Questionable Coil Pair 448?

I need this for my collection, but it looks reperfed?? If anyone has time and can check ebay auction 181665933373 I'd appreciate it. I notice that the guide lines perfs kinda wobble around a bit and the top and bottom perfs aren't aligned with the design. So I was a bit concerned about bidding. Perhaps I'm just to paranoid.

Link
http://www.ebay.com/itm/18166593337...RK:MEBIDX:IT

I realize the price is appealing...but I think you can find someting better and at a fair price if you exercise patience. If doubt is an issue, it will always be. If the centering and nibbled perf aren't an issue for you, than go for it based solely on its price as you will always remember getting good value. It doesn't appear reperfed tp me. Every collector looks at their own collection differently. It's all personal preference. Good luck if you bid!

In don't care for the look of the perfs. either. I'd pass on it.

This example, as with others we have seen in other threads, exhibits what I will call "wandering perfs" in which two or more perf holes appear slightly off center with respect to the printed line. I would be interested in knowing from Clark, Bill or another expert whether this feature suggests, or authoritatively indicates, to an expert, reperforation or whether this variability is typical of genuine W-F issues in this time period.

Chris

The coil in http://item.ebay.com/181665933373 is a rotary coil line pair, either a watermarked 448 or unwatermarked 486, maybe the latter. In addition to the height and shade, the ink wash from incomplete wiping indicates that the pair is a rotary press product. Try contacting the seller. The pair has a nibbed perf at the top, but the perforations are genuine. There is no way they could be faked. The uneven row is not uncommon on rotary press products. Unless the seller has a track record of fully describing stamps, I would assume that the pair has some creases or other possible defects. Sellers who display the American Stamp Dealers Association or APS Dealer Member logo should be held to a higher standard. This seller displays neither.

Clark

if it is watermarked sc 448 it looks good for the price... biggest risk is it is unwatermarked sc 486

On a related subject, when the used stamp catalogs more than the mint counterpart, and the used stamp in question has some sort of generic oval or other indistinct/non-identifiable cancel, it's best to assume the cancel is fake until proven otherwise...

What's the value of an unused no gum Scott 486 line pair with fake cancel added? That's how I'd value an item like this without knowing anything more about the seller or being able to examine it in person...

With all due respect to Clark, I think it is patently unfair to suggest that the wares of any seller who lacks a track record of properly describing faults should be considered defective. I sell stamps on ebay that are all expertly described but I don't have much of a track record.

I am a capable and honest philatelist, neither of which, by the way, are conditions of membership in the APS.

Winston Sinclair
Former APS Member #193321

Well, I did put in a low bid but lost. Thanks for all the inputs. I didn't realize that Rotary Coils had that much leeway on the perfs. Still learning, great site.

Winston,

Maybe I should have said something like a track record of not describing faults. If a check of a small sample of seller images reveals faults not described in the body of the listing, avoid the seller. While everyone can make a mistake, the ebay policy of allowing a seller to not describe faults visible in the image is wrong. Many viewers are experienced enough to notice small faults in an image. Some sellers deliberately post poor images in the hope that glaring faults won't be noticed.

Although dated, the www.scads.org web site is worth a quick read. Some of the sellers mentioned in scads are also featured in www.theswedishtiger.com. Because of that I take their recommendations with a grain of salt.

Unfortunately, many Internet buyers bid low on stamps because they don't want to receive damaged stamps they don't want and can't return (paraphrase from an article some years ago by Jim Kloetzel, editor of the Scott Catalog in the Scott Monthly Journal). Unfortunately more careful sellers suffer because the marketplace is so dominated by careless or malicious sellers. The bottom line is that fixed price listings are safer for selling high quality stamps. Auction realizations are closest to market value for the worst stamps and under the market for the best stamps.

Sellers who run regular auctions have the best chance of achieving good results, but it will take buyers a while to figure out what they are likely to receive and what they should pay. Casual sellers, no matter how skilled or sellers of intermittent auctions will not fare as well unless they have built up a strong reputation or a bit of a following.

Read my feedback.

Clark
clarkphilatelics

Amen Brother! But that being said, Winston makes a good point. And I would never hesitate to buy from him, whether he was "affiliated" or not. In a perfect world, we would hope that all folks who are honorable in the way they conduct their business, would also join our National Stamp Society and consider joining ASDA. But as we all know, the world ain't perfect!