Grading Common Stamps - My Pet Peeve

OK, here's something that I think is really just plain stupid, short sighted, and destructive to the hobby of Stamp Collecting.  I know you are reading this and thinking, don't be so subtle, tell us how you really feel.  "Grading Common Stamps" and putting them for sale at ridiculous prices is something that is for me, akin to nails on a chalk board.

This one on the left is on Ebay they are asking for $140.oo  Come on, give me a break.  It's a common 5 cent stamp.

You can purchase a very well centered, Mint/Non Hinged copy, that is readily available for 99 cents with free postage.  I just don't get it.  I wish PSE would stop grading these stamps, but it is income for them.  I think this demeans the hobby of Presidents' and Kings'.  

MNH - 99 cents - free postage

When I mail stamps to a purchaser, I very often use stamps exactly like this one for postage. I receive old stamps from stamp dealers, just like these, being used as postage almost daily.  In fact many philatelists do not even accumulate or collect modern stamps, they are just too plentiful and lack any investment value or potential.  

In fact I collect these modern postal history covers, when I receive them in the mail.  They are much more interesting than a bunch of modern mint stamps in an album.  The problem with recent postage stamps is they are overprinted for the demand of collectors.  They never go up in value.  Look at the 8 cent block of four that came to me on an envelope last week.  It cost 32 cents in 1974, today it is worth 32 cents.  8 cents in 1974 is equal to 49 cents today.  But its' still worth just 8 cents in today's money.  That is a very poor investment.  Keep one for your stamp album and use the rest for postage.  Please do not send it out to be graded and then try and sell it for some astronomically inflated price.  It feels like stealing to me.  

Vintage stamps used for postage - Modern Postal History

Let me give you another example of just how great of an investment these stamps are.  You can purchase old stamps in sheets for 80 to 85 cents on the dollar of face value. Stamp dealers use these old stamps for postage.  Some of these stamps are approaching 50 years old, and they are worth far less in real money today, than when they were printed.

I'm asking you readers and stamp collectors, "Please do not buy graded common stamps.  They will not go up in value.  It is a very poor investment, and it is just a trick to seduce you to the Dark Side!"  So remember in the famous words of Obi Wan Kenobi . . . 

"These are not the stamps you are looking for. . . "

Confederate Stamp Scott #2

CSA Scott #2 - Dark Blue on Cover

The Cover above is a CSA #2 Paterson print, tied by a Mobile, Ala. postmark dated 29 SEP. The stamp is a bright dark blue shade.

The Cover above is a Hoyer & Ludwig printing of CSA #2 also in a Dark Blue shade. The postmark is a Tudor Hall, VA dated 4 JAN. 1862.

The Hoyer & Ludwig Co. (Richmond, VA.)  printings began in 1861, but they were not able to keep up with the demand, so sometime in the first half of 1862, the J.T. Paterson company took over the printing of CSA #2.

The Paterson #2 is one of my favorite CSA stamps, it comes in many shades of blue, from a

Indigo Color - Siegel Sale 1071 Lot 4554

light milky blue, greenish blue, to the dark shades of blue.  The most rare and elusive shade is the scarce Indigo.  The true indigo is a very deep blue color shade on a #2 Paterson printing.  The example shown on the right is from Siegel Sale 1071 Lot 4554.

Scott catalog only lists CSA #2 as one type of stamp, but actually there are enough differences in the 2 printings to have two distinct types.  

The earlier printing of Hoyer & Ludwig as the first type. Earliest known use is Nov. 8, 1861.
  
The Paterson printing is the second type. Earliest known use is July 25, 1862.

1. To identify which printing you have in your collection there are some general differences that make it; not all that difficult to I.D.   First look at its' color and image clarity.  The Hoyer & Ludwig stamps tend to be darker shades and clearer and sharper in image quality.  The Paterson printings are generally lighter shades and somewhat murky in image quality.  The dark blue shade in the Paterson printing is richer and rarer, while the Hoyer & Ludwig dark blue has more black in the ink shade. (see example in the covers above)

   

   H&L printing no attaching
   slanted line from N
   to Frame Line above

2. Look at the Indigo stamp above, you will see a slanted line connecting the "N" in CONFEDERATE to the frame above - this is found on most Paterson printings, but it is weak or non existent on Hoyer & Ludwig printings.
3. The Paterson printing has a more complete crossbar in the "A" of STATES than the Hoyer & Ludwig printing. The frame line above ST in STATES has been corrected or

   

   H&L printing -weak or no crossbar
    in A of STATES and
   Weak frame line above

   recut on most of the Paterson printing. This line is broken or weak on the Hoyer & Ludwig printing.
4. There is a small dash of color on the Paterson Printing where the left side triangle point ends below the 10, which is not present on the Hoyer & Ludwig printing.

Dash at end of Triangle below 10
and left of CONFEDERATE
Paterson Printing

No Dash at end of Triangle below 10
and left of CONFEDERATE
Hoyer & Ludwig Printing

3 color variations of the CSA #2, Note the very light shade of the Milky Blue stamp on the left.  It has a distinctive stone flaw from the Y stone.  This stamp is a Paterson printing and there has been some debate as to why it is called the Y stone. I looked at this stamp under magnification and came to the conclusion that the Defect shapes the letter "Y" and thus the letter designation for this stone.

Plate flaw on CSA #2 stone Y - magnified

Thank You to Dr. John L. Kimbrough for helping me with his rapidscan I.D. on the two covers above.  His service and knowledge is very valuable to established and beginning collectors of Confederate stamps.  For more information on CSA certification and identification go to: 

http://www.csalliance.org/CSAAS.shtml   

Plate flaw on CSA #2 stone Y
Black and White and Enhanced

OK we have gone over how to I.D. a  CSA #2, so let's take a stamp out of the album and find out who printed it . . . 

Right away I notice the "N" in CONFEDERATE does not have the slanted line connecting it to the frame line above.  This is a Hoyer & Ludwig feature, but not all Paterson Printings have this line.  The "A" in STATES could go either way.  There is somewhat of a crossbar, which would lend itself to an early Hoyer & Ludwig printing or it could be a Paterson, but then the frame line above is weak, so again its' inconclusive.  The color and clarity tend towards the Hoyer & Ludwig printing, but its' not a slam dunk.  I'm leaning toward Hoyer & Ludwig, but it's not 100% at this point. Sounds like giving this stamp an I.D. is like listening to the genius "Vizinni" argue with the "Dread Pirate Roberts" in the "Princess Bride.

OK, let's move to the next step . . . ON the left side of the stamp below the 10 and left of CONFEDERATE there is no dash at the end of the triangle, so this is not a Paterson Printing.  This stamp is a Hoyer & Ludwig. "Whew" I'm glad we got through that, without having to drink Iocaine powder in our wine.

Scott #315 Imperforate - Beware of Fakes!!

Scott 304 turned into an imperforate 315

I did a quick search this morning on Ebay of Scott #304 stamps.  In less than 5 minutes I had saved a couple of scans and then digitally cut them into the much more valuable imperforate #315's.  They look pretty decent, don't they?  The stamp on the right could pass off as a presentable #315.  I used a photo program, but could have just as easily used a razor blade or scissors. 

This shows the necessity of purchasing a #315 with a certificate or buying it in a multiple or block.  My reason for doing this was;  I was looking for a decent #315 to fill that blank space in my album, and there were way too many questionable looking stamps up for sale.  Many of them had bids on them for up to, and over $200.  I would hate to waste my money on a worthless and damaged #304.  I see these modified versions all of the time in stamp albums, that are for sale under the collections category.  Just know if you are bidding on a collection with this space filled, it is more than likely a fake, unless accompanied by a certificate.  

Before purchasing a #315 do your homework and be diligent. You do not want to spend good money on a worthless and damaged #304

Another issue I have with this unscrupulous and greedy behavior, is the destruction of a valuable jumbo and well centered stamp.  A #304 with large margins, should go into a collection, where it will be valued, not destroyed by cutting off the perforations.