I Think This Stamp Has A Real Shot At Being A Scott 316.

Let me add my perspective, as I am new. I understand that it's sometimes annoyingly for experts and people who have this hobby for years, that people just ask here "is this a 594?" (probably it's even their only stamp on the desk...). But I want to say that: questions for getting the value of a stamp are not always "treasure hunting". In my case e.g. I want to learn and create an album of my own (out of the huge duplicate album). While doing this I choose the following stamps, they are:
- beautiful (look like new, well-centered and so on)
- odd (like the ones I posted with scissor-cuts)
- valuable (because I don't want to give away valuable stamps as duplicates one day)

So of course I look if a stamp is valuable, and of course I would be happy if yes. It's a "to be sure" tactic.

I don't mean finding million dollar stuff which is out there probably,but unique different stuff,even if it's not a 316 on the card the postmark is pretty neat.

To add to John Becker's post, Greg Shoults "found" a post card in a dealers dollar box with what appeared to be a coil. The dealer said he though it was faked. Greg bought it, had it expertized and sold it at auction. A good friend of mine was the buyer; I've not had to opportunity to see it in person yet, but will eventually. It certified as a one-cent Franklin from the 1902-03 series and is a Parkhurst Private Vending Machine issue/use. To my knowledge, its the only 314V and Parkhurst certified on a cover/card. It sold at the Harmer-Schau auction at the APS show in Portland, Ore. last year.

Also, in 2015 I picked-up a #544 on a post card off of ebay; not as impressive, but still a good find.

Just a couple of examples; if you know what you're looking at, there may still be some good material available to be found. Knowledge is the key to finding it.

I found this too,I am not as knowledgeable as you guys and I don't know if this is anything ?

Re. stamp on card to St. Joe MO: guide line on bottom, straight edge left, probably a type E booklet single. But to my eye at this mag I count 5 evenly spaced points on the left edge which suggest a series of hyphen hole perfs or roulette. As always I need a larger pic of that side. That would be an interesting private perf if it bears out. Those more familiar with the unlisted types can say more.

Let me suggest to huffy that for what you are getting into, you really should purchase a fairly recent version of the Scott U.S. Specialized catalog, which has dozens of explanatory pages to help guide your investigation of the kinds of anomalies you are seeking. From the kinds of comments I have seen from you for a while now, you have the makings of a pretty fair "flyspecker," that is, a collector who focuses attention on tiny details in a stamp design to seek out unlisted varieties. The ambition of a flyspecker is not to find a great treasure, but rather to discover the unexplored and explore it. That is a far more laudable ambition than treasure hunting, and to those with understanding it is just as exciting. Only people with a true collecting impulse can understand that. I hope you are one of those.

I work at a golf course but not in the winter so every so often I go online looking for stamps that appear to be a bit off,Ive never found anything really good yet but maybe someday,I went through 35,000 postcards and covers in the last 3 weeks on various websites just looking around,I don't bother with ebay and I rarely hunt for stamps off cover online,whoever has put them up for sale has looked to see what they are but I do scan in the "bargain bin" (1 cent to 4-5 dollar stuff)on websites for stamps sometimes.I have found many grilled stamps,mostly 3 cent stamps though.I did find that double grill 10 cent I had up here last month,it was 2 bucks.

I agree with Huffy that there are rarities out there that a collector has never seen. In 1938 my father brought home an estate auctioned collection. In it was a unique carrier issue that since his passing has sat in my collection for the last 20 years. I just recently sent it in to PSAG. It is a 2c red Parcel Post stamp, roughly 1900 date. We'll see what they say. It's used, a bit rough around the perfs, without a handstamp or signature.