You are quite right Molokai that re-perforations are a real issue as well as other non-identified repairs such as rebacking, filled thins and regumming. I am by no means an expert, but as you have commented it is as much art as it is science. Crudely done reperfs are fairly easy to spot because the "punches" are many times not completely oval. Good magnification is essential. Other stamps with a more convincing reperf still vary from the original perf in diameter and spacing even when the perf appears to be the same. A close examination at a corner where an original perf and the reperf meet is a good place to examine that. Reperfs often appear crisper than original perfs with less thread fraying at the perf as would be the case with a stamp that is supposed to be of a certain age. It is probably superfluous to mention that any stamp above a certain dollar value ought to be expertised to avoid the chance of getting a stamp that has been repaired. I use a 20X magnifier with light.
Danke, <HOCH>! I've not heard of the corner trick, but sounds like a very good idea! Agreed - you can't really buy a 19th century of any real value w/o a cert! But of course, they are occasionally wrong, also.
I really wanted to put this sheet from Austria(!) on the Composers thread as they composed many of their hits, but I didn't want <Werner> to pass out. I've always liked the Stones, privileged to see them live twice. I just purchased one of these and noted quite a few stamps featuring them. Do we have a Rock 'n Roll on Stamps thread? Seems a good topical if such is of interest...I know <DON> is a big Iron Butterfly fan and plays a mean Ina Gotta Da Vita on his vintage Fender guitar.
I am guessing this means we won't be hearing you play the full 17 minute version of Ina Gotta Da Vita on your Fender??
Three Christmas' later this nice Ezra Cole cover is still waiting for a buyer. Just sayin' ... https://www.ebay.com/itm/C15-ON-1ST...=item281821aca7:g:aTYAAOSwl-FXM~bz:rk:12:pf:0
I though it was overpriced until I noticed the stamp and the date posted! Maybe eBay is the wrong venue for this cover. It is out of my league price wise, however, why, Molokai, have you not bought this one for your stamp dealers cover collection? Sell a few chess books and it could be yours. Don
Some of you may be familiar with La Posta a long-running (50 years) journal of American Postal History. I was fortunate to find a nice run of several years at a good price and found them both interesting and educational. Now, La Posta has its own website - http://lapostapub.com/index.html offering some excellent content and is a meaningful addition to the subject online.
Hi everybody Interesting Posts and points of view. From what I have read so far. It looks like I have found the right forum to join Are most of you us stamp collectors?
David: Those of us who post regularly are stamp collectors, and covers, too. There are also some stamp traders active, I'm sure, but we don't seem many posts from them as I suppose they use the "Conversation" feature to correspond. With a few exceptions, I collect used WW stamps and U.S. covers, mostly prior to 1965 I also have an Aircraft on Stamps and on Covers collection, but don't add much to it these days. I also like cancels on stamps, bullseyes, objects, slogans, etc., and maintain a separate collection for this area. I'm glad to have another collector on the Exchange who will post regularly. I think most of the active posters would agree that the Exchange needs more active participants. Don
Most U.S. collectors know the name Barbara R. Mueller. She was a doyen of United States philately for almost 70 years. Ms Mueller passed away two years ago next week, called to the Big Stamp Album in the Sky. Here is a nice remembrance of her: https://classic.stamps.org/Our-Story-Jan-2017 More about her: https://www.usstamps.org/committees...s-association-hall-of-fame/barbara-r-mueller/ Just a few years ago, she was hard at work editing the well-received Travers Papers. As a teen, along with Herman Herst’s Nassau Street, I must have checked out her book, United Stated Postage Stamps: How to Collect, Understand and Enjoy Them a dozen times or more. I still consider it the best single volume introduction to U.S. stamps. As I mentioned elsewhere, her two chapters on the brain-knotting Washington-Franklins is still the place to start. (I have a dozen or so books on these Third Bureau stamps for comparison.) One day long ago I was in Daniel Stone’s stamp shop in downtown Denver. On a table I saw a copy of the book without a dust jacket for sale. Since hardback books were $10-$15 new, I imagine I paid $2-$5 for this copy and I still have it. What actually brings us here is the fact that all along I’ve wanted a copy with the dust jacket. It was on my want-list, but a somewhat low priority – especially insofar as copies with the DJ were fetching fabulous prices. I saw a copy on ABE today for $12 offered from the UK. I figured I’d buy it even though it would take a month or longer to arrive. I decided to check eBay and – wow! – I found a nicer copy for $13 so purchased that one, instead. Another lesson in being patient when on the lookout for books. It is also interesting that when I do finally see a copy at a good price, there are often others offered inexpensively at the same time. Go figure!
Hi Molokai: In reading the links you provided, I was intrigued by the book Ms. Mueller authored entitled Postage Stamps and Christianity. Have you read that one? I'm thinking it must be a topical guide, but if not I am particularly interested in the connection. Don
I received the book today. I paid extra for priority mail. Other than the cover being price-clipped and a very small '1958' on the back of the title page it is pristine. Looks like its been in a vault for 60 years. Like buying a stamp described as VF and finding out it is XF-S. Bonus: Wife was out when it arrived.
