daver
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Posts: 33
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Post by daver on Oct 22, 2021 17:11:04 GMT
I recently acquired a US classic stocks album and spent many hours sorting and classifying the new goodies. I found three stamps that could be either ordinary or very special. I have sent one of them (Scott# 319 or 321?) to the American Philatelic Society for expertizing as a trial run to see how the process works. Anyone ever have experience with their service especially how long it took?  |
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JeffS
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Posts: 2,627
What I collect: Oranges Philately, US Slogan Cancels, Cape of Good Hope Triangulars, and Texas poster stamps and cinderellas
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Post by JeffS on Oct 22, 2021 18:42:27 GMT
This is the common 319, note the perforations on all 4 sides. The rare 321 is a coil stamp with perforations at top and bottom, straight edges left and right. Also, 322 a coil stamp with perforations at left and right straight edges at top and bottom. And lastly, the 320 and varieties imperforate all 4 edges. I recently acquired a US classic stocks album and spent many hours sorting and classifying the new goodies. I found three stamps that could be either ordinary or very special. I have sent one of them (Scott# 319 or 321?) to the American Philatelic Society for expertizing as a trial run to see how the process works. Anyone ever have experience with their service especially how long it took? |
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tomiseksj
Moderator 
Woodbridge, Virginia, USA
Posts: 6,276 
What I collect: Worldwide stamps/covers, Cinderellas, Ohio Prepaid Sales Tax Receipts, U.S. WWII Ration ephemera
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Post by tomiseksj on Oct 22, 2021 19:45:15 GMT
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daver
**Member**
Posts: 33
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Post by daver on Oct 22, 2021 19:55:34 GMT
To JeffS- I just grabbed the easiest available image which happened to be 319. The one I sent off for expertizing was a coil with top and bottom perfs, or at least it appeared to be a coil. Sorry for the confusion. I was mainly interested getting other member's opinions of the performance of the APS expertizing service.
Steve, I did check the APS DB and it appears that they have never expertized a 321. I will try the Philatelic Foundation at you suggestion- Thx!
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daver
**Member**
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Post by daver on Oct 28, 2021 14:58:00 GMT
The Philatelic Foundation does have multiple examples of cert requests for 321, with about 1/2 of them diagnosed as "Not genuine". I guess there is an incentive for people to get out the razor blade and trim the other edge of a stamp that already has one pane edge. I did submit my possible 321 to APEX and after 2 weeks they confirmed receipt- the stamp will now be sent to up to 4 experts for review which will take 60-90 days. I guess you can't be in a hurry. The final charge for their service for APS members is a minimum of $25, or 3% of Scott value up to a maximum of $400.
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fkarl
**Member**
Posts: 19
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Post by fkarl on Dec 11, 2021 23:46:37 GMT
I recently acquired a US classic stocks album and spent many hours sorting and classifying the new goodies. I found three stamps that could be either ordinary or very special. I have sent one of them (Scott# 319 or 321?) to the American Philatelic Society for expertizing as a trial run to see how the process works. Anyone ever have experience with their service especially how long it took? There are numerous color variations of this stamp. A cert is a good idea to confirm the color |
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renden
Member
Posts: 8,737
What I collect: World W collector with ++ interests in BNA (Canada etc) and USA
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Post by renden on Dec 12, 2021 0:28:04 GMT
I recently acquired a US classic stocks album and spent many hours sorting and classifying the new goodies. I found three stamps that could be either ordinary or very special. I have sent one of them (Scott# 319 or 321?) to the American Philatelic Society for expertizing as a trial run to see how the process works. Anyone ever have experience with their service especially how long it took? There are numerous color variations of this stamp. A cert is a good idea to confirm the color A certificate is fun (and great) but the stamp must have some value (which I doubt)....let the experts talk  |
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daver
**Member**
Posts: 33
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Post by daver on Dec 17, 2021 20:50:03 GMT
Just letting everybody know that at the 60-day mark, expertizing through APS is still in progress. Patience, patience, patience.
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Post by mdroth on Dec 18, 2021 3:33:25 GMT
Hi Daver -
Welcome to the forum!
The APS doesn't move fast. You'll get your cert - eventually - and it will say that the stamp is a Scott 319.
Scott #319 was printed in the hundreds of millions. The number of certified #321s can be counted with fingers & toes...
(Scott #321 is a coil - your stamp - perforated on all 4 sides - is not a coil stamp...)
Please save yourself alot of time & money - post pictures here first - you'll get very rapid replies as to IDs & possible rarities. If it is a stamp that demands certification, you'll hear that loud & clear from our gang - much faster than the APS!
99.99% of stamps are very common. That .01 % that needs a cert is fairly easy to spot, once you know what to look for. And our group will happily chime in - rapidly - as to what you have...
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daver
**Member**
Posts: 33
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Post by daver on Dec 21, 2021 20:04:54 GMT
Yes, the image I posted was a 319 as I had already sent the possible 321 into APS without scanning it (Duh!). I agree with your thoughts about the odds of it being a 321, but I wanted to experience the expertizing process. Still waiting for APS.
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daver
**Member**
Posts: 33
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Post by daver on Jan 11, 2022 13:41:53 GMT
The process of expertizing my possible 321 has concluded as expected with the result being it is a 319g single that has had the perf trimmed to try and imitate a 321 (cert attached). It was a slow but fun ride waiting for the opinion of the folks at APES.  |
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Post by mdroth on Jan 13, 2022 21:53:14 GMT
Hi Daver - Thanks very much for posting this. Most of the time, folks don't come back afterwards & post the certificates/opinions. Greatly appreciate you doing this! You seem very happy with the process - so that's great! Definitely instructive. Seems it took app 3 months from the time you submitted until you got the result - which sounds about right. (They move slowly!) If you don't mind, how much did this cost? Guessing (hoping?!) in the $25-$50 range? For future reference - (and to save on the cost!) - please post the pictures here first! If you had posted that picture, you'd have gotten rapid replies that it was a trimmed stamp, with no need to bother sending it to be expertised. Certainly not always the case - but definitely in this case... US Scott #321 is perhaps the rarest of US stamps. Siegel shows a total census of 7 items, including 2 covers. siegelauctions.com/census/us/scott/321There are no known used singles of this stamp - as yet! More importantly - your stamp has a 'guideline' at the top. There are no known copies w/a guideline! Keep searching - that rare treasure is out there - we just have to find it!! |
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daver
**Member**
Posts: 33
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Post by daver on Jan 14, 2022 0:54:36 GMT
Total cost was $35 + postage. If the stamp has significant value then it is 3% of catalog value up to a max of $400 (for APS members).
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Post by gmstamps on May 16, 2024 12:44:00 GMT
Expert opinion needed. I believe those are all US Scott 319 stamps, but can you advise why would someone keep so many copies of a same stamp? Am I missing some point or rule in stamp collecting?   |
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banknoteguy
Member
Posts: 291
What I collect: 19th Century US, High denomination US (> $1), 19th century covers US, Indian Feudatory States and most recently I acquired a BigBlue [with about 5,000 stamps] and pristine pages.
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Post by banknoteguy on May 16, 2024 13:39:13 GMT
Sometimes collectors will study a particular stamp looking for minor varieties e.g., double transfers, short transfers, tool marks, cracked plates, different papers, color shades, et al. To do that you will typically end-up with a large number of one stamp. It is sometimes referred to as "fly specking."
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Post by gmstamps on May 16, 2024 14:12:41 GMT
Sometimes collectors will study a particular stamp looking for minor varieties e.g., double transfers, short transfers, tool marks, cracked plates, different papers, color shades, et al. To do that you will typically end-up with a large number of one stamp. It is sometimes referred to as "fly specking." Interesting. Thank you. |
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rod222
Member
Posts: 10,020
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps, Ephemera and Catalogues
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Post by rod222 on May 16, 2024 20:57:41 GMT
Expert opinion needed. I believe those are all US Scott 319 stamps, but can you advise why would someone keep so many copies of a same stamp? Am I missing some point or rule in stamp collecting? I believe you are. Time and experience, generally sorts all these queries. There are a hundreds of reasons why (and further to the "Fly Specking" which maybe the main reason) The collector (Your Grandad?) may have been purchasing stamp lots at auction as we all do, and these were "duplicates" (I would have enough duplicates to fill a 4 gallon drum) What is excellent, is that he has saved them under mounts in an "Hagner" mount page thereby offering them in their best safety. He may have been buying the 319 in large lots to identify "varieties" which are numerous (and possible treasures) From the Scott catalogue the 319  |
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Post by gmstamps on May 16, 2024 21:08:23 GMT
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mberry
Member
Posts: 1,014
What I collect: USA, USA Revenues, Beer Related Stamps and Revenues, US State Revenues, Stamp Show Stamps
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Post by mberry on May 16, 2024 23:13:47 GMT
And then there are some of us that just never get around to getting rid of duplicates. I have stock pages and various sheets full of the same stamp (all US stamps). Maybe one day I will get to spend the time to cull some of my dupes.
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