Shipping Antique Bladed Weapons From Russia?

[DavidFriedman]

Wow! That’s pretty intense.
Any thoughts if items were picked up by flying in and taking back via airlines?

[gp]

Originally Posted by DavidFriedman

Wow! That’s pretty intense.
Any thoughts if items were picked up by flying in and taking back via airlines?

being a customs specialist, I would very seriously advise against it as it would be looked upon violating the law intentionally !
One would not do it with Cites material like ivory in any country either....
Or in Italy an antique miniature painting on a plane in your hand luggage or an ancient Greek or Abbassid coin in Turkey...
Even a 100 year qama or bichaq from the Balkans will get you in trouble in Serbia as well...
Has nothing to do with politics, or being harsh or pretty intense but is just the law.

Fedex, TNT, UPS, DHL wouldn't touch it if you don't have the correct docs.

And even in some countries one might meet "challenges" the other way around: I would not ship a Balkan bichaq from the Netherlands to the UK after the Brexit, Canada or the good ol' U S of A as an over eager customs officer might not be convinced the grip/handle is simply made from horn or a cow bone but think its ivory...and I can't disagree with the officer when there is doubt...!

And hence one is caught with one's knickers down... (which is not a pleasant sight you must agree ☺☺☺)


Comming back to Rossia, be it the Tsaristic times, the Soviet Union or present one, you do not want to mess with Batushka...

[Sajen]

It's the same with Indonesia, it's forbidden to ship any blades out from the country and no shipping organization will do it, sadly.

[David]

David, i am afraid GP is absolute right about this. I would also suggest that we not use this forum to discuss in public ways or means by which to skirt international law. So i am afraid we need to stifle any further "any thoughts on how to..." questions and discussion.

[Ren Ren]

Originally Posted by gp

Comming back to Rossia, be it the Tsaristic times, the Soviet Union or present one, you do not want to mess with Batushka...

You're right, it's better not to do that. Customs payments are the second most important source of revenue for the state budget of the Russian Federation (after taxes on the extraction of minerals)

[DavidFriedman]

Thanks all for your input. No I wasn’t suggesting to skirt the law by flying in to pickup. I meant to mean, are the laws different for someone mailing an item out of Russia, vs picking it up in person.

From the answers, I see that the law is uniform in terms of either mode of shipping/collecting.

I’m wondering if special permission can be granted on a case by case basis by the Dept of Culture in Russia.

So, no, not trying to skirt the law so much. Rather seeing if there are any legal ways of shipping antique swords from Russia.

Such a shame that the laws that protect their culture also prohibit shipment of antiques that are not of Russian significance.

[Philip]

Originally Posted by DavidFriedman

I’m wondering if special permission can be granted on a case by case basis by the Dept of Culture in Russia.
.

That endeavor sounds almost as Sisyphian as dealing with the US Dept. of Ag and the Customs Service on a CITES case... Good luck if you want to try it.

[Ren Ren]

Originally Posted by DavidFriedman

I’m wondering if special permission can be granted on a case by case basis by the Dept of Culture in Russia.

In theory, you can obtain an export permit.
In practice, I do not know of a single case of legal export of antiques from Russia.
Philip is absolutely right - there is a lot of effort and financial costs, and the result cannot be guaranteed.

[DavidFriedman]

Argggg, oh well. I guess I’ll have to be satisfied with imagining I own the sword I wanted, lol.

Thanks everyone. I’m so surprised after collecting for a while, I just learned of this last week.

[ariel]

You must remember a logo on a tee shirt from “When Harry met Sally”: “ Do not f..k with Mr.Zero”.