Bank Check For Stamperdude

Guys I hate to be the class monitor. But after just now re-reading the rules..
"open to offers" is prohibited.
Jubilee you are better off to make an auction post.

I believe that "make and offer" is prohibited to avoid the issue of someone getting offers then being dis-satisfied with them and saying no. that causes hard feelings.

OOPS! I guess we better behave ourselves ;) Jubilee can you move this to the auction topic forum?

Oops, I Sure can, it was just a casual "give me a call". Sorry guys

Done, and started at $3 https://goscf.com/t/13118

jubilee, I don't think you did anything wrong. I was just trying to be helpful.

Revenue-stamped checks are lots of fun, especially if you can find an interesting area to specialize in. Some people collect certain companies, other people collect vignettes (the graphic images engraved on early checks). Others look for certain towns and states.

Some people collect EMUs (early matched usages, e.g., a "bank check" revenue on a bank check, a "mortgage" revenue on a mortgage document, etc.). For the first few months following the introduction of the revenue stamp requirement in October 1862, you were only supposed to use the appropriate stamp on a given document. That was overturned very quickly, as people complained that it meant stocking too many different types and denominations of revenue stamps. After that point any revenue could be used on any document (for the most part).

That is what makes EMUs desirable.

I personally collect 1862 usages of all types on document, as they are fairly scarce. I have several October 1862 checks, the one below being one of the earliest usages on record.



Here's one on a check fragment that I *REALLY* wish I had the entire document for. It is R151a, one of the inverted centers.



Here is one of my more recent acquisitions, an R106b bisect on check. This is the original Scott Catalog listing example, as indicated in the accompanying letter. I just got a PF cert for it last month.




While this last one is not a check, it's one of my favorite documents. It is an R6e, which is the 2c Bank Check orange, but on green paper.

Dan,

Some remarkable material -- thanks for sharing. And thanks again for your website, it is a tremendous resource.

Steve

Dan how rare is that green paper??

The R6e is fairly scarce, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it rare. I think it is undervalued in Scott at $700. They show up in major auctions from time to time. I bought mine from Eric Jackson. At the time, both he and Richard Friedberg had one on document in their stocks. Both were priced considerably above Scott. Eric's was the nicer of the two, and was also about $100 less than Richard wanted for his example.

One thing to keep in mind about some of the more esoteric Scott listings such as bisects, double impressions, etc., is that their prices have not gone up in Scott for many years. In some cases, 10-20 years. Why? The populations are so low that they don't show up all that often.

Prices on low-population items can fluctuate wildly depending on who is selling them. Sometimes demand plays a far greater role in pricing than true scarcity. For example, R84a, R87a, R77a, and R80a will go for huge amounts at auction compared to bisects and double impressions, even though there are far few of the latter out there. Why? Greater demand.

I don't necessarily agree, so I'm going after the the lower-population lower-cost items. In my mind, at some point demand will catch up. I'd rather pick up a bisect on document of which there have only been 1 or 2 surface in the last 15 years for $700-1500, than spend $5000 on one of the major imperfs that shows up every year (sometimes several a year). For one thing, I cannot affort to drop that much, and for another I can get several truly scarce items for the same money that one (comparatively) common imperf would cost.

There frequently is less competition for the bisects and double impressions as well. I enjoy the esoteric nature of those and the double transfers.

P.S. Beware of any supposed R6e that are not on document and that are not fully green. I have seen several offered online that in my opinion are not legitimate.

Thank you Dan, great explanation and a great help - Jeff