Plate Blocks Is It Worth The Time

It is funny how things work out. I have a few plate blocks nothing big and mostly from the early 70's. I have a friend who's father was a post master just after WW2 that saved plate blocks.

He wanted to sell them to me and at the time I told him I would pay face value. Of course he thought I was crazy.

So we talked last night and he is willing to take face value. I knew most of these are from the 1950 - mid 1970's. I told him I was interesting and would give him face value and show him which ones he has that may be worth a little more.

I really like collecting single stamps with the plate number so I may just split these all up and sell the others as singles. Then again it is worth the time and effort to just buy the entire lot and let them sit.

I'm not in it to make money but at face value on mints stamps with the plate numbers I'm always interested just because I like them.

If you like plate blocks and enjoy them as a hobby and are "not in it for the money", and the quantities are low enough that you can make use the overage for postage, then go for it.

HOWEVER, keep in mind that virtually no modern plate blocks are worth even full face value in any quantity and you will find many dealers actually use them as postage just to get rid of them.

I did an "unscientific" quick survey on ebay listings for "discount postage plate blocks" and came up with ten listings as shown below:



It just goes to prove that most sellers are accepting from 50% to 80% of face value for their offerings -- with some sellers even including free shipping. It's not a lucrative market.

Also keep in mind that if you're talking about a number of stamps from the 1970s, that was the time when plate number strips of 10, 12 or 20 stamps were prevalent, which may not lend itself well to just collecting a single stamp with a plate number.

I'd use your leftover for postage.

There are exceptions to every rule and if you get lucky enough you might find a couple of gems. This plate block from 1956 is worth far more than face value, the catalog value is $270.00

wt - it would be more useful if you had shown selling % for completed listings. When I put up postage, I start the lots at 99c, so while it might look like I am willing to acept only 5% for a $20 face lot, I know it will sell for far more.

I believe there is only one exception to post 1940 US plate blocks that will actually fetch more than face value and that would be, as stallzer noted the 1053 $5.00 Hamilton. I would gladly sell all my US post 1940 -1980's plate blocks for 75% of $250.00 face value. I have offered these up before at 75% and ...............................

they used to sell like hotcakes on wensy.com

The Scott # 1053 is one of the few dry printed flat plate stamps with corner number plate block of 4 line perforated by rotary perforators just before the L-perforator replaced the rotary perforators.