1862 Civil War Encased Stamp

Interesting, listed in coins though...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1862-Civil-...321235165755

Severely overpriced. About 10X. It only catalogs $850 (2012), and it's in horrible condition.

Nice,cool,old,interesting, but has a condition issue. I have only seen a few of this with this one being well not best, but would still be nice to own, but not for 850.00. It's how bad someone wants it. The owner could take it to Vegas (baby)and see if Rick wants it

You can obtain much better quality examples of the 1c-3c denominations for $300-500. They might not have as high of a rarity factor, but if you're just looking for a representative "type" example of encased postage for your collection, something like this to me is far more alluring:

https://www.gradedstamps.com/galler...dne9oij5ld07

All encased Postage (US) is somewhat scarce, according to Arago there are less than 3000 in existence. Looks like someone tried to pry the casing off.

Just to clarify -- Is encased postage (which I understand was used in place of coinage that was not readily available at the time) really considered a philatelic or numismatic collectible? It really borders into both collecting disciplines.

Although the original post was admittedly an overpriced ebay item, here's another encased postage example (different stamp but same business entity on the token) that was auction estimated at $700 to $900, with the further notation that only 21-30 are known to exist:

http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item...le-in-ep-129

I think it's a crossover item for both philately and numismatics. I see them at stamp shows and I have seen them offered in coin periodicals as well.

If you're looking for cheaper examples of the same sort of thing, European countries did the same thing during both World War I and World War II, usually using aluminum, brass, or celluloid as the case material. I have several examples from Germany and France. You can find those in the $20-100 range (depending on stamp and/or business advertising) on ebay

Here's one that's attractive, especially as it uses a CoGH triangle as part of the advertising:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Germany-Sc-...em5d40326a40

Most appear to be listed in the coin categories. Here's a link to a search for "encased postage" across all categories, sorted from lowest price to highest:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...tage&_sop=15

Gotta love this listing. They state XF ? This thing is certainly not XF and certainly not worth the $1,350 asking price of a $700 catalog value item. I have the exact same one in much better condition / centering and I was told the Catalog value would be high end.

With the US Encased postage the advertising on the back is a determining factor on price and rarity.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/EP90-XF-GEM...em27d0bd7e47

They circulated as small change, and as such are coins more than stamps, imo. Because numismatists pursue these more widely than philatelists, and have a broader range of value options for grade and rarity than Scott uses, I am not sure that Scott is the best reference for these. That said, I don't know what is, since I don't collect these or coins either.

But in valuing, the condition of the case is generally a bigger factor than the condition of the stamp, since the stamp is usually going to be okay even if the case has trouble with brassing, cracked or broken mica, dents, and such. For all that, I don't think Scott is going to be the guide of choice.

I'm not sure if there is another choice of reference material other than Scotts. Scott's does state that wear and tear is normal since they were probably carried in someones pocket as change. Centering of the Stamp and the condition of the Mica are the major items of concern when valuing.

It is also important to make sure that the case has not been opened and the stamp replaced. Or whether the mica was replaced. Neither events are all that uncommon in these items.