What kind of things could a person carry to sell and how if they ever had to forcibly leave?
I read diamonds are worthless second hand.
Solid gold seems legit but not sure if coins or jeweler is best.
I saw something about getting gold chains to trade individual links in a emergency.
Are there any other good tips?
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Edit: Put in a Consolidation effort based on comments and side research
- Jewelery is good getting through customs as some countries have limits on what you can take over borders. Canada for example has 10k limit before you have to delcare and it is not clear if per person.
1.a) Always buy jewelry you plan to wear anyway because you will not get full value back.
1.b) Buy from reputable locations. Looks like Mene was a popular one.
- Gold coins are good but get normal ones like Eagles, Buffalo, or Maple as it’s easier to sell. Fancy ones are cool as collector item but will require more haggling.
2a) Bars are cheaper over spot but can be harder to sell overall
2b) Seems like libertycoin had consistent reviews.
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Cash is light but if your origin country currency dips then it’s worthless.
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Crypto requires you to have your wallet seed and importantly access to a pc and electricity.
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Make sure to have a backup skil/trade to live off of.
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Transferring money between banks can have legal issues.
You could also explore some crypto options like monero (XMR). It can be theft resistant if you set it up properly.
Edit: Mind replying to me instead of downvoting? What is the problem with crypto in this scenario?
Lolol, it’s the Reddit mindset, they see “Crypto” they insta downvote.
Btw, there’s always like 1-3 downvoters from bots, even if you make a totally non-political post like a picture of a cat. That’s just how Lemmy is.
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I think its like $10k for in or out of the US and items of value
Probably a good amount to start over. Grandma wad a refugee and came over with way less. Granted she had to work like uncle ruckus but she also couldn’t read either.
One of them stupidly expensive watches, that is worth more than a house, might be the best way to move value across borders. But you gotta find a sucker to buy it.
From the phrasing “fleeing a country” I imagine they want to circumvent border checks/wouldn’t be able to pass a border legally anyway?
I’m fairly sure these days most refugees at least go through some manner of process in the country they claim asylum in. You can’t really exist off grid anymore
I know some people who largely do exist off grid, but in any case, for asylum claims it’s common to claim asylum after having already crossed the border of the target country without going through the checks. My friends who are asylum seekers have done that. I imagine in general you’d have less chance of being deported if you’re already living in the country vs trying to cross the border.
AFAIK, in all anglosphere countries at least, the vast majority of asylum seekers are processed by border patrol shortly after entry, and they certainly would go through your belongings on the premise there was drugs or a nuke or something and find the gold bars.
It’s unclear. If they’re a trans person fleeing the US, they could still pass the border normally for now.
Could you clarify customs me? Someone above mentioned I should have some recipes on those. I dk if that’s enough.
If you’re planning to leave with enough time, register a business or trust or something, transfer your money to a shell company, repeat as necessary then transfer it to the place you’re trying to go.
Use the tools of the people with money not the tools of people who get patted down for loose change by the tsa.
Has this worked before?
Extremely effective, happens all the time with amounts more than an average person can ever earn.
It’s one technique used to hide and move money all the time.
A different way is to buy some asset in the destination nation then sell it when you arrive. So like a bond or an etf share or something.
Printer ink.
I’m just kidding… listen to all the other smart people in this thread and not me.
Well I think ink is worth more per volume than blood.
Gold is still the preferred way of storing wealth in many parts of the world. You can just take gold bars with you which should have value anywhere.
There are actually limits to what you can bring into/out of a country.
Solid Gold anal beads are limited only by your courage.
Gold caps (teeth) painted with white enamel was the method of choice in the past.
Physically get them out might prove to be a challenge as the customs would definitely question your bags of gold.
GOLD JEWELRY
If you are serious, learn a trade. They will always be in demand.
Knowledge is important, without it someone will be like my grandma working every job in town.
Why not just use something like Wise to hold your cash?
It’s a UK company but it says Money can only be delivered to a bank account. Unless I can just load it up like a prepaid card? Which is also a other idea I was considering.
You can get a card that is linked to your wise account. Not something I’ve done but it’s an option.
Silver coins maybe
Unironically this. And gold of course. Some things never change. Humans shelling out for shiny being one of them.
Not a topic I’m super familiar with, but I feel I’ve heard people often are either robbed or have their items confiscated by authorities. Same with unhoused people not wanting to have stuff that would make them a target.
If it was something you had a little bit of prep time for, ziplocking USD or EU and seeing it into a grubby jacket where the repairs would blend in and not garner attention would be the most portable and effective thing to do while minimizing theft potential, other than having all eggs in one basket unless you split it between different garments. Also make sure it is pretty weatherproof to prevent mold damage.
It also has the benefit of being immediately usable, should you need to pay for transport or food. If it was seen in a puffy coat, one could discreetly remove one pack of bills while leaving the rest secure. The immediacy that cash can be used may make up for having something potentially more valuable that you would have to barter or fence, as pretty much any human has a need for cash.
To add that secret compartments in your accessoirs.
My sling bag for example has 2 velcro pouches on each side of the band. You would think they are sewn shut but on closer expections they are actually vecroed.
Using it as a emergency storage for some coins. Helped me once already.Not putting in a link until requested. No need to advertise :)
I think I actually had a coat once with a hidden pocket like this that I didn’t know about until I had it for quite some time! It wasn’t big enough to hold a lot, but it was a very secret stash. Even some coats I have with inside pockets blend in very well, but those probably wouldn’t pass someone searching me at a checkpoint of any kind.
My pouches are a sort of faux leather type of material. I couldn’t fill it with anything bulky but I could certainly get a small stack of 200€ bills inside without being bulky.
I planned to sew in the coins somehow into my backpack and jacket. But this a good idea for cash.
If you need some inspiration, here’s my bag:
Transfer your money to an overseas bank in your target nation.
I Heard there are some complications with that. Some people said consult a lawyer before moving finances.
Good advice. Same with real estate. There are all sorts of laws in target nations you’d never expect. For instance, some nations will tax your money hard if you try to leave them.
That’s why the question is more focused on the “yeah leave now or guarantee camps and possibly worst” situation vs let Me call my law firm of Pearson Specter Litt LLC.
Tough situations could blow over but better to not start from nothing.
Besides the utility of a go bag… having portable wealth can get you into trouble with the police or border crossing agents.
Civil asset forfeiture is a very real thing at border crossings. If you must take portable wealth have documentation about where it came from a available
Keep them receipts. Got it.
Receipts don’t matter if they (claim to) “suspect” the source of the money used to buy the gold in the first place.
Lame. Now I need paper copies of my bank statements ?
US police (including border agents) are stealing things from citizens. It doesn’t matter if you have bank statements or receipts if you are dealing with someone who will just steal your shit and claim legal immunity.
True, Well given the circumstances that could be very possible of corrupt d bags at the border.
Bitcoin is best. Can theoretically keep your wallet seed in your head instead of paper or on phone. Anything physical is subject to border guards or other transporation/exgress/ingress assisters.
Brave comment
Brave to remember?
Praising crypto on Lemmy is one of the deadly sins
It seems to work like the stock market. I lost faith when it when up and down 10s of thousands of dollars in a few days that doesn’t mean that it isn’t worth the risk if you are going to lose everything anyway.
Oh yeah I definitely believe more in Crypto and even Bitcoin than the mythical USD printer. But most Lemmings hate it with a passion because it consumes electricity. Same with AI.
Ah well let’s hope no one ever need it then. El salvador just got bought out of using bit coin. Guess someone Is afraid of how useful it is.
They got bribed by the IMF for 1.4 Billion dollars to change back to USD.
Didn’t it drop yesterday by like 20%?
close to that at low, but ended up down less than 10%. If you are short term, you had opportunity to make 10% in a day. Long term, it is best performing assets, and should still outperform stock indexes in future. Don’t depend on it for your rent money for the month or year, but longer term you can probably turn it into a significant portion of a house or EV.
Monero if you need something that’s actually untraceable. However, I guess btc is more likely to hold its value in the long term.
If you just want to escape your country, instead of buying illegal stuff in new country, a privacy coin isn’t a necessity.
Get tattoo of wallet seed lol.
Write disguised poem including your wallet seed.
Don’t make it fire incase someone wants to steal yo rhymes.
Nah you need to create a cipher in your head, then you tattoo the encrypted seed. Easier to remember than the seed itself, and only readable by you.
Maybe have a second tattoo to remind you what the cipher is lol. Then another for that one…
I’ve considered some other options:
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become an artist and upload “the art” that has a code based ok the number of lines similar to Japanese multiplication with a cipher something like Moriarty uses for text messages but based on the creation date. Common folk will be not be the wiser. Of course that assumes art is not taken down somehow.
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cut my arm/hip open and put a micro SD card or projector in there like in the Bourne identity. Probably could just sew it in clothes but no fun in that. BTW cutting arm open for implant takes months to repair so don’t recommend. They say 1 month but bs. Took 3.
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code is in my paracord based on knots similar to the Futurama nft episode.
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Consider the worst comes to worst, you won’t have electricity, let alone internet connectivity. Good luck selling any crypto in those circumstances.
Nope, ye olde Gold & Silver are the way to go. Silver for fractional trades, gold for larger ones. Can’t beat a couple thousand years of history.
Good usecase for bitcoin, bring your private key
Not sure why downvoted. It’s just memorizing a username and password.
Stupid question. How do you then get cash for that wherever you end up? Do you need a bank account?
There are random bitcoin/crypto ATMs in some major cities.
So probably there. Dunno if they require an account.If you use a decentralized trading platform like Bisq, you can even use face to face cash trades that keeps no logs of anything that ties to your identity.
Same as with everything else: you sell them to someone willing to buy
If you aren’t trying to hide the money, just find an online exchange like Coinbase or Kraken (they’ll ask your real identity of course), then link to bank account, and voila!
Also there are bitcoin ATMs everywhere. They’ll also ask for your identity these days.
and the more a country bans bitcoin, the more there is craigslist or localbitcoin hookup sites.
US: The way to effectively do thos is to open a series of accounts, in a tree structure, in countries that aren’t CRS compliant. Disperse the money into the structure. This will buy time, mitigating losses in the event of an asset freeze, likely not being caught until FACTA reporting to the IRS. Get the money out ASAP. There’s better methods if laws don’t matter.
