How Would You Price These?

I have a couple of first issue revenues that have a fairly high catalog value, both with faults. Is anyone on the forum familiar with how such items are priced based on experience in the market whether at shows, stamp clubs, or through circuit books?

The first is R33b, a part perforate 10 cent blue certificate with a herringbone cancel and thin on the back where you can see the blue showing through. The most recent (2008?) catalog value I can find is $700 though someone is saying $750. I'm thinking of soaking off the excess glue and hinge remnant, would that be helpful?



The other is R65a, an imperforate 70 cent green foreign exchange with a manuscript cancel. It has an approximately 2.5mm tear just above "United States" that's about as long as that block is wide. Almost invisible on the front, I have it marked with a pointer on the back where it can be seen. The most recent catalog value I can find for this is $600.

Larry...Usually the circuit books list faulty stamps
at 10 percent of catalog value

Thanks, Bob, that helps.

The G-man is right. that's the rule of thumb, I've always heard. a nice sf will bring 10% most times. on the other hands these times now might not be considered most times. IYKWIM.

Modern_Who
I Have Sold High Value Stamps Between 5-15%
Depending On The Severity Of The Damage.
I Would Soak Of The Hinges ,This May Or May not Reveal More Thinning.
Hope This Helps
DJD

Remember however, that the R65c fully perforated version of the 70c Foreign Exchange is CV $12.00. Many c's have
been trimmed over the years by unscrupulous dealers to resemble the imperf a's. Two good margins is generally
considered insufficient to be confident that the stamp is an authentic imperf.



To illustrate the point, here is an example from my collection with two good margins, next to your copy. I think you
will agree that each stamp has two good margins, one slightly in and one very close margin.


The difference is that my copy is actually fully perforated.



So an experienced revenue collector will generally not pay the higher "imperf" price for a stamp with just two good margins.

Thanks for the additional input, everyone. It looks like 10% could be a sort of standard or consensus, +/- 5% for how small or large the flaw.

I have to agree with t360 that the R65a is a little iffy looking. Maybe it was just cut closely but if it's the perforate c version trimmed down to defraud a collector, then it would essentially be worthless as either stamp.

I have an R47a, R49a, R59a, R60a, and two R56a. They all appear to have at least 3 good margins and when compared to them, the R65a does seem suspect as being trimmed from the R65c. I doubt it could be expertized as an R65a.

My guess is that the 10% rule for these is really stretching it. Although its hard to accept that our treasures can in fact be worthless but the extent pf the thin shoing without a further soak would, in my humble opinion as a collector and buyer, push the R33b awful close to that dreaded level. As for the R65, it looks really suspicious when you look at the uneven left edge. Of course, it comes down to the value being what someone is willing to pay. My bet is that price will fall short of 10% in both cases.

Two years later, I'm still looking at these so I thought I would bump this up to see if any of the newer members might have something to add, particularly about the R65a 'imperf' shown above.

I've considered destroying it as a possible faked imperf, but am now thinking of offering it for sale beginning at just 99-cents with the caveat that it may have been created by someone from the perforate variety, and let any potential buyer take it from there.

Also, can someone provide the latest Scott catalog values for these? Thanks.

modern_who,

I'm by no means a revenue expert but if I saw that R65 at an online auction I'd immediately suspect it was a trimmed R65c given the lack of margins. If you decide to list the stamp I think the caveat you mentioned is essential.

As to current valuation, the 2011 Scott Specialized lists the prices for an R65a thru d at $600, $175, $12 and $110, respectively. The CV for the R33b is $750.

Steve

Thanks, Steve. Your input and valuations are appreciated.

The R65a is definitely bogus. Not only are the margins too tight, but the cuts are too ragged (raises red flags immediately).

If you need catalog values on 1st-issue revenues, I always keep my reference chart up to date (at least for those stamps that I have examples of):

http://www.revenue-collector.com/usrevs.shtml

P.S. I don't like the R33b above either. The shifting of both imperforate edges downward in an amount equal to the height of the design is more indicative of a misperf that has been trimmed on both top and bottom edges rather than a true part perf. Moreover, the stamp exhibits a herringbone cut cancel, which was almost exclusively used late in the 1860s at the earliest, which in all likelihood would not have been the correct time period for part-perf usage. It's possible it's legit, but extremely unlikely.