I have been ignoring this thread for a bit because I don't read everything all the time, I am no Don
. So some catch up:
To EFO Collector, I remind you that within US Philately Errors, Freaks and Oddities are words which are used as terms of art. Thus while we highbrow philatelist may all agree what "error" means in our stuffy world, any yahoo listing a stamp with something the yahoo sees as not correct compared to others stamps is going to call it an error, especially if the yahoo has notice $$$$$$ associated with other errors which comply with the term of art definition of error. Yes, anything released to the public via normal production and sales processes which is not within the acceptable production guide line variances or tolerances, is a common English, error or mistake. But the Error Catalog list (most) errors as defined by the term of art. If you do not understand what term of art means, look it up. It is specific.
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So I paid $2000 for a beautiful stamp that was properly expertized, talked about in the press, auctioned, and then dismissed as legit by the catalog only a year or so later. The press in this case, is the catalog publisher, and receives advertising dollars from the auctioner. I am not bitter, but this just feels wrong all around. To be honest, I trust PF expertizers more than Scott.
Did you or do you have a set of the China Clay Papers?
What about those color varieties that need spectral analysis to determine if the stamps is "correct" when the good stamp and the bad stamp are both the same color to the naked eye, and there was no alterations being done on either. Thus what looked good yesterday and still is the same color today is no long the correct "certifiable color." Yes, the hobby has gone there. So besides, tongs, watermark fluid and tray, perf gauge, UV light, we all have a home or access to a laboratory grade spectrograph of the correct type.
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It may be fun to collect, but the day comes when the collection is sold or it's a legacy. And how much it gets for ourselves or heirs depends on our actions.
And, if we're honest with ourselves — or at least in my humble opinion — EFOs are the most interesting, and should be the most expensive stamps.
And, that's why the upside-down Jenny, CIA invert, etc. are so valuable.
Scarcity, uniqueness, identification, and value — they're all important, but uniqueness shines above all.
And, unless we're able to record that uniqueness and its value somewhere, it's like the transaction didn't occur — that it had no previous value — and each transaction is new.
Demand has a great part of the driving price influence. EFO Collector, in your prior posts, you mention you are relatively new but have many EFOs. Let then say to you as a self described newbie, there are 100s if not over one thousand different color inverted stamps issued world wide. While all are usually quite eye catching, not all have much demand, as such some trade at only a few dollars each. Even if such trades only occur every 3 to 5 years or longer.
Likewise, and I have not checked lately, the Error Book has never listed all US issued errors as some have no measurable demand. One classification not listed are the
no gum or
gum missing errors. Just like color missing errors, the no gum or gum missing errors are stamps upon which no gum was affixed when gum was required. As with all errors, the gum is fully missing from the entire back of the stamps. However, unlike color missing errors, one must collect such errors with enough surrounding stamps to show that gum was applied except for the no gum errors (establishes the gum was not chemically altered; e.g. treated with water to remove the substance).
Yes these errors exist, were known when the original and second draft of the catalog was produced, and in general result from large to massive gum skips. Yes they are eye catching when viewed from the back of the stamp block, and they are rare, quite, quite rare. But with some glue you can get face value for them on a letter, not much else. They make for good conversation but do not prompt the opening of wallets, nor retrieval of pocket change.
Edit: addition of a missing "ed" on one word.
Reedited to add the missing gum photo below:
Posted 11/25/2022 2:53 pm
