Great Britain Wing Margin Vs Regular. Which Is More Valuable?

I am starting to put together Great Britain collection and would like to know if the wing margin versions are considered more valuable than a regular stamp (presuming everything else equal such as soundness and centering).

I just started getting into Great Britain and was reading that some collectors prefer the wing margins while others may not?

I don't have Stanley Gibbons and use Scott catalogues for now.

Any help much appreciated.

Personally I have found that when it comes time to sell a stamp you are better off (have a larger pool of potential buyers) with a stamp that conforms to traditional norms. I love US classic straddle margin stamps and for some issues such as Scott 100 it is a great way to get a stamp that has good margins for the issue. However, when it comes time to sell straddle margin stamps my audience is smaller and it takes much longer to sell. That is my two cents worth.

Yeah, they should be essentially the same price even though in most cases the wings are slightly more scarce. Collectors just seem to gravitate toward symmetry.

I prefer wing margins, invites curiosity.
Although in the above two, I would take the Pmk 76 (London EC 1864 Duplex) above the wing, due to dark part Pmk.

When I first started searching through some old collections/stock of GB, I noted a few of these wing margins and researched them. I really didn't even know what they were at first. They definitely caught my eye and now I find myself looking for them. I have read some articles where there are GB collections that focus on just wing margins. Personally I find them attractive and "cool". I guess I will keep looking for them. Personally I think they should be worth more.

I actually prefer the wing margins, all other considerations being equal. I don't know that they have any greater catalogue value. I haven't noticed premium prices for them on sites like HipStamp or ebay, but I also notice that the sellers often note if the stamp has a wing margin, as if it somehow has greater value.

Wing margins are gutter margins that were perforated through the centre. Gutter margins still exist. However, they are perforated at the edges.

Traditionally, collectors have preferred the stamps without wing margin. In some cases, they even cut off the wing margin. Sometimes such cut-down stamps were reperforated. This is the reason you should know what letter combinations should have a wing margin.

As billsey remarks, those stamps that were printed in panes with a gutter have 4 in 12 (watermark Emblems and Spray of Rose) or two (watermark Garter) stamps with a wing margin, i.e., stamps with a wing margin are scarcer. Half of the wing margins occur at left and half at right.

Stanley Gibbons does not have separate listings and, consequently, no individual prices for stamps with and without wing margins. At the moment, their site offers SG 144 from plate 17 in unmounted condition, both with and without wing margin for £750. A third example with wing margin and sheet margin with inscription is offered at £ 795. All three seem to come from the same block of 8.

Although sentiment has changed somewhat, rogdcam's post reflects the market. Album spaces tend to be based on stamps without the wing margin.

I love wing margin stamps and, in the case of NSW DLR issues, go out of my way to secure them when they appear. They show off postmarks much better than the normal sized stamp.

Further to what other members have said, the pre-printed album is the reason so many wing margin stampe were trimmed down. By rights you should be paying a premium for them.

Thanks, NSK. I did not know that the wing margins originally were gutters. I had simply assumed they were at the edge of the sheet.

SCF search can be your friend
SCF Search on Wing Margin
https://goscf.com/t/40242&whichpage=2#626319 br /

I have also taken collecting Great Britain more seriously in the last two years or so. Two things to remember about them. Used GB are usually some of the grubbiest stamps you will find. Many unkind, ugly cancels. Most used Queen Victoria stamps I have in nice condition are from other Commonwealth countries and not GB. Also, prices you will see in Stanley Gibbons catalogues will appear very high for many issues. Hundreds of dollars. Don't get too excited about that when you see what they really sell for. I am talking about 1840 to 1886 or so, the oldies.

Thanks for input from all. Agree with crazy catalog prices for this stuff. After looking at numerous auctions I have noticed used GB 19th century generally sells in 10-15 percent range of CV. Have no idea why prices are so misrepresented in Scott (and SG as well but I don't have this catalog). My guess is it's a pride thing.

As NSK says, some stamps had their wing margin cut off, possibly to fit in a stamp album space. In the case of one stamp in my Great Britain collection, it's a stamp that, by the corner letters I determined that it would have had a wing margin, but which had been cut off, leaving a straight edge and as a result was affordable to me where I probably could not have afforded an intact copy. It's the quite scarce and highly desirable 1880 two shilling pale brown, Scott 56 (or SG 121). Making it it at the same time more, and then less desirable, is the fact that it's unused, but with a SPECIMEN overprint. Scott doesn't list the overprint variety, but Gibbons lists an intact copy at 30,000 pounds without the overprint and 3800 with, so my cut down version must be a further reduction from this. It's still a very attractive stamp, and I believe the price I paid (I think it was about 225 pounds)was a bargain.

I agree waddsbadds, that's a bargain in my opinion.

And making my copy just that much nicer, the corner letters are my wife's initials