Certified Stamps, Sort Of

In looking around for several stamps I want, I come across the following: The stamp is described as from a block of stamps. The block was certified as genuine, but was subsequently broken into singles. They offer a copy of the block certificate.

What do members here think of this. Is the single stamp to be considered as "certified" or not?

I wouldn't consider it certified, but on the same note if there is no doubt that the stamp you are getting is from the certified block (used ?), margins etc then at least you know personally it is genuine.

Sounds like someone who is not serious about marketing their stamp. Especially if the stamp in question his high value (Catalogs for more than $100) I would stay away.

The stamp I am (was) considering is the 2 cent Liberty series Jefferson on Silkote paper. It, according to the seller, was broken from a certified block of 4. Whether or not the individual stamp can be matched to the photo of the block of 4, I don't know. It is a fairly expensive stamp--$400. The seller is a somewhat prominent (ads, internet, etc.) dealer.

I think the key point is you can never call it certified you will always have to reference it as "from a certified block of 4". What would the cost to cert it on its own be ?

I think I know the dealer you are talking about "GP".
they have done this before with a pair.. show the certificate for the pair, auction off one of the stamps in the pair.
in the case I saw, the single being sold was clearly from that set. The point of the description is to say, :hey, this stamp came from a set/block etc.. with a cert. so we want you to know it is genuine."
If the seller is GaryPosner, don't worry about it. They do back up what they say. I bought something from them that ended up not being what it was supposed to be. Some faults had not been mentioned. they took it back right away. They are one of the few dealers on bidstart that I trust. Even if they get it wrong, they will still back it up.

If you are dealing with Gary Posner as SV says, don't worry about it. Gary's company has a sterling reputation. He has always stood behind everything he sells unconditionally.

Thanks for all the replies. In the interests of accuracy and so as not to unfairly malign anyone, it is NOT Gary Posner.






Edited to correct spelling.

rohumpy.. if you can match the single stamp to the block, then I would consider the stamp also certified for the purposes of identification. if the entire block is certified as genuine with the same description for all 4 stamps then the same can be said for the single.. though I might ask to see the back as well as the front of the stamp.

pray tell, what stamp is it?

2 cent Jefferson Liberty series on Silkote paper

This is actually pretty common, frequently it doesn't pay fopr dealers to re-cert stamps once removed from a multiple, usually the block/strip/pair gets broken up because one stamp is quite valuable. IMO this is a disgrace. In fact I was at a stamp club meeting tonight where this very subject was discussed, especially with classic issues philately is losing a terrifying number of blocks to this practice.

This is actually not an unusual practice, even in the past. Although in the olden days when expertizer marks were stamped on the back of the stamps, the expertizer (original, or acceptable alternate) would do the separating. For example, the expertizers at INFLA BERLIN would separate singles from a previously certified multiple and stamp the back with something like "ECHT im Block gepruft INFLA BERLIN". In other words, they were not re-expertizing the stamp, but merely certifying that the stamp had been separated from a previously expertized multiple.

Of course, the problem is that the backstamp has also been forged. Forged expertizer marks are a field all in itself, although less is known about the forgers compared to forgers of stamps.

And yes, modern day certificates have also been forged. On major purchases, it is wise to check the online databases or expertizers to confirm certificates.