Carriers And Locals. What Do You Think?

I picked these up from my dad's house over thanksgiving holiday-- they were in a really really old album in the basement. My dad has huge collection and teases me occasionally when I visit with stamp stuff. The pages were so old they had that white chalk dust feeling and just shed white stuff on the desk as you turn the pages. Album was basically disintegrating in my hands as I looked through it. I feel like I should have worn an asbestosis mask. They were hinged to the pages, but I gently removed them and put them in black stock sheet.

I am lost when it comes to carriers and locals. I am aware of the large number of reprints and forgeries. I looked some up in Scott. My gut feeling is that some here are forgeries, others are real.

If anyone can give me a hand with this a little or point me in a direction in trying to determine authenticity, demand, and value. Are any definite fakes? Reprints? Is centering and condition as important as regular issues stamps in determining value. Does PF or PSE grade this stuff or just authenticate? Is there a good market for them. I have more of this stuff sitting on my desk, but this is a nice representation.

He also gave me some nice US officials and confederate stamps. I'll post some more pics over weekend.

A minefield. Good luck.

http://www.pennypost.org/pdf_files/...erStamps.pdf

Very nice little collection. I can't vouch for their authenticity, maybe larger pictures would help?
But all are listed in the Scotts Specialized US catalogue. The top row are listed under carrier's stamps, the bottom row under local stamps. Some nice price tags too, depending on condition of course, even by my 2011 catalogue.
Love to see the rest!

Larry Lyons
http://pbbooks.com/locals.htm


http://www.pennypost.org/references.html

The leftmost and third from the left on the top row are probably the official reprints listed in Scott; they are fairly common. Possibly a couple of others might be genuine, but most of the rest are probably not.
Larry Lyons, who wrote the book on these issues is the executive director of the PF, so they can certainly be expertized there.

more!

frustrating

Some obvious fakes (the 3 Metropolitan Express, for example), with a few common ones that are probably genuine and a few that should be checked, such as the three used stamps.

agree: the 1c, 5c, and 10c Metropolitan Express in second image are likely fakes (they are too brown and Scott cat says they were reprinted on thicker paper in large quantity in a brown shade- I think thats what I got here!)

In the 3rd image, the first 3 are pretty obvious fakes (Wells Fargo, Bouton's, Broadway), the rest genuine (?).

Interestingly, the L01 vs. L03 (first stamp first image) looks like has a red cancel. This would push it towards LO1. However, I would say its color is more suggestive of reprint LO3 (blue vs. dull blue). Likely reprint!

I am hoping the three Metropolitan New York locals in first image are genuine-- tough to fake as my examples embossed and glazed as should be per catalogue

It is really impossible to judge local stamps without Lyons books. Unfortunately, the set is not inexpensive around $100 per volume.

It is not an easy set to use. The books are organized by town, which is not always obvious. You need to refer to a Scott catalog for color. And the differences between forgeries and real ones are sometimes quite subtle.

In the first photo, the second, forth and sixth in the first row look fake to . The first and third are probably real. I can't see the fifth and last one in the row clearly enough to tell. My guess is that the vast majority of this lot is fake.

I guess the question is are you trying to build a collection, or just sell them?

As for condition, it always matters. The nicest copies always command a premium. The problem with these is real ones are hard to find. Most listed on ebay are fake. I rarely see them at auction at the major houses. I often am willing to take one of lesser quality than my usual standards because it may be the only copy I see for sale at all.

fake or not, IMO finding the book, the pages crumbling into dust--and now you scan them--its the stuff I only read about--Hope they come out real deal--good luck

I don't sell stamps, only collect.
Cost of certificates are crazy unless the stamp is completely sound and relatively centered.
However for locals and carriers perhaps condition is not as important as true authenticity. This is quite a different mentality compared to us classic stamps where centering and soundness and gum trump everything when it comes to price.
If any stamps above deserve a shot at a certificate based on value, condition etc with high chance of genuineness... please advise!!

Kelleher upcoming auction

Redwoodrandy,

great post-- gives me great perspective. Very helpful seeing these scans below mine. I have the catalog and have referred to it.

Now my observations:

(1) Metropolitan express: If kellerer example is genuine, my example is likely genuine. But Kelleher example is being sold with no certification. I'm pretty sure both examples are fake.

(2) Carrier stamps: My upper scan (1st line) is similar to the grouping Kelleher is auctioning. No certs for any of these either in auction. I believe most of these are all real. Estimate for Kelleher is 100-150$ for entire lot of 5 carrier issues. Not breaking the bank!

(3) Wells fargo-- wow, those Kelleher examples are pristine-- look like reprints of 143L7 and 143L9, but nonetheless they have a PF cert from 1996 with auction estimate of 100-150$ for both. Makes my used 143L3 look genuine without question (catalogs 750$) but obvious not in great condition! Perhaps these locals were part of that circa-1996 fraud/scam at PF Foundation where b.s. certificates were issued to b.s. stamps. Or maybe they aren't reprints!
Forgive me for thinking out loud

The Metropolitan has no cert, something I would insist upon before buying it. Some of these images do not appear to be in the sale.

Oh,

and that LO6 being auctioned by Kelleher is also a mess (imho) in 2nd scan from top from randy-- (No cert)-- I'll let you guys comment, but it looks used (doesn't exist used! per Scott) and is reperforated or perfs added at bottom (per the linguistic purists)? It is being auctioned as unused without gum as issued. Nothing about perfs in description. I wouldn't bid on it without a cert!