Harding #613 From Noted Collector's Estate - Help Please?

Hi all,

I'm trying to authenticate, and would appreciate your assistance on this. This collection has been in the same family for decades.

I believe I have the complete set of Harding #610-#613. I have included a link to my photobucket album of pictures. He has it posted in the #613 location, it is perf-11 and it is identical in size to the perf 10, and smaller than the #610.

Please review and feel free to contact me directly or in posting. I know I'm out of my league if this is authentic.

All single stamp photos are of "alleged" #613 and are both with and without flash to help - I hope.

http://s1369.photobucket.com/user/b...cto/library/

Kind regards

The "613" has offset on the back. Only flat plate stamps have offset because of the way they were stacked after printing but before gumming and perforating. It's a 610.

Excellent observation, revcollector!

If you look at the 3 in the picture, the 610 is shown, and noticeably smaller next to the 612 and 613. The 612 and 613 have different perforations (perf 10 - 612, perf 11 - 613).

If you align the 610 with the "613", they are about the same size. It's a 610.

Not all stamps shrink equally. Look at the portraits of Harding. Notice that the portraits of the 610 and the one you call a 613 are identical, both dark with a dense appearance but the 612 is different. Lighter, with finer lines because it was stretched more by being on a rotary plate. The stamp you call a 613 is a 610.

If somebody offers you 500$ for it - sell it - fast!
[same for 5$]

Not going to try to pass it off as a 613. But if you are offering $500, we can talk! this is why I am asking for public opinion. This is part of a great collection that I came across. I'm still thoroughly thrilled with it - and the treasure hunting bug got the best of me.

I trust that there are many that know much more than I do - probably most. It was in the book in position 613. I guess there was someone with wishful thinking.

One has to ask. Thank you all!

Contrary to popular belief... rarity is, unto itself,
part of the equation of supply and demand... and, with
the advent of ebay, quite a few "rarities" have come
to drop in price dramatically... most notably Z grills...

The 613 is as rare as thie wide array of offerings of
610's by sellers (mostly amateur) whom do not provide
backscans... therefore, (IMHO) I have no doubt the 613
is in plentiful supply... we just won't ever know with
any great certainty, given the great lack of photography...

Disi,

Real 613s are not in plentiful supply. ebay is not a good barometer for the relative scarcity of stamps such as this.

The 613 being rare was determined long before ebay was a twinkle in the internet's eye

Bet me... there's plenty of "610's"
on ebay without setoff on the backs...
explain (that)...

Oh, I know... the printer forgot to
stack these... oops...

Immaterial...

OK, sure, you win - not really worth much more of a response anyway

FACT : Increased availability reduces rarity/scarcity...
that's what ebay (and other sites) have done to a number
of collectibles... (in case you haven't noticed)...

I am aware that the internet as a whole, and outlets like ebay as part of that, have managed to scare up additional examples of stamps (and other collectables) once thought to be howling rarities. What is interesting to me is that the increased supply does not seem to have a similarly increased demand for them, so that the price seems to go down, at least for a while. (Of course the number changes are on a relative scale - doubling the supply of small numbers would require large numbers of new potentially interested parties.)

Is it that the internet is helping create more sellers than buyers? Then again, metal detector finds dropped the values of many ancient coins for a while, but when the flood of material effectively abated, the prices started to rise again. Not sure there has been a flood of rarities in stamps, but who knows?

Please forgive these ramblings.