How Do You Grade No Gum Mint Vs Mnh, Mh Etc?

If I may ask 'Faken' would you have paid $26 for it or was this an investment stamp.
Tom

Hi Tom,

Fair question, and my answer would be no, but only because there seemed to be some perf damage on the bottom (even though it was listed as no faults), otherwise it was a beautiful stamp that would have been a welcomed addition to my collection. I don't really purchase "investment" stamps, I tend to only look for a single high quality, attractive specimen of each stamp for my collection but I'm patient and look for great deals. In all honesty, since restarting this hobby, I have yet to buy anything with the intention of trying to sell it for an ROI. Not oging ot say I wouldn't do this later down the road as a way to fund additional purchases, but I barely have enough time to build my meagre collection, let alone try and make a small business out of it :)

*EDIT - I re-read what I wrote and now I'm wondering if you meant "investment stamp" as in a super high quality stamp to keep long term, or a stamp I would try to purchase at a low price and resell immediately for a profit. If you meant a long term high quality stamp, I will always try for VFMNH if it's in my budget. Once a stamp's VFMNH selling price is over $500, my wallet starts puckering up ;) And even at that price range, I would only splurge like that once every few months.

Here's the stamp in question:



I'll just sit back and wait, another striking #38 at a good price is bound to come up again :) An MH-VF wouldn't be unrealistic, a VFMNH would, on the other hand, be too expensive - I see CV on that is at $3772.05 so purchase price is probably around $850 or higher.

Take care,
Dan

Great topic, and a question I have asked myself. Personally, I do not like "no gum" stamps for the same reason as many have stated.

It is neither mint nor used. The only exception (for me) being the classic Canadian stamps (I only collect Canada) which are almost impossible to find with original gum. Many were indeed "stuck" into albums in the early days of stamp collecting (before good hinges).

Many are also re-gummed, which is even worse in my opinion than "no gum" (as this is a deliberate alteration - done who knows when).

If I sell a stamp with no gum (and I have), I do call it mint/no gum as that seems to be the accepted vernacular. However, I typically sell something like that at auction and let the buyer decide its value. Sellers that list these with price points reflecting true mint stamps are being misleading IMHO.

I sometimes think that all a stamp with no gum needs is someone to draw a pencil line across making it into a "used" stamp. This would clear up its status, but of course then it becomes an altered stamp.

I just prefer to steer clear. If I get some as duplicates in a lot, I sell them, but describe them clearly.

I actually see from time to time a couple of sellers on ebay posting titles like:

Used Canada 158 Bluenose VF WOW! Catalog Value $750 if MNH!

Faken, that's funny.
It would be like me selling my used car and saying, "Wow, used vehicle, $30,000 if New!"