Re-perf?
This US Scott 122 is listed as NG- and has a cert ( non APS /PF). The far left margin. To me it looks suspiciously like a re-perf. Is it just my eyes ( or perhaps bias). Thank you in advance to my friends whom I have enjoyed now reading your thoughts for a few years now.
Comments
Lou
And can you post the cert also?
I didn't expect this to be a perfed proof, as the paper doesn't look white enough, nor thin enough. But that's always hard to tell from a photo. I assume Rene doesn't have this in hand, rather he's contemplating buying it.
Personally, I don't know why PSE get so much "credibility". My own experience with them is that about 10% of their certs are blatantly wrong. They have a lot of material to go through, and in my view, they "rush" opinions, and miss a lot. Yet, they seem to be "god like" in their cert status, it doesn't make sense to me.
In any case I find the top suspicious, which is why I'd like to see scans from back, if they're available. And a copy of the cert.
After careful examination of both front and back images, I have to remain skeptical regarding the top perfs. While I agree that left, right and bottom are not reperforations, the top is suspicious in that a fair few of the top perfs are perfectly flat across them, which is abnormal for a naturally separated perf tip. The 4 tips at top right (front) are suspiciously level, with the 2nd and 4th perfs without fiber tufts. They at the very least have been trimmed. That doesn't mean that the stamp is reperforated. It suggests rather an uneven separation that someone, at some point, has cut to trim the stamp perforations to be even against the rest of the stamp. At the opposite side, this may be the case of one or the perfs as well.
But my view is, the stamp is not reperforated.
https://www.hipstamp.com/listing/us-scott-122-90c-lincoln-carmine-black-unused-ng-1869-pictorial/47408989
This is critical to understanding stamp value. The stamp that Rene is following has 2 degrees of improved centering over my listing. Mine is VG, (50 grade) where the other stamp is F/VF (75 grade). Big gap. If you look at SMQ grade 50 is $1,250 while a 75 is $2,950 (For no gum stamps). What this represents is the availability of such stamps within the population of (known) 122's. PSE have graded 23 122's as NG VG 50, while it has graded only 1 75 NG F/VF. This suggest you are 24x more likely to find a 122 VG/NG than you are a no gum F/VF. While not definitive, PSE have been grading stamps for decades and have a large graded database of stamps. Mine is not graded by PSE, but it falls into this grading category (I don't see a value in paying $100+ to get my stamp graded).
So, you can see from the SMQ values, there is more than a 2x value difference, according to market data.
If we look at the graded values in Scott (the "Yellow Pages" prior to 2022), the VG value listed in Scott is $900 and for F/VF, $2,750. Scott does not update it's values as frequently as SMQ, which also follows values from live auctions.
Similarly, if you look at Siegel a similarly centered VG NG stamp in 2020 sold for $1,100 while a F/VF sold in 2022 with similar centering to this stamp for $2,100.
I would suggest that this indicates both stamps are reasonably priced for their centering, against current market data/market rates.
If this surprises you, I suggest that you look more closely at the variation of values based on centering. It's common for stamps prior to 1900 to have terrible centering, and as a result, finding stamps with centering of these issues of VF and above can be very challenging, especially in unused values. The 122 is a great case study for this kind of variation.
In fact, upon closer examination of this stamp, I think we have our description wrong, as this isn't a 70 centering, it's 50. So I've just adjusted it to reflect that. I think the ask of the stamp Rene is watching is reasonable for the issue. The one thing ours has going for it is it's brilliant color. Too bad the centering isn't better, and I think our bright color actually elevates the stamp slightly. (But I might be biased as the seller).
Some of my favorite stamps cost me pennies. Others I spent the "engagement ring" rule, and I feel "yay" I filled the spot, but I rarely look at them.
For me the #122 is among the top 10 for sure. You can keep your Trans-Mississippi, and your Columbians, this one is such a beauty.