This Is What Is Wrong With Modern Philately

Now I'm not taking aim at the seller of this item, he is a trader and is job is to earn a living separating his buyers from their money.

The stamp is the 6d P11 from 1936 (SG D110, Sc J62). The stamp has always been scarce as it was only on issue for a very short time (18 months, I think).





So, why am I critical? From the front it is a poorly centred stamp (misplaced from the perfs on both axises [axes??]. Its only redeeming feature is that the stamp has not been hinged, but the price sought is a significant premium over what these normaly sell for.

In modern philately, the back is more important than the front (except in my house).

The only thing I would add is that the seller only gets a pass from me if he or she does not list a supposed catalogue value. It is a pet peeve of mine when a seller lists "CV £400" without saying anything more, and the stamp very clearly does not meet the catalogue's standard for that CV.

(Yes, I know; you can see the centering in the image and make your own decision, knowing what the catalogue editor would have been expecting. Still a pet peeve.)

Personally, I seek out hinged examples of better stamps. They sell at 50% or less (sometimes a lot less) than the NH stamp. When I will never - and I mean never - look at the back of that stamp again after mounting it, why would I pay 2-5 times as much for NH? Yes, I realize the resale value will be much less and hinged stamps are unlikely to appreciate as much in value as NH material. But the enjoyment I get from having a much more complete collection outweighs any downside.

By the same token, if someone else values a pristine back of the stamp, that's their choice and I'm certainly not one to begrudge the way someone wants to collect. If they were the same price, I'd pick NH over hinged every time as the *idea* of having a pristine, post office fresh stamp does appeal to me. But when the rubber meets the road, I have to make a decision balancing my wallet and my desire to fill spaces in my album. I will pay a little extra for well-centered and "nice-looking" stamps, but the back of the stamp is one area where I'll readily make sacrifices to save a little money.

I want sound stamps, but I am unconcerned about gum condition. I don't collect gum. Assuming I can get a good discount, a hinge remnant or even lack of gum is OK.

People who seek never hinged stamps from the 20s or 30s are asking to be ripped off by regummers.

As for the stamp pictured, I would not buy it because of the poor centering. At a minimum, I want the perfs clear of the design.

*** Edited by Staff - Please Review the rules that you agreed to when you registered. ***

Everyone makes great sense re: valuations for MNH premiums. Since we all have to weigh our ability to invest in our collection with our primary goals for our collections, your points are spot on. I agree 100% with TheArtfulHInger. I got seriously focused on building my older US collection in 2011. And my excitement and pure enjoyment continues to grow as I manage to complete certain groupings. I would much rather accumulate all denominations than have far fewer NH or mint issues. Being attuned to the visual graphics design world, I would rather have a bright colored well centered specimen with a light cancel. But since my goal is to build as complete a US collection through 1930 as I can afford (without giving my wife reason to hire an attorney) I will only capture mint or NH items when they are included in a larger collection of pages, or stock.

Have you seen all of the "MINT NEVER HINGED" CTO stamps on ebay with premium pricing?
Egads !! Trying to sell "Canceled To Order" stamps as "Mint Never Hinged" ???

Hi, I only disagree with "the back is more important than the front" comment. It is true that a large premium is put on NH stamps, but think about it, if it weren't for the front, it would just be a piece of gummed paper, so the front is definitely the most important part of the stamp! As far as backs are concerned though, I much prefer a nice sound stamp including the back, and will almost always cull or pass on buying a stamp with an "ugly" back. I also agree however, that even though it may be NH, if the front is SO off center, as the one pictured, I would rather have a nicely centered USED stamp that is SOUND in MY album! I collect nice used stamps for the most part anyway as they have SO much more to offer in my opinion (its really not so much about value) and that is another subject worth discussing! NH stamps, especially pre 1925 stamps, have such a high premium because they are truly "post office fresh" from the collector of mint stamp's point of view and are much more scarce than hinged copies. Oh by the way, if you will notice the values of USED stamps in higher grades (in Scott's US Specialized), they are almost always valued higher than a HINGED stamp in the same grade. That is because a used stamp actually went through the mails, got soaked from it's envelope or wrapper, was probably put in an album or stock book and had many more opportunities to get damaged! So my advice is to buy high grade USED stamps with excellent cancels if you want to get some decent return on your "investment". So I am interested to know what everyone's opinions are on my comments, please reply if you don't mind!

I'll clarify further. It's not that I don't care at all about the back of the stamp, it's just far less important than the front. A hinge mark is OK with me, and even a small hinge remnant is OK as long as it's not a big one, or one that causes the stamp to warp or something along those lines. I want the stamp to be sound and I would take a pass on most stamps if the back is really beat up or had multiple hinge remnants, etc. I'll only accept stamps with a truly "ugly" back if they're a very high-value item that I wouldn't otherwise be able to afford.

For most of my collection, this discussion is somewhat moot as I actually prefer used stamps in most cases. However, Germany is my main collecting area and there are hundreds, if not thousands of stamps in the German area where used is more expensive than mint - often much more expensive. In those cases I usually collect mint stamps.

I totally agree with that. One other thing, I notice many nice unused stamps sell for less because they have multiple hinges. Sometimes selling for less than a MNG stamp. It seems to be a lost "art" of removing hinges. I just simply use a q-tip and lightly moisten the hinge until it easily peels off. So one can get some good buys with otherwise sound stamps when they have multiple hinges or even a single hinge remnant.