Whats The Story With Pairs Etc

So is there a general rule about pairs ,4's etc In terms of value?
Are stamps that are still attached to each other better than say a single.Of course it depends on the stamp but just in general I mean.
Is 5 better than 4 together like that.3 better than 2?
Thanks

Coil stamps are often stored in pairs. A coil pair can be a line pair, having a line of color in the perforated area between the stamps making the pair more desirable. As for stamps in a pane or sheet, these are often collected as blocks of 4.

Speaking very generally, and considering this question is in the modern ww forum, I'd say that for the more-common stamps, anything more than one is often priced as a straight multiple. A block of six for a 40-cent stamp is probably $2.40, from a catalogue point of view. (It shouldn't necessarily hold true for the twenty-centers, but who is going to argue?)

There might be fewer buyers for larger blocks, because more buyers are only interested in having one stamp. I believe King George V started the popularity of collecting blocks of four. They're nice to look at.

Anyway, there are so many exceptions, that this couldn't even be called a rule.

Of course, when you have more than one design in the sheet, like these current issue Christmas Island/Australian 60c stamps:



you may want to keep the designs together as pairs, or whatever.

I regularly send out oversized letters, requiring $1.20 in postage, and I either use a pair with both designs, or a pair with the single design, and with the gutter showing the 'traffic lights' between.

Does it make any difference if the stamps are older? like before 1970?

Gord, it probably depends how much earlier, before 1970. Do you have any particular item in mind that you could show us?

Hi Tony I have a full sheet of scott#417 and some partial sheets of scotts#422 ,423 etc. Are they worth more in partial sheets or does it really matter? ex: is ,say 5 or 7 stamps together better than say a block of four ?

Gord, as my avatar might suggest , I know nothing at all about US stamps. I'll leave it to the US specialists to comment on your specific examples.

However, as a general rule, the older the stamp, the more difficult it is to find in multiples. You might blench at the sight of this sheet of the 1868 Jammu & Kashmir ½ Anna and 1 Anna



As singles, the four stamps are catalogued at (a healthy) £54/$US90 in Stanley Gibbons. I had to pay around £1000 for the sheet. Why? Because intact sheets of four (three of the ½ Anna and one 1 Anna) are in the hens' teeth class.

On the other hand, I'd be over the moon to get half catalogue value (of £224/$US375) for this block of 64 of the Hyderabad 1 Anna Service stamp of 1917:



Very old stamps in multiples tend to be hard to find; not so old, not so hard to find, and anything post-World War II, not likely to fetch any premium for multiples. (Of course, there are exceptions ...)

Hi gord,

In general I prefer imperforate stamps as pairs or larger blocks, when I can find them. At least it proves they are imperforate and not a perforate stamp whose perfs are cut off. Also if two stamps are separated by a gutter I will entertain the possibility of purchasing the pair. It goes without saying se-tenant pairs, or blocks, should not be broken apart.

In my collecting area there are some stamps that are imperforate between, vertically or horizontally. Those I keep together.

Jerry B

another note on pairs when collecting early South Africa and South West Africa - The stamps were printed bi-lingually(english and afrikaans) in the sheet and are collected in pairs, one of each language - the singles are worth a lot less. What I do find odd is that horizontal pairs are worth more than vertical pairs ?

This is just a guess, but it is probably because the vertical pair would consist of two stamps of same language whereas the horizontal pair depicted both languages.

Tomiseksj the vertical pairs also have two different languages - Heres a block of six showing how the two languages are laid out.



Drew

Then could it be that vertical pairs are more common due to a greater tendency to remove stamps from a sheet by vertical, rather than horizontal column?

How great is the price differential for this issue?

Late reply - as I was going through my catalogue last night I've read it both in my SACC and SG. Example Silver Jubilee 1935 it is quoted at being 60% cheaper for vertical pairs. And then for some South Africa officials - 30%-40% cheaper. Quite steep for the same stamps. It would make sense to collect the stamps vertically as they have less chance of separating.

I think it's a matter of esthetics.
I also prefer horizontal pairs over vertical, it just looks better, at least to me anyway.

I've bought many an early US stamp (1900+-) directly from a dealer's stock book. I've never had one that wouldn't separate a pair of run-of-the-mill issues to make the sale of one. There are always exceptions of course.