first recommend you check your email program junk mail folder. If the confirmation is not there there may be a technical reason for the failed delivery. In this case please contact our Client Services department using the form on the Contact Us page to confirm that your order was received.

8. I have a coin that I am looking to sell, are you interested?
ECI is not currently purchasing items from individual collectors.

9. I have a coin and want to know how much it's worth. What should I do?
The value of coins is a function of rarity and condition. Thus, to determine the value of a coin, one cannot do so using email or the telephone. One must be able to see and carefully inspect it. To do this take your coin(s) to a local coin dealer. You can also go to a library and consult a coin catalog for some basic guidance such as "The Standard Catalog of World Coins" published by Krause Publications of Iola, Wisconsin. ECI currently stocks the 2008 Krause Standard Catalog of World Coins on DVD.

10. My coin arrived damaged, incorrectly described, or was not the item I ordered, how do I return it?
North American customers can return items to our Newport Beach address (Downies - Euro Collections International - 4533 MacArthur Blvd #888, Newport Beach CA 92660). If the fault is ours (damaged in transit, wrong item, oversupply or incorrectly described) then please include your postage receipt with the package and we will refund the cost of return shipping. Australian customers please send items to Downies - Euro Collections International - Reply Paid 888, Abbotsford, VIC, 3067. For products returned without defect, Euro Collections International reserves the right to charge a $5 or 20% restocking fee, whichever is greater.

11. What are your hours of business?
Our current hours of business for North American customers are Sunday through Thursday, 2:00PM to 11:00PM (Pacific Standard Time). For Australian customers our current operating hours are Monday to Friday 8.00am - 5.00pm (Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time). For customers from other countries please use the World Clock website to determine the best time to call Melbourne, Australia.

12. What means do you use to ship orders?
USA
All items are shipped via UPS or USPS, dependant on the value of the items

Australia
Items are sent via Australia Post.

All Other Countries (Including Canada)
Items are shipped via International Post

13. Can I have my order shipped by FedEx?
Unfortunately we are unable to offer Federal Express as a delivery option at this time.

14. What will be the shipping charges applicable to my order?
USA - US$8.50 per order for orders valued at less than US$500.00 (shipped via UPS or USPS). If the order value is more than US$500.00 shipping is FREE.

Australia - A$9.00 Receipted delivery. For orders over A$500.00 postage is FREE

Canada - US$16.00 (Orders weighing over 2kg we reserve the right to add additional charges. We will advise cost on a case by case basis).

All Other Countries - US$22.00 (Orders weighing over 2Kg we reserve the right to add additional charges. We will advise cost on a case by case basis).

Please Note: If you wish to have your order shipped to your work address, you must include the name of the company in the address information. We have had instances where the shipping information included the customer's full name and the correct street address but it was returned as undeliverable because there was no company name and the street address was a large office building with many corporate tenants.

15. What are "Bonus Points" and how does it all work?
Bonus Points are a rewards program for ECI customers, much like the Frequent Flyer Program is for airlines. Customers accumulate points by purchasing selected products on the Euro Collections website or in the periodic ECI Money catalog.

Near the end of each year a Bonus Points redemption catalog is produced and mailed out to customers with at least 2000 Bonus Points in their account. They can then redeem their points for products in the catalog. For more information please go to our Bonus Points Information Page.

16. The image for a German coin I am looking at shows the wrong Mint Mark, why is this?
Because a coin that is produced by more than one of the Mints only differs by the Mint Mark ("A", "D", "F", "G" or "J"), we will display an image from only one of the Mints. The images are there as a guide, to show you the designs of the coins, along with the placement of the Mint Mark. The actual Mint Mark that will be on the coin depends on the particular edition you order. In most cases we try to use generic images with no mintmark showing, however sometimes a mint mark will be visible. Please check the title of the coin and/or product description to confirm the coin you plan to order is the one you want.

17. I signed up for the newsletter but am not receiving it. What's the problem?
Many email programs have spam filters which unintentionally stop emails that you WANT to receive from getting through. To cure this problem you need to be sure that your email program accepts email coming from eci@eurocollections.com. Check your junk mail folder for any previous emails from ECI. With most email programs you can then set the email to a "safe" list, which will send it to your inbox instead of your spam folder in future.

18. Do you attend coin and collectibles shows and if so, which ones?
The schedule for 2009 is as follows:

USA

ANA World Fair of Money
Los Angeles, Summer - August 5 to August 9

AUSTRALIA

ANDA Brisbane
22nd to 24th May 2009
Venue: RNA Showgrounds, Exhibition Hall, Brisbane.

ANDA Sydney
15th and 16th August 2009
Venue: Randwick Racecourse, Sydney

ANDA Melbourne
4th and 5th July 2009
Venue: Caulfield Racecourse, Melbourne

ANDA Gold Coast
7th and 8th November 2009
Venue: Bond University, Robina, Gold Coast.

19. Where can I find general information about Euro Coins?
We have a Euro FAQ page on our site specifically aimed at the collector.

20. What is the difference between an Uncirculated (UNC) coins/sets, Brilliant Uncirculated (BU) coins/sets, and Proof coins/sets?
UNC: Standard circulation coin - production dies - Brilliant but often with some bag marks.
BU: Polished dies - Brilliant with no production marks.
Specimen: Polished and frosted dies - Brilliant or mirrored features with frosted background (reverse of proof); Unc or BU quality.
Proof: Polished and frosted dies - Frosted features with brilliant background; Jewel like.

1. Quantities
ECI reserves the right to limit quantities at their discretion without notice.
The inventory on the e-commerce site is not linked to an actual physical inventory. Therefore if during order processing, a product sells out, your final and shipped order may not contain all items that you had originally submitted when you placed your order. If this occurs, however, we will endeavor to contact you prior to processing your order. In some cases there will be notarised restrictions in the product descriptions of items. This if often due to ECI having extremely limited stocks available, and wanting a fair distribution of stock in the market place. While these restrictions are not currently enforced by the online ordering system, they will be set by our Client Services department at the time the order is processed.

2. Prices
Prices in A$ and US$ are subject to change without notice.

3. Investment
The products available on this site are sold as collector items and in no way are presented as investments.

4. Payment Errors
If a customer submits invalid or incomplete credit card information, that customer will lose their priority, (first-come, first-served). Once valid and complete credit card information is received any such order will be regarded as a new order. As such it will be processed based on the date when all correct information has been received. If a customer submits an invalid payment method more than twice, Euro Collections International may decide to no longer conduct business with that person.

If you haven't found an answer to your enquiry here please contact our Client Services department using the form on the Contact Us page.