Newbie Questions On Revenues

New collector here with U.S. stamps in general, but lately finding a lot of back of book stamps that really appeal to me, one of these is revenues. I have a Scott Specialized catalog, and at the beginning of the revenue section I notice that there is only one column of prices given for stamps up to about 1875, afterwards there are two. I would assume that the single price given is for an unused stamp, correct? If so, why no used prices? Second question, is there a reasonably priced book out there on U.S. revenues that goes into more detail for collectors than what the Scott catalog does? Thank you, and I'm sure I will have more questions as I go along.

No, it's the opposite. The prices are for used examples. Some specific cancels in make them worth more.

This book is great for the classics.
https://www.google.com/books/editio...c=frontcover

In the introduction to the revenue section Scott explains that "Uncanceled first through third revenue stamps without gum are generally not considered unused by the marketplace because the vast majority have been soaked or sweated from documents."

Try this link: https://www.ericjackson.com/rhome1c.asp
By the way, also try using the "search" function. You'd be surprised what you can find!


Peter

Thank you. I read that hand stamped cancels are generally worth more than pen cancels, is that what you are talking about?

I did check out the link briefly, and there are lots of interesting items, and the prices seem reasonable. Thanks!

I didn't do an in depth viewing of the site, so I guess my comment was NOT reasonable, eh?

No, What Bart (revcollector) is laughing about is that Eric is known for having high retail prices. He and Richard Friedberg (https://www.friedbergstamps.com) are the most recognized specialist dealers of revenue stamps in the United States, and both price their material accordingly. They cater to a very specialized clientele and typically are market makers in the revenue arena.

For common garden-variety revenue material you can likely obtain it cheaper, but for scarce, high-grade, and rare or esoteric revenue items, they are the go-to resources. Both are very willing to answer questions and share knowledge and experience as well.

Both expertise for APEX, and previously for PSE when PSE used external expertizers; PSE's shift to doing all expertization inhouse has been a poor choice IMO as they have produced some garbage revenue certs over the last several years. I wouldn't trust PSE with revenue material... but I digress...

I have observed that, with dealers in Australian material as well,
(Richard Juzwin et al)

Eloquently described.

Thanks, good to know. If I get my feet wet in the revenue area, I'll be the garden variety collector.

I have gotten very good prices from Eric's auction. Keep in mind the auction is a different animal than the store.

The auction can be a very good place to get things, but it can also be surprisingly difficult for some specialty items and some specialist literature.

What is amusing is when something in Eric's auctions end up selling for more than comparable examples in his standing inventory on the site.

This happens far more frequently than you would think.

Eric and I have spoken about that in the past.