U.S. #578 MLH VF-XF with WT Crowe Graded 85PH Certificate

Item Specifics

Country

United States

Catalog Number

578

Stamp Type

General Issue

Condition

Unused

Centering

VF/XF

Stamp Format

Single

Year of Issue

1923

Item Description

MLH, certified 85!

Line-Height: normal">Mint
lightly hinged example of U.S. #578 certified and graded 85PH by William T.
Crowe. This stamp is sometimes faked by perforating the top and bottom of #597.
Since 2009, PSE has certified 101 genuine examples of #578 (88 mint and 13
used) while declaring 33 submissions as fakes (27 mint and six used). SMQ is
$85. 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 7-10) 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 appalled, 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. So as you review the 145 current
listings for #578, only 8 of those are certified. Can you spot the fakes in the
other 137? I can't, which is why I leave it to the experts. 

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line-height:normal">A word of caution about stamp grading software: I’ve seen stamp listings
appearing recently with “certificates” that purport to assign a grade to a
stamp being offered for sale. It is important to note that these are not
certificates of authenticity. In fact, none of the “certificates” I have seen so
far even list the Scott catalog number and with good reason, I suspect; the
software developer does not want to be liable for their licensees’ possible
misidentification of the graded stamp. There is much more to true stamp grading
than centering. The first step in the process actually has nothing to do with
centering at all. The first step is verifying that the stamp is genuine and
correctly identified.  It also has to be thoroughly examined for flaws,
which may have an impact on the resulting grade.  Therefore, it should
also be understood that a grade assigned by a software program may not
necessarily agree with a grade assigned by a qualified expertization service.
After all, a software program can’t tell if a stamp is genuine, properly
identified, if it has been reperforated, regummed, if it has inclusions,
creases, thins, pinholes or any number of other things that would negatively
impact the final grade. So, if you’re only concerned with stamp centering
then these programs and the printed documents they generate should do the job.
If, on the other hand, you want to ensure that your stamps are properly
identified and vetted, then you’ll probably want to stick with the
tried-and-true method of human expertization and grading.

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Line-Height: normal">About
Shipping:   I combine shipping.  Any other item purchased with this
will ship at no additional charge.

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Line-Height: normal">A
Little About Me and My Commitment to You

Line-Height: normal">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 #8 for a sample of what
you can expect.

Seller Information

Seller

stephenwgill (249)

Registered Since

03/06/2005

Feedback

100%

Store

Ye Olde Post Office

• Offers
• Sales

Item Location

California, United States

Ships To

United States

Shipping Instructions

I ship as many of my stamps as possible by USPS. And one thing you can always count on is an interesting assortment of stamps on your envelope--I do not use Forever stamps as postage! If a stamp is listed with free shipping, then it and any others you purchase at the same time will also ship free. If a stamp is listed with a 60-cent shipping fee, then it and any others you purchase at the same time will also ship for 60 cents. If you purchase a second item listed with 60-cent shipping, then please wait for me to invoice you or Hip Stamp will charge the 60 cent shipping fee on each and every item.

Returns Accepted

Yes

Returns Policy

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