Looking For Value Or Direction As To Where To Get Value.

I have a used scott 573 with perfin FNB which from another post on the forum is First National Bank of Boston. I was curious if someone could tell me the value of it or direct me where I could get perfin values.
Thank you!
Don

I searched this forum for "First National Bank of Boston". This thread popped up:

https://goscf.com/t/29268&SearchTer...+Boston

Since it is common, it's probably worth a few dollars. Try checking ebay for "First National Bank of Boston perfin" and then select sold listings. That will give you a good idea of what it's actually worth.

I doubt the FNB perfin is worth more than a few cents. They were very common back in the day. You need to watch out for other FNB perfins that can often get confused with First National Bank of Boston. For example, there are FNB (First National Bank) perfins known for Winona, MN, Baltimore, MD, Chicago, IL, Fort Smith, AR, Kansas City, MO, Portland, ME, Boston, MA, Shreveport, LA, Denver, CO, Pittsburgh, PA and San Antonio, TX.

There was even an FNB perfin for Altoona, PA that is identified as representing the "Fourth National Bank" instead of First National Bank!

The stamp will often help as to the location. Many were precanceled. Others have remnants of postmarks that will lend a clue as to what city or state the stamp may have originated from.

Those with a precancel catalog (most are out of print and expensive to acquire) will be able to identify if there are certain perfin patterns that may differentiate one FNB perfin from another. It's really a specialized collecting discipline.

wt1, your reply makes me realize that I need to elaborate more often. Great info too.

TheStampNut, sorry I should have elaborated. Your stamp if in sound used condition is listed in the 2009 Scott Catalog at $15.00. Most stamp collectors see perfins as devaluing a stamp. Sometimes common perfins on rarer stamps will bring a premium.

I don't know enough about your stamp or its perfin enough to give you a value estimate. If you find some sold examples on ebay, that will give you an idea of what its value is. Of course centering and whatnot affects the value as well.

I have a scott #477 that has a common General Electric perfin. 2009 catalog values it at $80 WITHOUT a perfin. I've found a few ebay sales where it sold for around $15. Maybe a GE perfin was more common on the 477. Maybe your FNB perfin isn't common on the 573. Then factor in the demand. Perfins are fun to collect but valuing them is difficult.

Good luck.

Let me correct myself, too.

I didn't bother to look up the fact that the #573 was a $5 stamp. That in itself should make it more valuable than "a few cents", but probably nearer to "a couple of dollars'. Even still, condition is critical, and it is also correct that perfins tend to devalue a stamp considerably. In fact, I just checked a couple of sold ebay listings where #573 perfins sold for between $1 and $5 ... far below the catalog value of the same stamp without a perfin.

Keep in mind that banks were always using high value stamps (before the introduction of postage meters) for transmitting securities and other banking documents via registered mail, so their usage of high value stamps is common.

wt1, good point about the high value stamps being commonly used by banks.

TheStampNut, do check your perfin to see if it's a less common subtype. You can start by posting a picture or scan here. Experiment with light or dark backgrounds to make the perfin design easy to see. An additional picture or scan from the back is helpful as well.

To get impressive value - you need a scarce perfin on a common stamp - not a common perfin on a scarce stamp.
The non-perfin collector sees the perfin as damage, and the perfin collector sees FNB as less-than-a-penny.
But, there are 23 different FNB perfins - including 3 that are rare. A picture is required, and even that might not be enough to distinguish them as some are very similar.

chasa, good to know. Thanks.

So the group you didn't mention is a rare perfin on a scarce stamp. Would that increase the value even more?

Now please don't take this as being rude or "off putting", but Aren't perfins considered a "damaged stamps" at least to a certain point? (unless it's a rare one or something?) unless your a perfin specialist and know what your looking for or need. I could be mistaken but at any rate I wish you the best of luck with this one!

Value is determined by demand. Collectors of perfins are a small percentage of overall stamp collectors, so generally stamps with perfins have lower demand. Most collectors of perfins get started because of the affordable prices. As their collections advance, the postal history aspect takes over and missing items get more and more expensive.

Control Perfins on common Schermack type III stamps actually have a catalog value in the Scotts Specialized catalog. For the common patterns, value ranges from $40 to $47.50 depending on the Scott Number. Scott values for the same used stamps without perfins are only a few cents.

Scarcer perfinned stamps bring considerably more. This stamp recently sold at auction for over $4000.

Thanks all for responding. I tried to upload front and back photos, but could not get more than error messages indicating size was too big and when I attempted to use the sites link to correct, it also gave me error messages.

The type of perfin is exactly as shown in the link provided earlier in this thread > https://goscf.com/t/29268&SearchTer...nk+of+Boston
Top row, second from the left except slightly different in location which is more to mid to lower left on my 573.
Thanks again to all those who responded.

I think that you may not understand how the varieties of perfins differ. Position of the perfin on the stamp is not a "variety" per se. When the stamps were "perfined" the location on the stamp depends on how well the operator aligned the sheet.

The varieties differ based on what is called a "control position". It varies by each user/company that made their own perfins. It usually refers to the position of an extra hole. Below is an example of the General Electric perfin with the red arrow pointing to the extra hole know as the "control position". If there is no extra hole, it usually indicates the main or original office location. For the example below, it indicates the Erie, PA office of the GE corporation.

Does your stamp have an extra/missing/different hole than the other examples that you have found?