Recommendation For Expertization

I have a handful of Newfoundland items that I would like to have certificates for, to establish authenticity or color variant etc.

Is there a previously link on the top 3 or so firms that the SCF recommends? Or if not, please chime in with any perspectives on names and details like costs, process, or any first hand experiences.
Focus is on Newfoundland/Canadian expertise.

My leaning is towards Vincent Graves Greene.

Thank you in advance

Hi Tommy. I've not used the Greene Foundation before, altho have seen a lot of stamps at auction with Greene certs. You might check out the web sites of the Royal Philatelic Society of Canada (www.rpsc.org) or the British North America Philatelic Society (www.bnaps.org) to see what they recommend. I was a member of the RPSC for quite a few years in the 1980s and early '90s. I vaguely recall that they offered a certification program, but check for current.

The APS has a good expertizing program, as does the Philatelic Foundation. I generally use the APS now; or a speciality society for Portuguese stuff or Mexico. I used the P.F. years ago to expertize a now-sold copy of Newfoundland C-18. I decline to use expertizing services that participate in the "grading craze" (I think the P.F. "grades" only upon request).

Hope this helps. Steve

The V.G. Greene committee are the experts on BNA. ...and they are reasonably priced. They should be your first choice.
C.

Hi Tommy

The Greene Foundation is the internationally accepted authority for the expertizing of BNA stamps which is exactly what you need.

If you go to the website at www.greenefoundation.ca you can download the required submission form (1 form is needed per item). The price is indicated on the bottom of the submission form, either $30 or $40 per item plus an additional $10 to cover return s&h if more than two items are involved.

We strongly recommend that you use Registered Mail for your submissions. It is held at the Post Office for us to pick up. Because you are mailing from the USA, please note and use the wording for the Customs Declaration.

If you submit your stamps now, there is a very good chance that they will be examined at the April meeting of the committee (yes, we are caught up to date for the moment).

We look forward to seeing your Newfoundland material.

GJP

Thanks gportch.

I'd love to send my whole collection just for kick, but have about 5 or 8 that I've been itching to invest in the expense like this.
Your postings have swayed and impressed me considerably, so thanks.

Could I pay extra to have you handle it? kidding of course!

I'm waiting for one particular pence cover to arrive, then I will ship them off. As an aside, I believe you referred me to a most excellent book which my wife bought for me as a Christmas present from Greene : the Newfoundland Pence book. Most excellent! In it, I found a reference to the pence cover that I will be sending, and a most cryptic reference about "bad stamp but legitimate" (or something to that effect). I'll copy the page too just to be over indexed (though of course, I'm sure you all know precisely the the book and others). I'm most curious to see what unfolds on this one, both because of the history but also because I could return it within a short window if it is not authentic.

Thank you again

Hi again tommy. Thanks for the kind words. I am delighted that you are pleased with your book. The Greene Foundation doesn't publish many books, but those we do are well researched and are expensive to produce.

There is no need to pay a bonus for me to handle your material. I am one of the really lucky guys who gets the opportunity to handle everything that comes in (and, therefore, get to examine some pretty exotic stuff!). I also get the opportunity to conduct the forensic analysis on contentious issues using the VSC6000!

For your general information (and for the Forum at large) there are no submissions that are examined or certified by one person only. Submissions to the Greene Foundation are all seen by a number of members of the committee who all agree on the final opinion ("majority rules" does not work here - we all agree that the item is good or we all agree that it is bad). This, I believe, is the great strength of examination by committee. Differing opinions create opportunities for research and validation of opinions in either direction and, additionally, provide a learning opportunity for all committee members.

I am looking forward to seeing your Newfoundland Pence Covers - should be a treat.

GJP

GJP, I will confirm that the VG Greene Foundation fully researches material sent to them. One only has to look at the expertizing report on the 2 cent Large Queen on Laid Paper on their web page to see how thorough they can be.

I also know they will back up their work. I ounce sent a 3d Beaver re-entry to them for expertizing and it came back with a good certificate. Years later I found out it was misidentified and requested a new opinion. They had me return the stamp and certificate and they re-examined the stamp properly identified it and issued a new certificate at no charge. They will and do back up there opinions and if necessary correct them.

gportch,
6 items are on the way (only 1 pence cover, 4 other covers and 1 stamp). I went overboard and including a few items probably not needing a cerf--but just to scratch the itch. don't tell my wife.

can't wait to hear back...a couple of items came with return pledge if they are not genuine (including one from a fellow BNAPS member)--so time is sort of of the essence.

have fun too.

Hi Tommy

I will keep an eye out for your submissions. I suspect that they will arrive early next week. The next meeting of the Expert Committee is Wednesday but we already have a full slate and will not address your items until April. In the meantime they will be logged in, assigned a tracing number and then photographed.

We do promise to say nothing to your wife!

Best wishes

GJP

I wanted to come back to this thread and report that I was delighted to get back my submissions from VGGF.

All were genuine and the information was invaluable. It was a somewhat material investment which gave me some pause when I thought of what stamps I could buy--but on balance, I am pleased to have the certificates, the knowledge etc.

I'll try and scan the items and certificates if that is of interest to more than one person. (Different thread).

One thing is that they kept one item for further investigation, which I guess is a good thing (it was an Alcock Brown first flight cover).

This is not a paid endorsement for them and I have no affiliation whatsoever.

It'll be very interesting to hear what comes back on the cover!
If I may, what is it about the service that made it worth it from the perspective of being on this side of the inspection?

Hi Tommy

Your Alcock/Brown cover has been held back in order to allow us to do further research. While the cover is fascinating, it seems to have created (for us) more questions than answers.

This is one of those cases where the cost of the expertizing process will we well in excess of the cost borne by the submitter. The additional process includes sending scans of the cover to several international authorities in order for their opinions to be considered in our final decision. We hope to have a final answer within the next week or so and in time for a decision to be made at the May meeting.

GJP

I had a poor experience with a PF certificate from a purchase a coupe years ago. here is the text I sent
"This stamp is numbered UN # MR2. I recently purchased from you a MR#2 according to the PF certificate, but it was instead MR3. This raises question about the value/accuracy of the Philatelic Foundation that issued the certificate no xxxxx, on xx/xx/2007. I am satisfied with the transaction, except the cert. is of little value....and I thought I'd let you know. I have not left feedback for this transaction."
In the end, the real stamp (MR3) is more valuable that the MR2 that I thought I had purchased, but I remain troubled by the usefulness of the PF certificate...
My preferred expertization services will now be the V G Greene from now on

Gportch--thanks. I sent you a side note.

Guykickinit: my feeling was that since my items were of high value, the service provided allows me to sleep well knowing experts said it was genuine. secondarily, to have the historical context confirmed. thirdly, to have the item paired with the cert for all time both assures its investment return if sold by my heirs and enchances its appeal. Fourth for insurance purposes.

my personal viewpoint is that if you have something less than say $400-$500 then not worth it. Or even if more than that, if the item is clearly what it appears or from a valid seller, then not worth it. But in those cases, where the value is high and it is not clearly a catalog item--then do it.