Welcome to Stamp Community Forum, Tommy5351!
Unfortunately, the selvage size on the plate block will depend upon the layout of the stamps on the pane. Fortunately, for US stamps of the 1930s and 1940s, there are only a few plate layouts.
Until you become familiar (or should I say, the best way to become familiar with the pane layouts), just simply compare the same plate blocks from different sellers, or look at pictures of complete panes. You will soon be able to figure out whether your selvage is complete or might have been trimmed. Slightly "scalloped" edges are usually a good sign that the selvage has not been trimmed.
Trimmed selvage is usually not too bad of problem with the 1930-1940 plate blocks. In my experience, I've encountered less than 1% problem with selvage trimming for that era.
A far greater problem is trimming of S/S's. Depending on the issue, look for upwards of 10% trimming problem. There is a reason why Scott goes to the trouble of providing the dimensions of the S/S. The earlier White Plains S/S is notorious for having trimmed selvage for numerous reasons -- I didn't actually count, but I wouldn't be surprised to see up to 25% trimming problem if I went through a sample of listings. And yes, I've even seen major dealers and auction houses have trimmed White Plains S/S in their listings. Sometimes, the price is "adjusted", but the trimming is usually not mentioned
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Posted 12/24/2011 9:36 pm
