Doudar
**Member** 
Inactive
Posts: 17
What I collect: British Stamps (mainly pre-QEII)
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Post by Doudar on Aug 26, 2021 7:39:57 GMT
Let’s face it, there are stamps out there that we will never own because for the cost. I have noticed on sites such as eBay reproductions of these stamps selling for a few pounds. Do others feel it is acceptable to add these to your collection (clearly marked as a reproduction)?
JohnD
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khj
Member 
Posts: 1,524 
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Post by khj on Aug 26, 2021 8:04:13 GMT
It's your collection. So you should collect the way you want to.
How many times have you seen reproductions of famous paintings in offices, or dinosaur skeletons in museums made "complete" by adding artificial bones? Back in the day, you used to be able to see immediately which dinosaur bones in the skeleton were real and which were fake just by the difference in color shade. Nowadays, they make the fake bones look a lot like the real ones. But does any museum visitor really care?
Personally, I would rather spend the money to buy other stamps, than buying space-filling reproductions. But to each, his/her own.
It might make a difference when it comes time to sell -- so reproductions should not only be clearly marked on the back, you should probably conspicuously notate somewhere on the album page or itemize on a separate sheet of paper. When I thumb through a collection and notice some un-notated forgeries or repaired stamps, I will pretty much assume the collection will have them hidden/scattered throughout. The result is a much lower bid/offer or no bid/offer at all. A good auction house will notate fakes/suspect/spacefillers or mention presence of such in description. But in general, it will hurt the resale value of an intact collection when it comes time to liquidate.
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clivel
Member
Posts: 386
What I collect: Basutoland, Bechuanaland, Rhodesias, South Africa, Swaziland, Israel to 1980, Ireland predecimal, Palestine Mandate
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Post by clivel on Aug 26, 2021 18:37:36 GMT
Each to their own, it is your collection, if you find it acceptable then it is, no one can tell you otherwise.
For me personally I am not too keen on the eBay reproductions. They often sell for far more than they should - pounds for scraps of paper worth only pence, and the perforations on the ones that I have seen are so wrong that the "stamps" look like caricatures. For me, I have long since accepted the fact that there are stamps that I will never own, even after a lottery win there will forever be blank spaces in my albums, When creating pages I include all issued stamps no matter how scarce, but omit very scarce varieties such as the near-mythical plate 77 penny red.
As an alternative, however, one can on occasion find affordable space fillers that work for me - slightly damaged stamps. specimen overprints, fiscal cancels etc. For example, these two stamps were very affordable. I paid no more than a few dollars each:
Yet the £1 is catalogued at £850 mint £750 postally used while the £5 stamp is listed at an eye-watering £4000 mint, £1700 postally used (SG 2013 catalogue) Clive |
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vikingeck
Member
Posts: 3,551
What I collect: Samoa, Tobacco theme, Mail in Wartime, anything odd and unusual!
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Post by vikingeck on Aug 26, 2021 19:18:16 GMT
Ask yourself some questions John when you see an obvious repro being offered for £4or£5. On the internet.
What would this have cost the perpetrator to manufacture?
Should I line his pockets and encourage fakery at my expense?
Is this pretty space filler really what I want in my album …..it will always nag at me “fake”
The beauty of home made pages , there is no need for pre printed gaps I can never fill to spoil a pleasing layout arrangement.
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brightonpete
Departed
Rest in Peace
On a hike at Goodrich-Loomis
Posts: 5,110
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Post by brightonpete on Aug 27, 2021 1:25:22 GMT
And if one must have something in their album, get an image off the internet and use that as your image. Cost: a piece of paper, some ink or toner, electricity to run computer and printer, cost of the internet to find an appropriate image...
Oh wait a sec maybe it is cheaper to buy something online!
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stainlessb
Member
qaStaHvIS yIn 'ej chep
Posts: 4,906
What I collect: currently focused on most of western Europe, much of which is spent on France, Belgium, Germany and Great Britain Queen Victoria
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Post by stainlessb on Aug 27, 2021 2:22:21 GMT
I have at times ....almost.... bid on a seriously flawed 'placeholder' (GB penny red plate 225 come to mind or a number of the early high CV France stamps).... but I have stopped short and abandoned the idea that I could always sell it off and recover most if not all of my investment.... once I had a decent copy
and I have forgeries, that either I knew when I purchased for not much, or they came in a lot/accumulation, and in some cases they were on an album page covering the place where the legitimate stamp belonged.
for me it's worth the wait, and if never it comes to pass... what have i really lost
nothing
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Post by dgdecker on Aug 27, 2021 2:47:12 GMT
I too have considered buying reproductions.Then I thought a low cost perhaps damaged authentic would be a better option. Then I thought that my meagre budget for acquisitions should be directed at issues I really need and can afford.
I do question the motives for any reproductions made. We’re they intentionally made to deceive buyers so someone could make money off the unsuspecting?
I do have most of the Nova Scotia forgeries but I did not buy them they were a surprise find in something given to me in my childhood.
It is your collection. Collect what you want.
David
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Ryan
Moderator 
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Posts: 2,749
What I collect: If I have a catalogue for it, I collect it. And I have many catalogues ....
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Post by Ryan on Sept 25, 2021 14:45:08 GMT
Let’s face it, there are stamps out there that we will never own because for the cost. I am firmly in the camp of "ugly but genuine is better than a reproduction for me". Maybe it's a camp of one, I don't know. My all-time favourite stamp show purchase was a window envelope filled with 300 worldwide classic spacefillers for CAN $20. For less than 7 cents per stamp I got glorious garbage like this. If anybody has another one equally ugly I would gladly send 7 cents their way to take over ownership of it. ha ha  Ryan |
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eggdog
Member
I want a new Harley!
Posts: 464
What I collect: It's complicated....
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Post by eggdog on Sept 25, 2021 17:15:48 GMT
I'm fine with placeholders for stamps that I can't afford in good condition or stamps that I might never see again: very scarce but unlikely to turn up at a public sale because nobody else wants them and nobody cares. If they're too ugly and they ruin the whole page (assuming I even have something else on that page), I can just take them out. Fake stamps that were meant for the time-honored purpose of defrauding the government or the postal service? I might be OK with that - not that I'm saying it's chill, just that it happens and might have some historical significance, like if a resistance movement printed them. I'd have to learn what's behind it. Fake stamps that are simply there to defraud collectors or because somebody thought it would be charming to print and sell them? Recycling bin. For less than 7 cents per stamp I got glorious garbage I have little to add to this discussion - you all know that by now - but I'm here to offer praise and respect to this wonderful phrase "glorious garbage", which handed me my first good laugh of the day! |
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renden
Member
Posts: 9,162
What I collect: Canada-USA-France-Lithuania-Austria--Germany-Mauritius-French Colonies in Africa
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Post by renden on Sept 25, 2021 18:05:38 GMT
I too have considered buying reproductions.Then I thought a low cost perhaps damaged authentic would be a better option. Then I thought that my meagre budget for acquisitions should be directed at issues I really need and can afford. I do question the motives for any reproductions made. We’re they intentionally made to deceive buyers so someone could make money off the unsuspecting? I do have most of the Nova Scotia forgeries but I did not buy them they were a surprise find in something given to me in my childhood. It is your collection. Collect what you want. David I would like to see your Nova Scotia Forgeries, not that I would buy any elsewhere but curiosity !! Thanks René New Brunswick |
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Post by dgdecker on Oct 10, 2021 13:28:04 GMT
I would like to see your Nova Scotia Forgeries, not that I would buy any elsewhere but curiosity !! Thanks René New Brunswick Rene, when I get home later in month I will post images. David |
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Jerry B
Departed
Rest in Peace
Marietta, Georgia USA
Posts: 1,485
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Post by Jerry B on Oct 11, 2021 9:24:21 GMT
Hi One advantage of using only blank quadrille pages is that I never have need of a place holder  Just my 2 cents, Jerry B |
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angore
Member
Posts: 5,698
What I collect: WW, focus on British Empire
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Post by angore on Oct 11, 2021 9:45:56 GMT
I do not use placeholders but if I have a copy no matter what condition I will use it.
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loupy
Member
Back and active, thank you!
Posts: 70
What I collect: US to 2000 with a focus on 720 & 721, WW 1840 - 1930, DDR 5 year workers, Machins, Canada Centennials, Brazil Allegories, Mexico Archiecture & Archaeology 1950 -75, used stamps preffered when possible.
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Post by loupy on Nov 15, 2021 4:54:57 GMT
Placeholders for me are damaged stamps, which have a very small actual value in comparison to catalog value, and I purchase them for pennies on the dollar. The replica stamps hold little interest for me, and I would rather have a blank space in my album but find no fault with those who use the reproductions in their collections. To each his own!
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