Fake Columbians Flooding The Market?

I fully realize that I'm bloviating from back here in the last row of the lecture hall in Economics 101. I was never asked to go to the head of that class.

My impression always has been that supply exceeds demand for these stamps, because they are always in price lists, print ads and dealer stock, which ought to depress prices. Obviously I'm mistaken; demand must still outstrip supply. And here I thought everyone was saying our hobby is shrinking. I guess there are still thousands who want $3 Columbians.

Cfrphoto, I am referring to the item in the original listing. The photo of the front of the stamp is considerably brighter than it needs to be, which masks the color and shade differentiation needed to see the crease, and it's effect on the stamp. In typical nystamps fashion, the picture of the back of the stamp is small and slightly out of focus. The quality of the picture of the back of the stamp makes it difficult to see the crease.

Nowhere in this listing do I see any mention of a crease. What I read in the item description is a very broad disclaimer that includes wording that this stamp (or any that they sell?) could be repaired.

Actually, until the early 1920's the $5 Columbian was available for under face value.

They all could be genuine with altered / repaired perfs, but in this day and age of 3D printers, is it so hard to replicate a one-color stamp? Use genuine paper from 100 years ago, dirty it up a bit with a cancellation...it really doesn't seem too hard. Even 50 years ago some excellent forgeries were made, imagine today with our technology.

Different printing methods have different characteristics. Although a laser or ink jet printer may be able to replicate the colors and artwork on the stamp, these printings don't have the characteristics of intaglio/recess, typeset, and photogravure printings.

You are are much more likely to find altered and repaired old stamps which mimic the more valuable items.

I've seen fake columbians before but they're crude and wouldn't fool anyone who's seen the real thing.

Like others have said, they're not rare stamps, just expensive. I'll throw it out there that in superb MNH a set of columbians can be a bit of a challenge but unless you need 98-100s they're out there as well.

Heck, if you're open to centering there's always inverted jennies for sale too.

Supply & demand explain the market-clearing price, which is the price at which things sell when they actually sell.

The market-clearing price does not mean that everything in inventory sells, on that day, for that price.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Speaking of potentially fake Columbians, this is interesting:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-USA....m2516.l5255

Someone could buy gummed paper to print it on and can even have it perforated close to 12 (11.75) with an old Rosback perforator. While this would not fool stamp expertisers, it could fool some stamp collectors.

These show up from time to time, they were used to print illustrations in catalogs, etc. This one is overpriced, at least to me.

eyeonwall:




I was referring to the eBay Condition Description which, if displayed, can be seen at the top of the listing just below the title where everyone can see it. I was not referring to other methods a seller could embed the condition description in the body of the listing where it may not be visible on some devices. The point was that eBay has withdrawn support to "Unused", previously available in the Stamps Category as an Item Condition. I believe that a best practice would be to provide the condition description at the top of the listing where it will not be missed. The combination of slothful sellers and lack of eBay support thwarts buyers who are concerned with condition.

Because eBay only displays the Condition Description it the Item Condition is designated as "Used", it makes it necessary to designate unused stamps as "Used" in order to display the Condition Description. For now, this works because eBay doesn't display the summary Item Condition "Used" in the Stamps category.