U.S. #500 Used F-VF on COVER with WT Crowe Certificate

Item Specifics

Country

United States

Catalog Number

500

Stamp Type

General Issue

Condition

Cover (Postal History)

Centering

F/VF

Stamp Format

Single

Topic

People - Politicians

Year of Issue

1917

Item Description

U.S. #500 used in fine or better condition on April 19, 1920 cover to Duluth, MN. Stamp is completely sound with contemporaneous cancelation. There are a lot of U.S. stamps I recommend you not purchase without a certificate of authenticity and this is certainly one of them. I've seen 499's, 528's and even 546's listed as #500. Type Ia is not that difficult to sort out if you know what you're doing, but I've seen so many misidentified that it is my own policy that I will never list a #500 without a certificate of authenticity. This one has been examined by William T. Crowe and declared genuine with no faults. For those of you not familiar with William T. "Bill" Crowe, I have included his bio as photo #4. He's the real deal and there's a good chance that you already have certificates of your own with his signature on them as he's signed off on hundreds of thousands of certs for the PF and PSE over the years. For anyone who may be "on the fence" about the importance of expertization, I have taken the liberty of reproducing an article from the September 2021 American Philatelist (photos 5-8) about one APS member's experiences with buying stamps at auction and then having them certified. If you take the time to read or even scan it, I think you will be shocked, as was I. Bottom line is: classic US stamps purchased without expert certification have about a 50/50 chance of being altered, misidentified or having some type of flaw or defect. Those odds might be good for Vegas, but not, I suspect, for many philatelists. I should also point out, that the gentleman who wrote this article was buying from many of the big auction houses of the day, prior to the advent and proliferation of on-line auctions. In today's environment, where virtually anyone can be an auction house, the odds are probably less than even that you will get what you pay for when buying uncertified stamps. I've taken all the guesswork out of this one. As you review all the 500's currently available on Hip, you'll find that you can spend well over $200 for uncertified copies or $200 for a really nice stamp with a good cert. Seems like a "no-brainer" to me. It also makes reselling the stamp a lot easier when the time comes.

About shipping: I combine shipping. Any other item purchased with this will ship at no additional charge.

A Little About Me and My Commitment to You

I've been a regular member of the APS for over 35 years (member ID# 130461) and I'm still a collector more than anything. If you check my feedback history, you will find that not only is it pristine, but that I buy far more than I sell. And one thing that really troubles me are sellers who just throw a stamp up for sale and don't even take the time to offer a description or a compelling reason why I should want to buy their item. My commitment to you is that I will always provide a thoughtful and truthful commentary on all the relevant aspects of every stamp that I offer for sale/auction. And I will give you the bad as well as the good, though I try not to sell stamps that have problems. So bid/buy with confidence that what you will receive is exactly what I have described and if you feel it is not, that I will make the return process as pleasant as possible. You can also expect an interesting assortment of stamps adorning your shipment--no run-of-the-mill forever stamps or postage meter strips! See photo #9 for a sample of what you can expect.

Seller Information

Seller

stephenwgill (237)

Registered Since

03/06/2005

Feedback

100%

Store

Ye Olde Post Office

• Offers
• Sales

Item Location

California, United States

Ships To

United States

Returns Accepted

Yes

Returns Policy

Returns accepted within 14 days on items not as described. Buyer to pay return shipping.