19th Century Stamps

One of our big spenders in the club asked if I could request 19th century U.S. from the APS circuit books...the BOX came today and included two thin books of 19th century U.S.....i can not believe the prices asked..most of the stamps are either heavy cancels or faulty with missing perfs etc...they are expensive and not attractive..if they had priced them at 10 percent I could see where a collector of limited means could use them for space fillers !!

Phil:

Now you know why I collect MODERN United States stamps.

David

It can be a challenge collecting 19th century for the right price.

Heres a couple of examples..would like to know if anyone would buy these ???? I think someone has a mighty high opinion of their stamps !!

I notice they didn't even fill the page but left most spaces empty.
Were you the first to receive this or did prior folks in the circuit
buy any or pass up on buying?

PS - Aren't you glad you collect Guatemala?

The #117 can range as high as $75.00 used. At $69.00 I would expect a much better stamp.

The #151 can range as high as $75.00 used. Too me for this stamp it is priced just a little higher than what I would expect for the quality.

Of course better grade used stamps can go for more than the price I used as the standard.

For example the #151 used grade high even on stampwants can go for $400. However there are examples of better stamps for the #151 than the above for around $40.

Learning the price ranges for these stamps takes some work. I use a combination of sources to come up with a good value. They include Scott, Mystic, Stampwants and other private sellers. I feel going through these sources gives me a combination of high catalog prices and fair market prices.

For example I use Scott & Mystic to set the high base line then I look for prices far below those for the best quality stamp that is good for me.

It looks like this guy may just use the high end with a very small discount for condition.

Thanks for the input guys, Larry..4 people received the book before us..the second buyer pulled $112 from the book..the other 3 zero !

Some of the dealers in the sales circuits do price things on the high side. Others price more fairly. I would say these should be priced at about 15-20% of Scott. I'm not sure what the fees are for selling through the APS Sales Division. It seems that some dealers price this in.

Heavy cancels are the norm for this period. Those two examples actually have fairly unobtrusive cancels. In my experience the best deals for 19th century (VF or better) used stamps are in the Nutmeg and Cherrystone auctions.

T360 I accompanied my friend Joe down to Cherrystone auctions twice each carrying two suitcase of stamps..we were shown to a small conference room..showroom..the man came in..a litle friendly small talk and then he wrote out a check...a pleasant experience...what a shame that Stampazine...a Great stamp shop one floor below Cherrytstone sold to Bennett auctions in Baltimore about 3 years ago...it was a everymans stamp shop..you sat at the counter on bar stools and 2 or 3 pleasant elderly men would go look for what you asked for...then to Wolfs deli for anything I wanted for lunch on Joe and back on the Amtrac to Dutchess county !!

Stampazine sounds like a wonderful place!

It was...i was there twice..when I went back a third time the place was almost bare just a few supplies..they had sent their stamps to Bennett Bros. auctions in Baltimore...another brick and mortar stamp shop gone..i remember Manhatten in the early 60's a stamp shop could afford the rent and sell 10 cent covers from shoeboxes...

Phil:

Having lotted a number of U.S. collections at Sparks Auctions, those U.S. 19th Century stamps you pictured are typical of the majority of U.S. stamps of that vintage.

David

Phil, it will be interesting to see if your big spender actually
purchases anything from these books.

Larry, I think I already know the answer,,although he probably has similar stamps in his collection and values them at scott catalog value !!