Impressive Dealers Warehouse

Since I was/am not activity searching for a WX11, I am not getting agent notices of such nor am I actively looking.

I was the (a?) underbidder on the Harmer-Schau copy. I was also the underbidder on the CKStamps copy I posted above. It had 9 bidders plus one retracting bidder who retracted a $600.00 bid. The only reason I was the underbidder was the buyer double bid and I just split them. As floortrader notes, I too support the market in certain areas. Mootermutt987, did you not see the CKStamps eBay copy?

Now a "dump" of several of these WX11s is remarkable in a short period. I believe as I noted only one sheet, press sheet was created. However a press sheet produced two panes of 100 images. Still at 200 possible copies as of 1913, it is a difficult item to find. The $1400 catalog would be just a fraction of the catalog price if a real stamp issue and not a cinderella. I have mentioned elsewhere I got interested in the 1913 seal due to them showing up on 1913 (and 1914) covers with parcel post stamps.

The 1913 seal falls into one of my many spending areas. I have, dealer find requests, actively seeking anywhere I can, bidding to win, bidding to hope to win, then the glancing look category where if I see it I will buy it if I can, buy it if I have never seen such item or last time I saw it was "X" decades ago, buy when I have nothing else needed/good/more important to waste the money on which is what supports the majority of my collection and lastly, something at a price I can make some money upon.

The overpriced dealer holding my check I mentioned above was a dealer request to watch for certain things, that is in the first category above. I have both another check and package crossing in the mails now in the next to last category for 17 covers all with properly paid rates with one or more C46 80 cent Hawaii stamps. I am no Krupnick but but my C46 holding is quite deep, after several decades, as compared to other collectors. It is an area there can be only three (insert your word here) C46 collectors as there are only three recorded completely intact orchid mailing boxes with C46 affixed.

Now I ran on on the above to point out that there are some areas at which the top B&M auction houses don't service well. I have also had some major rarities but those have moved through the hobby via private treaty between collectors. That is where the specialty networks come in.

PPG- No, I was unaware of the CK copy on eBay. Christmas Seals were a new thing in 1913 - only 6 years old in the USA - and I believe they were a 'novelty' to stamp collectors. After all, they don't pay any postage. I suspect most collectors saw them as Green Stamps, or some such thing. I know the WX-11 is rare (perhaps scarce is a better word), but I don't know how many were printed - one sheet would probably cover all known copies, so that quantity is believable. I wonder how many were printed, sold and used? I find it hard to believe that they would simply print a single sheet and call it good. Perhaps only one survived as a philatelic item and the others were thrown out with yesterday's chicken bones. Perhaps there was a printing problem and the plate lasted only a very, very short time. All I know for sure is that I will pay many multiples of the next-most-valuable major Scott # Christmas Seal for this one. There are minor #'s that are of fairly significant value, and booklet panes, and perf varieties. There were 2 1907 (WX1 and WX2) imperf-between strips in a recent Rumsey sale. I bid on both, but just got one. It was a few $100. So, for a fairly ignored sector of philately, US Christmas Seals can be a challenge and have significant value.

About 10 years ago, I was asking on some forum about the 1913 varieties, or perhaps it was a one-to-one e-mail chain with a knowledgeable collector, and I learned that there were many varieties in 1913. Yes, there are the main varieties as listed in Scott, but each of the 3 main varieties have sub-varieties. Point being - if you have one of the little know Type I or II varieties, it may well be mistaken as a Type III since it doesn't match up exactly with either of the other 2. I guess my advice to those looking for something like this is to be careful. Make sure it IS really the correct type.

My search goes on.

"Nonsense. Qualify your customers before extending credit, require a credit card charge authorization, or get a bank line of credit."

The CKStamps seal material for the 1913 issue were:

404244348654
404244309728
364217869607

Enter numbers in search, no return will show, then click "sold" or "completed" box down some what on the left side. If you then go in CKStamps sold history back to when these sold you will see the other seals they listed. I would have bid to win theirs was a nicer copy than my quite nice copy BUT WESTPEX was just days away.