Yeah, I am going to try to limit it to one question a day to limit the amount of bugging I am doing. I will also reserve them for only stamps I cannot seem to identify. For instance....I'll keep this one short....
King George Australia basic 1 Penney GREEN. I found a 228 watermark on it, which isn't listed in this book. Is that common?
So obviously that hurting me identifying its year and cat. #
Paper. I ONLY have the 1840 to 1940 specialized catalog. I think I need the standard catalogs for newer than 1941> but there are a lot of them....any suggestions on a way to check my post 1940 stamps a bit....easier?
I suggest switching to the electronic versions for one critical reason alone: Search capability. The Electronic Scott catalogs drive me crazy sometimes (like you have to mute the stupid "page turn" sound EVERY time you start it), but, the advantages in many cases out weigh the disadvantages. The one reason why this is SO useful is, once you find a design (like A22) you can search for A22 and it will show you all the issues of that stamp that use the A22 design type. This can save you DAYS and misidentifying far less often. The problem is most people will find the "high value" and not realize that there are other items that use the same design, but might be slightly different (paper type, perforations, even some subtle design changes), and with this you can go see all of them. Then compare your example to each of the issues that use that same design, and save yourself a lot of headache. This isn't possible with paper copies. And there are PLEANTY of designs out there that span decades or even centuries between usage. Though these are usually made obvious, sometimes they are not. And even if they are only a few years apart, it makes you aware of the "same thing" but different where value may be drastically different. So for this reason alone, I recommend the e-versions of Scott. I hate that they don't have an off-line view, but really, how often are you on an airplane and needing to look up the Scott # of an odd Fiji stamp you just saw?
I would suggest you do get at least one paper volume, just a cheap used one. The hardest thing about Scott is learning how to read it carefully and correctly. I've yet to see an electronic version, but I can only imagine that a paper copy would be easier to practice with.
Phil, not really. The eversion looks 100% like the paper version. You can view it in single or double page width at a time. You can zoom into images on a page (in a way you can't with the paper version). I converted to e-Versions back in 2015 and have never regretted it. It has a bit of learn curve, but once you get past that, the benefits are huge. You can book mark it just like a regular paper version as well, flip through pages just like you were turning pages in the regular volume. Even click on links from advertisers that take you directly to their websites, which just now and then is also useful. And you can keep years worth of volumes without needed shelf space. I sold all my hard copies quite some time ago, and 0 need to ever go back to them.
Cool. I hope to get there soon. Zooming in on an entry is especially attractive as I don't know which is getting smaller quicker, the print or my eyesight.....
Very awesome information. It will be a process for me for sure, and has been already a huge time suck, but I'm enjoying it a lot more than I expected so I just might become a stamp collector!
I am still planning on building the spreadsheet as best I can (which is slow but working thus far), and getting a running total, to see what I have (then subtracting 30% in case I wanted to sell them ever at probable sale value at least) so I will know IF I even need to add them to insurance. Most are not worth it as several experts have stated thus far, but I'm enjoying it! I found one worth 3 dollars last night!!!!
Scott, is there a COMPREHENSIVE book on post 1940s? Or am I stuck buying 6 volumes if I wanted to go that route?
I have a complete set of Scott catalogs, 2010 edition, including the USA Specialized and the Classic. I was planning on junking them, but if you are interested, I can list them for sale here on HipStamp as a set. They are in decent condition with several being library editions. They would all fit into two USPS Priority Mail medium-sized flat-rate boxes, with the shipping fee being $15.50 for each box. I can list all for $35.00, with the remaining $4.00 used to cover the HipStamp and PayPal fees.
Let me know if you are interested by responding below.
Please note that only Volumes 1-6 are included. It has been a few years since I shipped out any Scott catalogs and forgot how many volumes fit inside a Priority Mail medium-sized box. It turns out it was three rather than four. Very sorry for my mistake - if this is a deal killer, so be it.
I still have the 2010 editions of the Classic and USA Specialized available if anyone is interested.
I also have a full set of 2008 Scott catalogs including the Classic and Specialized, as well as a 2002 set including all but the Classic catalog. Also available is a 2012 Scott USA Specialized. I need to recycle these unless anyone shows an interest.
I sent out a set of 2019's earlier this year and they will fit into 2 large size boxes for a cost of $43.80 as opposed to the $46.50 for the 3 medium boxes.
I went on and got the 6! Thank you vm Richard!!! I'll keep this thread going if I find something TRULY unusual, or if I'm having and awful time with ID of a stamp.
Thanks for the information on the shipping. I won't be shipping multiple catalogs for a while unless someone shows some interest in the older catalogs I described above. I will be listing both a USA Specialized catalog and a Classic catalog towards the end of this year after I receive the 2022 editions of both. Otherwise I am not planning on ordering anymore Scott catalogs until I get a full set of the 2025 edition in a couple of years (my Volumes 1-6 are now 2020 editions).
D Crawford,
I should have these catalogs mailed off first thing tomorrow morning. Will send you the tracking information after I do so as an attached email to the HipStamp online invoice (I believe that I can only attach one tracking number directly to the online invoice itself). Very happy that I can recycle these catalogs by sending them to someone who will appreciate them.
DCrawford post of Aug 2: "Careful indeed Rene, however, not to remain offensive....but most I've met are over 60 and extremely cheap" ......you talking about me?? I resemble that remark.
@ Ron Good! Then I've come to the right place then. When birds fly overhead they sing, cheep cheep!
So, tonight's question of the evening is, I have an Austrian 10h Rose colored SCOTTS # 75 A16. My question is how to tell if its a .25c stamp or the A16(b) which is considerably more valuable? I bought a perf gauge, but which side should I measure under that section for 10.5?
Its truly in crummy condition, and I've learned not to expect much, so...yeah. It honestly looked like a perf 12.5 to me, so was just curious what you thought?
DC, The stamp is perf 12 1/2. Your question about "Which side" is an important one. If the stamp is described as "Perf 12" in the Scott book, then it really won't matter (caveat here). Any side should be that perforation then.
If the Scott guide says something like Perf 10 x 11, then it matters. The perf 10 will be top and bottom (horizontal), and the perf 11 will be left and right (vertical).
Of course if it says Perf 10H or Perf 10V then it's imperf on the perpendicular then (as in the case with coil stamps).
Now, I mentioned a "caveat". Where stamps can be faked (by having fake perforations added, or real perfs cut away) you must be VERY careful. These require precision gauge to detect fraudulent perforations (in some cases).
Now it may also be an attempt to "reperforate" a stamp that was either originally a natural straight edge, or has a crummy perf (like the bottom of your stamp in the picture), to make it look more attractive to collectors.
This of course is outside your scope of simply "ID'ing" the stamp, (aside from fakes), but something I want to make you aware of as you use the perforation gauge, you may encounter things that just "don't look quite right". And when you do, you should immediately question what you are looking at.
DC & New Collectors, The Vertical rows of Perf measurements that you see up & down the Right & Left sides of the Gauge are for use in Perfing a stamp On Cover. You can visualize how it will be able to align next to the stamp without regard to an angle. Just lay the Gauge next to it.
So this particular stamp shows a 10.5 × 13.5 in the general listing. Under 75 A16 (b) it simply says 10.5 (which i assume is the HORIZONTAL measurement in this case, because the top bottom was already 10.5). Am I correct to think that? SCOTT, and it doesn't specify horizontal/vertical under this particular stamp unfortunately.....
DC, As I mentioned, if Scott mentions only a single perf, then the perf is for the entire stamp. 10.5 will mean 10.5 on all sides. If it says 10.5 x 13.5, then it will be 10.5 at top and bottom, and 13.5 at left and right.
BTW, when referring to Scott #'s it's best if you tell us what country first, and then just the Scott # (not the Design #). If there is a minor category (a, b, c, etc) include that as part of the Scott #.
For example: Argentina Scott #75b as opposed to Scott #75 A16 (b) is actually harder to visually process, and I have to look at your item to figure out what country it's from. The A<999> is how Scott refers to a design that is used in multiple listings, without specifying it again. For the largest part, we don't need the design signifier at all, as it's already a given for that Scott #.
So, I'm going to have the one above checked out at the stamp show in September. I have two coloration questions for the ladies and gents here today with specific stamps....
I realize these may need a naked eye with my crappy lighting....
1) I have a German BADEN 60(a) A5. Question here is difference between ochre brown and brown yellow for this stamp (a or d)?
2) I found a Belgium 150 A58 used, not particularly valuable. But I have a mirror image of the same stamp in chocolate, not black brown as stated....is this the wrong issue year or is this off color known about?
So both shades clearly there. You might want to try some simple Hipstamp searches and Google searches before you post up here too. Not that we're not happy to help, but as I mentioned before... you should be getting the real basics down, you found a Scott #, so go look for that.
The other thing is, for foreign stamps (non-US essentially) Scott may not be your best reference either. While they are extremely thorough in the US Specialized catalog, in other countries the information may be more sparse, more consolidated, and with fewer examples. So for a subtle color variation like this (and I saw at least 2 or 3 other subtleties in color variation just in Hipstamp listing), it seems the answer to your question is, yes. There are variations.
Comments
King George Australia basic 1 Penney GREEN. I found a 228 watermark
on it, which isn't listed in this book. Is that common?
So obviously that hurting me identifying its year and cat. #
This isn't possible with paper copies. And there are PLEANTY of designs out there that span decades or even centuries between usage. Though these are usually made obvious, sometimes they are not. And even if they are only a few years apart, it makes you aware of the "same thing" but different where value may be drastically different. So for this reason alone, I recommend the e-versions of Scott. I hate that they don't have an off-line view, but really, how often are you on an airplane and needing to look up the Scott # of an odd Fiji stamp you just saw?
The eversion looks 100% like the paper version. You can view it in single or double page width at a time. You can zoom into images on a page (in a way you can't with the paper version). I converted to e-Versions back in 2015 and have never regretted it. It has a bit of learn curve, but once you get past that, the benefits are huge. You can book mark it just like a regular paper version as well, flip through pages just like you were turning pages in the regular volume. Even click on links from advertisers that take you directly to their websites, which just now and then is also useful. And you can keep years worth of volumes without needed shelf space. I sold all my hard copies quite some time ago, and 0 need to ever go back to them.
I am still planning on building the spreadsheet as best I can (which is slow but working thus far), and getting a running total, to see what I have (then subtracting 30% in case I wanted to sell them ever at probable sale value at least) so I will know IF I even need to add them to insurance. Most are not worth it as several experts have stated thus far, but I'm enjoying it! I found one worth 3 dollars last night!!!!
Scott, is there a COMPREHENSIVE book on post 1940s? Or am I stuck buying 6 volumes if I wanted to go that route?
https://www.stampworld.com/en/stamps/United-States/Postage stamps/1940-1949?user=124102
I have a complete set of Scott catalogs, 2010 edition, including the USA Specialized and the Classic. I was planning on junking them, but if you are interested, I can list them for sale here on HipStamp as a set. They are in decent condition with several being library editions. They would all fit into two USPS Priority Mail medium-sized flat-rate boxes, with the shipping fee being $15.50 for each box. I can list all for $35.00, with the remaining $4.00 used to cover the HipStamp and PayPal fees.
Let me know if you are interested by responding below.
Richard Pauls
https://www.hipstamp.com/store/okstamps
Just listed the catalogs at the following link:
https://www.hipstamp.com/listing/scott-catalogs-2010-edition-volumes-1-6-countries-a-z/40362159
Please note that only Volumes 1-6 are included. It has been a few years since I shipped out any Scott catalogs and forgot how many volumes fit inside a Priority Mail medium-sized box. It turns out it was three rather than four. Very sorry for my mistake - if this is a deal killer, so be it.
I still have the 2010 editions of the Classic and USA Specialized available if anyone is interested.
I also have a full set of 2008 Scott catalogs including the Classic and Specialized, as well as a 2002 set including all but the Classic catalog. Also available is a 2012 Scott USA Specialized. I need to recycle these unless anyone shows an interest.
Richard Pauls - okstamps
https://www.hipstamp.com/store/okstamps
I sent out a set of 2019's earlier this year and they will fit into 2 large size boxes for a cost of $43.80 as opposed to the $46.50 for the 3 medium boxes.
Thanks for the information on the shipping. I won't be shipping multiple catalogs for a while unless someone shows some interest in the older catalogs I described above. I will be listing both a USA Specialized catalog and a Classic catalog towards the end of this year after I receive the 2022 editions of both. Otherwise I am not planning on ordering anymore Scott catalogs until I get a full set of the 2025 edition in a couple of years (my Volumes 1-6 are now 2020 editions).
D Crawford,
I should have these catalogs mailed off first thing tomorrow morning. Will send you the tracking information after I do so as an attached email to the HipStamp online invoice (I believe that I can only attach one tracking number directly to the online invoice itself). Very happy that I can recycle these catalogs by sending them to someone who will appreciate them.
Gee, it feels great for the earth to be back on its axis again.
So, tonight's question of the evening is, I have an Austrian 10h Rose colored SCOTTS # 75 A16. My question is how to tell if its a .25c stamp or the A16(b) which is considerably more valuable? I bought a perf gauge, but which side should I measure under that section for 10.5?
Its truly in crummy condition, and I've learned not to expect much, so...yeah. It honestly looked like a perf 12.5 to me, so was just curious what you thought?
The stamp is perf 12 1/2.
Your question about "Which side" is an important one.
If the stamp is described as "Perf 12" in the Scott book, then it really won't matter (caveat here). Any side should be that perforation then.
If the Scott guide says something like Perf 10 x 11, then it matters.
The perf 10 will be top and bottom (horizontal), and the perf 11 will be left and right (vertical).
Of course if it says Perf 10H or Perf 10V then it's imperf on the perpendicular then (as in the case with coil stamps).
Now, I mentioned a "caveat". Where stamps can be faked (by having fake perforations added, or real perfs cut away) you must be VERY careful. These require precision gauge to detect fraudulent perforations (in some cases).
Now it may also be an attempt to "reperforate" a stamp that was either originally a natural straight edge, or has a crummy perf (like the bottom of your stamp in the picture), to make it look more attractive to collectors.
This of course is outside your scope of simply "ID'ing" the stamp, (aside from fakes), but something I want to make you aware of as you use the perforation gauge, you may encounter things that just "don't look quite right". And when you do, you should immediately question what you are looking at.
The Vertical rows of Perf measurements that you see up & down the Right & Left sides of the Gauge are for use in Perfing a stamp On Cover. You can visualize how it will be able to align next to the stamp without regard to an angle. Just lay the Gauge next to it.
As I mentioned, if Scott mentions only a single perf, then the perf is for the entire stamp. 10.5 will mean 10.5 on all sides.
If it says 10.5 x 13.5, then it will be 10.5 at top and bottom, and 13.5 at left and right.
BTW, when referring to Scott #'s it's best if you tell us what country first, and then just the Scott # (not the Design #). If there is a minor category (a, b, c, etc) include that as part of the Scott #.
For example:
Argentina Scott #75b
as opposed to
Scott #75 A16 (b) is actually harder to visually process, and I have to look at your item to figure out what country it's from. The A<999> is how Scott refers to a design that is used in multiple listings, without specifying it again. For the largest part, we don't need the design signifier at all, as it's already a given for that Scott #.
Just saying, it will make us helping you easier.
I realize these may need a naked eye with my crappy lighting....
1) I have a German BADEN 60(a) A5. Question here is difference between ochre brown and brown yellow for this stamp (a or d)?
2) I found a Belgium 150 A58 used, not particularly valuable. But I have a mirror image of the same stamp in chocolate, not black brown as stated....is this the wrong issue year or is this off color known about?
Well a quick Hipstamp search shows:
https://www.hipstamp.com/listing/150used/3871512
and
https://www.hipstamp.com/listing/belgium-1922-27-king-albert-20c-sc150-used/19099787
So both shades clearly there.
You might want to try some simple Hipstamp searches and Google searches before you post up here too. Not that we're not happy to help, but as I mentioned before... you should be getting the real basics down, you found a Scott #, so go look for that.
The other thing is, for foreign stamps (non-US essentially) Scott may not be your best reference either. While they are extremely thorough in the US Specialized catalog, in other countries the information may be more sparse, more consolidated, and with fewer examples.
So for a subtle color variation like this (and I saw at least 2 or 3 other subtleties in color variation just in Hipstamp listing), it seems the answer to your question is, yes. There are variations.