Columbus Reprints

Hi Folks,
It was nice of the USPS to reprint, in 1992, the 1892 Columbus series. Really beautiful stamps. But the reprints are appearing on ebay labeled as the 1892 issue. At least, I THINK THEY ARE. There are two pages of the $2 242. Come on: Mint and NH. A stamp that has been around for over a century.

What does a guy do who owns a genuine mint 242 and wants to sell it? There must be a couple out there. Who is going to believe it's genuine?

I'd be happy to get a used 242, if it's genuine. Any way to tell from a picture? How about the cancelation? I suspect a neat series of curved black lines would count against.

I expect the same thing will happen with the trans-Mississippi.

Don

If you own a MOG #242, get it certed before selling.

One thing that I discovered while completing my Columbians over the last couple years is that they are more common than I expected. There are some really nice examples out there and I have seen some that would be considered "post office fresh." Nowhere near the number of re-gummed examples, though!

Differentiating the original 1893 series from the modern reprints should be very simple, even looking at ebay lots. You can look for a copy with a heavy-ish Registry oval cancel. A quick ebay search for "$2 columbian used 242" just now netted 29 lots, ranging from a $49 starting bid to a grossly over-priced over-graded "gem" at $650 obo. There are some nice ones in the $200-300 range where seller will consider offers.

Happy hunting!

Reprints should be marked as such and easily identified. At the least, reprints should be printed on especially designed watermarked paper.

These seem to have come way down in the past few years, might be a good time to buy if you get a good price. To me the modern ones dont look anything like the older ones.

The reprints have a small date in the margins.

I can't believe that this confusion exists. Every stamp of the original Columbians has a pair of dates at the top, left and right: 1492......1892. On the "reprints" those dates read: 1492......1992.

No problem mistaking them.

BTW the 1992 versions are NOT reprints, and Scott does not call them that. A reprint uses the same plates or dies as the originals, and the designs are the same in all details. So, for example, the 1875 so-called "reprints" of the 1847 issue are not called "reprints" in the catalog, they are called "reproductions." If you keep this principle in mind it will keep you from being misled.

Can anyone help with how the 1992 stamps were made if they are not reprints? I thought they were made using the original dies but with the 1992 modification at top right as essayk stated. I also thought the original dies were then destroyed.

ebay is dangerous for used Columbians too. I have seen a dozen examples of dirtied up 1992 $ values made to look old being sold as 1893 space fillers. Use to be able to get the lots delisted through reporting but ebay doesn't care to police that fraud any more. Buyer beware. It still bugs me when these come up and get strong bids.

How could you confuse this with a stamp from one of the original, they didnt even have paper like these are made on back then. I'm not sure what you mean when you say sell for high amounts but used ones of these are hard to get in sets and can go for close to face value with mint going for a little over.

I know the paper is different. Easy to see with the stamps, not so easy with pictures of them. AS for the date, I just didn't notice. Maybe I'm getting too old for this hobby.
Don

Jim6092252, your 2629a stamp is not confusable as you show it, or should not be (very nice used example and you are right scarce as such). But trim some perfs, dirty it up, yellow it, put a few ink smudges or scuffing on it especially over the 1992, and you have a dream come true affordable space filler for Scott 245 at a $215 final bid. These stamps descriptions are of course vague or misleading to the same ends.

I'll upload reference pictures if I can locate them. I recall a $3 and $4 columbian selling this way two years back on ebay.

ddreisba - A knowledgeable collector will know what your stamp is an easily discern it from the re-issues. And if your looking to buy a stamp and your not sure if it's real -- ask for a "certificate" with the stamp to assure it genuine.

im6092252 --
Ahhhh… when was the last time you were in Wal-Mart and looked around?!? THAT'S how anyone would confuse this stamp -- OR, any re-issue with the originals!

Confusion only resigns in the uneducated - it's the buyer's responsibility to know what he's buying - period. If you're educated, the probability of getting "burned" is fairly low.

Look, some people, don't or won't, read or research a catalog or the market. Then, there are people that never learned there term, "CAVAET EMPTOR". These are the same people that subscribed to U.S. "gold foil" stamps on cover!

Unfortunately, you can't stop people from taking stupid actions or making bad decisions in collecting -- it's been done for centuries. But it proves that P.T. Barnum is still correct today… "There is one born every minute." -- and when he tells the public. "This Way To See The Big The Egress!" Barnum plays on Human's laziness to learn, thus taking another stupid action.

Anyway, you study. You learn.You ask questions. So you will be the educated Buyer or Seller and just stay away from those with glazed-over-eyes and little concept of what they have for sale. You'll save yourself grief, aggregation and long explanations that they will never understand.

Hal