US Stamps Puzzle

I recently did a search of completed listings on ebay and found that not one US stamp has ever been listed for sale that features a weak entry, a re-entry, a retouch, or a flaw such as a void or an indented frame. This was a big surprise to me, as these kinds of things have long been the staples of Australian specialists. This left me wondering why there is such a difference between the things that Australian philatelists collect and the things American philatelists collect. Can anyone explain the apparent disinterest in such things among US collectors?

Also, while Scott is the recognised general catalogue for American stamps, what catalogue is the most specialised? Is there a catalogue that would list such items as re-entries?

They are also big with U.S. specialists. Scotts U.S. Specialized is the best for U.S. stamps. There is a lot missing from Scotts but there are numerous resources to take care of that. For BEP issues there is Encylopedia of Plate Varieties on U.S. Bureau Printed Postage Stamps by Loran French
For the 1851-61 issue there are the books by Ashbrook, Chase and Neinken.

The more specialized you become the less the catalog helps. And I believe that is true with all catalogs.

You might want to redo your search with "Double Transfer" instead of "Re-enrty" as this is the term more commonly used in U.S. Also "Recut" instead or "Retouch".

Is there an ebay search method that lets you come up with "not...ever"?

At least in a completed-listing search in the Stamps category, sold results are only returned for a period of 60 days following the sale, and unsold items are only listed for 15 days following the end of the auction.

Or at least this used to be the case. Is there a more robust search available?

Cjd, yes that is the major limitation of ebay completed list searches. I didn't know it only went back such a short time, but it definitely does not go back very far. It's a great pity there is no archive search function, as it's often impossible to know how to price an item without being able to review past sales. However, I would say that the results present a pretty accurate sample of the kinds of things that US collectors are looking for.

Thanks, Russ, for alerting me to the difference in terminology.

Russ, perhaps you can answer this. I have felt the urge recently to dive into the 1¢ Franklins so I did a search for the Neinken book but the cheapest I could find it was around $250.00. I did find the Ashbrook book on the 3¢ Washingtons for around $25.00 but it did not seem to be nearly as interesting as the Franklins. Is there a place to find it for less ?

I have seen the one cent Neinken book go for less than $100 several times on ebay. Last month one went for abot %85.

There is also the possibility that the U.S. does not have the same extent of flaws and varieties as readily identifiable and available as does Australia.

I don't study early U.S. closely, so I might be off on this. I do know that those flaws that are there are well documented.

Though there are war printings that are not the prettiest (in the traditional sense), I don't think there is an equivalent of the tin sheds, for instance.

Speculating here...thoughts, anyone?

By the way, searching for "recut" in U.S. stamps currently gives 70 hits, and "double transfer" gives 123 hits, for what its worth.

You also have to allow for descriptions that specifically identify a position, without more. There are plenty of those, too.

Interesting! I only get 47 hits for "double transfer" and 38 for "recut," very few of which are for US stamps. (It must be because I'm using the Australian ebay site.)

All but one of the US results was for a vintage stamp. So I suppose I should reword my question thus: Is there any interest in special varities, so to speak, for US stamps after, say, the 1920s?

I brought up the same question a couple of years ago, because I too was frustrated by the lack of info on what I would think should be relatively accessible data. In that regard, I have much more fun with my piles of German stamps than I do with my American stuff, because I've been able to find many more listings for plate varieties on common German stamps than I've ever been able to find for USA stamps. Gosh, I even have a plate variety catalogue for Bohemia & Moravia! I guess we'll have to wait for some German collectors to write a plate variety catalogue for American stamps.

https://goscf.com/t/7519

Ryan

Well, I do think you'd have to use the U.S. site to hope for the best results...

Items can end up being listed in lots of categories, but the best chance for success (and focused results) is to start in the Stamps | U.S. section, and enter your search from there.

Sometimes putting your search into a search engine like Google and then looking for the results from ebay works better. The search engine will search every ebay site (.ca, .com, etc) so you get more results, and you can refine the search better than you can with the ebay search box.

Ryan, that's the core of the problem! I have a large accumulation of common US stamps, but it doesn't look like they're going to provide much entertainment because it seems that there's nothing to look for.

I wonder if we should start a thread to list interesting varieties here?

Cjd, it seems to be the case that to do a comprehensive search of completed listings, it would be necessary to perform the same search on all the different ebay sites. I'll be doing this in future, I think.

mystic226, I find searching ebay with Google a total waste of time. In many cases (I'd say most of the time), the results just take you to ebay listings that have been removed.

I guess I'm a lucky dog! I very recently got a Neinken to purchase in VF condition for $85.00. Too cheap I thought so I gave a $100.00 for it. I won't identify who I bought it from but, he's a frequent visitor to this forum and VSC. I won't knowingly cheat a seller. Especially when I consider him a friend.

Art