Scott #18 Major Re-Entry, F Or VF?

I paid a visit to re-entries.com this morning to check out a few of my older stamps. As luck would have it, I found that my $18 "Twelve & One Half Cents Green" is a great example of the major re-entry at plate Position #94. This was a nice surprise for a stamp that I purchased on ebay about a year ago for $15! I am unsure whether to classify this stamp as Fine or Very Fine. Vertical centering is a little off but the Unitrade catalogue seems to be more lenient in their classification of the first perforated stamps. I would welcome any opinions on how this should be classified.

Scottamer......To the forum...Sure looks like a real re-entry...Contact Ralph at re-entries.com and send a scan to him..he will tell you definitely..Great find.

I would say your stamp is classified as FINE.

Hi Wert,

I have no doubt that this is the major e-entry for this stamp. It has all the characteristics as shown on Ralph's site. My stamp is a little more heavily inked than the example shown there but it is definitely the re-entry. My question was regarding the F or VF condition and I appreciate your opinion.

Your identification is spot on. Nice looking copy and great price. I would classify fine to very fine centering. The images were so close together on the printed sheet that one seldom finds these with margins all around.

I agree with Watermark. This is re-entry position 94 and I would classify as F-VF. 3 nice margins, and cancel does not obscure the face, nor the details of the re-entries. Great find

The design is touching the perfs, so I would in my opinion call it... FINE.

I would say that the condition of your stamp is F-VF, closer to VF. This particular issue is very hard to find perfectly centered.

Chino

Bujutsu

I have found an imperf #18 I believe. The design is clear on all edges and as noted here a perfectly centered copy is not to be had.When laid under it's perfed counter part perfs all reach into the imperf,in other words a very large stamp.

Sounds interesting firstfrog2013. How about showing us a scan?

I'll play with this site soon.I'm a bit tech challenged and haven't tried pictures here.As most stamp collectors I grew up before the day of 'puters, a calculator was cutting edge.

firstfrog2013...Come on buddy...You can do it..There are a lots of old guys here that feel comfortable with posting pictures now..

I'd rate the originally posted stamp as fine, given the fact that the perfs cut through the outer frame line. The condition is what it is. The rarity of the condition is a separate thing. Grading shouldn't be done on a curve. Just because there is no copy of a stamp that is superb (such as the 2c laid paper LQ), it doesn't make the best of the three stamps 'superb.' The best stamp may be in 'fine' condition, but it may also get a premium as it is the one in the 'best' condition. They are two different things.

frog:
They are out there to be found:

perf 12 x 11.75 (yellow green - Unitrade 18)



perf 11.75 x 11.75 (blue green - Unitrade 18a)


re-entry position 94:

Hi chipg and thanks for your comments, opinion and lovely image examples. I agree with you mostly. Grading should not be completely relative to the issue. Just because an issue is badly centered does not mean that an off centre stamp can suddenly be XF. Obviously, the reason we have standard classifications across issues is so that premium pricing can be attached to F, VF, etc. when it is warranted.

On the other hand, centering is not the only defining factor for grading. The stamp I show at the beginning of this post would surely not even be treated as fine for any reasonably modern Canadian stamp. However for this badly centered early issue, I believe some leniency towards centering can be allowed given the other characteristics of the stamp. The good colour, great perfs and nice light postmark on my copy would, I believe, make this stamp an easy Fine grade and perhaps F-VF at a push.

Of course it would be nice to assign an absolute grading system that applies for all issues even if it means no XF or VF examples exist. To me this is how grading should be done but not how it is done in the real world in my experience.

Grading is problematic at best and varies considerable across issues and time periods. If you look in the Unitrade catalogue, you will see that a typical Admiral stamp pricing difference between F and VF is actually bigger percentagewise than it is for the First Cents issue we are discussing here. This is of course quite absurd if you use absolute grading across issues. The Admiral issue is infinitely better centred that the First Cents issue so VF grading should demand a much bigger premium for the older issue. Yet Unitrade seems to have the opposite trend. To me, this suggests that the grading is relative and depends at least to some degree on what is available for the issue. A quick glance at ebay listings reveals a clear subjectively for grading the centering on older Victorian issues. While all sellers have their own standards for grading, you can see a much greater leniency for what is considered VF centering on an old Victoria stamp.

The #18a stamp you have shown has without a doubt the best margins and centering I have ever seen on this stamp! Quite honestly, I do not know how you have such large margins on all sides without showing any of the surrounding stamps in the perforation tips. This stamp is a true gem under any subjective or objective grading system. Do you own these lovely examples?

I tried to post on the 19 re-entry topic and got a message that I could not access. Can anyone explain?

Gilles le timbre, I think wert removed his post based on some of the replies he received including my own. This is too bad since his enquiry about the re-entry complete with good images is just the type of content I like to see. On the other hand, discussing colours via scanned images and onscreen pictures is always problematical.

For this thread, I would welcome other opinions on subjective versus objective grading across issues of Canadian stamps as mentioned by chipg and me.

suspect glitch just had blue screen myself and firewall shut down.