Should I Keep The Perfin Or The Pre-Cancel As A Placeholder?

The shoebox has disgorged only two copies of 708 (3c Washington Bicentennial).

One is a perfin, the other a Knoxville pre-cancel. The perfin is the better stamp but are they not both equally "worthless" outside of their own specialized collection?

If I were you, I'd go with the one you consider the better stamp.

Welcome to Stamp Collecting Forum.

Scott #708 is a very common stamp that is virtually "worthless" in used form anyway. So what that you have a "perfin" or "precancel" specimen of that stamp? In my opinion they would actually add interest to an otherwise common stamp. Besides, you'll almost certainly come across a Scott #708 in your collecting endeavors in due time, if that's your goal.

I suggest you post a scan of your "perfin" and "precancel" here. Although most may be very common and "worthless", there are the occasional precancel or perfin varieties that may be of interest to a specialty collector. Remember that stamp collecting is not always about "value" of a stamp but about the "enjoyment" you can get out of the hobby.

While I agree with most of what wt1 said, I feel like I also have to chime in with my opinion, that even amongst common (i.e. worthless) stamps, there are always exceptional cases, whether it be due to an extremely fine condition or unusual cancel - both of which can mean many different things to many different stamps.

Again, agreeing with wt1, you should post some scans if possible!

Jan S,

Welcome to SCF!

I agree with quigngt to go with the stamp you consider the best.

And consider yourself lucky -- I'd like to have a perfin and a precancel Scott 708 but all I've been able to acquire are the common garden variety.



Steve

Hi --

I apologize if this post ends up appearing twice. I tried to upload the picture and it said it had worked. But then my post was gone and didn't seem to have made it to the website, so I am re-typing.

wt1 -- I really like your idea. My GB collection is very formal, stiff-upper-lip and it is time for a little more whimsy in my life. I will probably use the precancels, not perfins, because I found a bunch in the shoebox (sorry, Steve, ).

Steve -- I am so impressed that you could lay your hands on your 708s so efficiently. My spares, and collections come to that, are distributed about the house in baggies and envelopes. It would probably take me a week to find anything that specific.

All -- Obviously, yes, the 708s are of minimal value. What I am trying to learn here though is the general best practices for collecting US stamps, in so far as they may differ from what I have been accustomed to with GB.

Beyond that, my goal is to try to form as complete a collection of US as I have of GB (or better). I won't worry about sheet locations (although I do collect SG43 Plate 90 and have managed to put together more than a quarter sheet of those, using the corner identifier letters). Also, I think the ducks are probably safe from me. But in the main, I would just like to obtain "one of each", the old-fashioned way.

I attach the scan (if it doesn't disappear into the ether again):

I like those stamps.

I know some on this website may be able to positively identify the WB&E perfin for you. I'm wondering if WB&E may relate to the old Wilkes-Barre & Eastern Railroad, which served the coal mining towns of Northeastern Pennsylvania in its day but filed for bankruptcy and abandonment in 1937. If it is the WB&E railroad, I'd venture to guess that some railroad topical specialists would be most interested in such a stamp.

The Knoxville, Tennessee stamp is a Type 232 precancel. While it's common and one of 9 different precancels known for Knoxville, Tennessee, it is an interesting piece. (Trivia: Did you know that in 1948 the soft drink "Mountain Dew" was first marketed in Knoxville, Tennessee? Didn't make it to the rest of the US until 1964.)

See what you can learn from two seemingly common and "worthless" stamps!

Its NOT worthless if its the only copy you have... JMO

I use the nice of the two as a filler.

First of all the perfin pattern WB/&E is from "Williams, Brown & Earle, Incorporated", Philadelphia PA.
There are 2 versions of this perfin.
This pattern W38A is know to come in nonprecancelled or Precancelled usage, where the pattern W38 comes unprecancelled only. The W38 is a "A" variety (which means it is worth bucks ($10-$15)), whereas the W38A version is quite common (which means 10-20 cents maybe).
The W38 has a distance (outside to outside) on the top on the W of 6 cm. The W38A has a distance of 5 1/2 cm. The W38 was used on 1933 only stamps, the W38A was used between 1914-1938.
So if it is the rare type A keep it in your collection. If it is the common E variety, use the precancel.
The precancel is not a very good copy, whereas the perfin is in very good positioning.
I personally would use the perfin.

From the stamp it appears on my guess is that it is the W38A pattern.

BOb

In case you were wondering about the company, Williams, Brown & Earle:

I would do neither. Leave the pre-cancel with the pre-cancels and the Perfin with the Perfins. As for your display page, I'd buy a MNH one with nice centering for $1-2 as they can be bought for cheap and IMHO it's a very nice looking set and a fun one to complete.

What great information we have here! I learn something new every day on here I swear! Yup use which ever one you'd prefer but you may just want to hold out for a MNHOG they're relatively easy to come by. ~Jay

For common stamps, I display any precancels, perfins, and 'interesting cancels' I come across along with a 'plain' example. It adds interest to a page by telling a little more of the story of the issue. The fun part is creating your own page and recreate it as you find more interesting items.

The really fun part is paging through and rediscovering a page you forgot making.