2c Harding Rotary

Ok, at the risk of looking like a fool- after much, much, much, and more research, I am about 95% certain I actually do have a #613. It comes from a Scott Junior Album of 1935, which has not been so much as opened for probably 60 years. It was in the space marked for #611 or 613.

I've checked the perf 11, measured and used the template method for the length. Here's my question- actually 2 questions. The corner of the stamp is chipped. That's the only way I can describe it.Missing the first two perfs on the top left. What does this do to the value?

I'm planning to have it expertised- does anyone have any suggestions or warnings for me about this process?

Thanks!

I wish you the best of luck but please don't hold your breath. You realize there is only like 3 known right?

Actually there are 48 known. 43 singles, 1 pair and a strip of 3

There is no danger in getting a stamps expertized by one of the major services - except disppointment in the verdict. These can be hard to identify and if you have the 'real deal' the certificate will be mandatory to get a good price when selling. If it is a damaged 613 the value go down by thousands of dollars but it will still be worth thousands of dollars. Good luck! Why not show a scan here [prefer 600dpi or higher]. If it not a 613 we can probably tell from a scan.

Wow I didn't know that many (or few- comparatively) were known! Thank you.

Well before spending money. Grab a cheap rotary reference Harding and check it by overlay of length and width of design. If you can, cut the reference stamp perfs off up to the design to get a more true look. Use a magnifier or stereoscope to look. Also use a flat plate Harding. I also once thought I had the rarity, but good luck.

Damaged two perfs may mean it sells for 10-30% of catalog if genuine.

I have recently come upon a similar situation, but with a different stamp. Do everything you can and get as many opinions as you can before you send it in for expertization. Crouse gave some good advice. It can get expensive even if it turns out not to be the gem. You might consider an opinion from Weiss first.

If having it expertized, you, as well as the expertizers, have to assume it is genuine to begin with. So you will have to mail it according to their instructions, registered, and send them a check for 10% of it's highest known authentic value, be that Scott, or auction. You also have to pay them to ship it back to you and there is still a cost naturally, if it is found not to be genuine.

And you only have two choices how to mail it. Fed-Ex or USPS. PF and PSE don't accept UPS. I researched it and just felt more "comfy" with PSE. One reason is, if I remember right, PF will charge an additional fee if the stamp is determined by them to be a "forgery". I couldn't find PSE saying that anyplace. But someone may correct me. The word "forgery" is vague. That's why we send in the stamp to begin with. To find out if it is or isn't.

I still haven't gotten the return receipt back yet from USPS. But PSE sent me an Email that they had received it and gave me a customer number. This gave me a feel of confidence in them because they didn't have to do that. I have just had better luck with UPS and would have rather sent it that way. Anyway, it got there. Hopefully they won't send it back Fed-Ex.

In any event, whatever you decide, Good luck and God Bless!


Hope this helps!

-IBFS

William Weiss does a quick "identify the Stamp" with no certificate for under $10 if I remember correctly. This would be probably the cheapest (Other than grabbing the known common ones for direct comparison) and if it's identified as the rare Harding then you get the certificate. Otherwise do like the rest of us did when we thought we found ours :)

Thanks, everyone, for all the good advice. I didn't know that Weiss offered that identification service, I think that's definitely the way to go. I wish I had a scanner, but I don't. Anyway, thanks again, all, and I'll keep you posted about the results.

A $50 scanner will make as good an image as you are ever likely to need for this forum, or other forums, or identifications, or ebay, or to answer clients' questions.

I do NOT recommend a 3-in-1, I recommend a stand-alone scanner. Several companies (MORONS, to be charitable) make scanners in which the scanner glass cannot be removed to clean its inside surface.

Then familiarize yourself with a little-known Windows feature, "Microsoft Office Picture Manager;" for a couple of years, I didn't even know it was there. It's indispensable; now I use it every day.

Microsoft Office Picture Manager is part of the Office software package, which not everyone chooses to buy (it ain't cheap). Windows provides "Paint" as part of the standard operating system installation, which does a number of the same things (resizing, cropping, rotating, etc.)

There is also a free software called GIMP which is quite useful.

This scan came from a 3-in-1 (Multi-Purpose) scanner.



If you're not getting good scans, here is a clinic on the subject that enabled me to.

https://goscf.com/t/30390&SearchTer...+can%27t+get

Then post a scan of your Harding. We'd like to see it!



-IBFS

My problem is more about the computer than the scanner. I actually do have a scanner, but I bought this silly little mini-desktop when my hard drive crashed on my Dell. It runs Ubuntu, and not only can I not figure out the operating system/commands, it came without a CD-ROM drive, so I purchased one, and can't figure out how to make it work. No Windows, no Microsoft anything. Quite frankly, I'm a little old lady and some of this stuff is just beyond me.

I just took another look at my copy of the form you fill out for PSE. They do have a fee like PF does if they think the stamp has been altered. But they don't say what it is. I don't know why they do this, but it is scary.


-IBFS

Understood. I just meant to let you know that All-in-One scanners are an option if you wanted to buy a scanner. But if you did, browse thru the scanning topic first. Doug is right. You don't need an expensive one.

Anyway, here is a tutorial on Ubuntu. This link will take you to some "beginner's" online instruction on how to use your computer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGhx-u-c5Cg

Then, there is a series of similar instructional video's on Ubuntu. I have seen the list go as high as 15 videos, teaching you more as you go thru each one. Here is #1...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uabfu_RJLyg

to find #2, just type "Ubuntu tutorial #2" into the search, and so on...

Hope this helps.


All the best
-IBFS