Where To Expertly Repair Stamp?

You might want to read this description of a cover with big tear, 1 stamp (of three) torn in half, and another replaced. It has since been further repaired and now looks much better.
http://www.siegelauctions.com/2009/973/973A.pdf

Guess folks who are against a cert database will have some heartburn with APS now. They are starting to publish their APEX cert database here http://stamps.org/Certificate-Archive

They don't have everything listed yet, it is a work in progress.

They list the following,
Certificate Number:
Catalog Name:
Catalog Number:
Condition:
Opinion Date:
Final Opinion:

They have done this without any input from those who have paid for this service. APS is sensitive to legal actions so they must feel pretty good that they are not going to get into any trouble by publishing this info. I am now thinking that the push back seen in this thread regarding 'privacy' is a non-issue for publishing such a database. Thoughts?

Don

Don, what privacy issues do you think are involved? The few items I looked at (by Scott# search) have no personal info at all. This is only a data base of certificates issued by the APS (the "official" philatelic organization) and I don't recall any opposition to this type of info being on the net (I thought it was already was?).

However, in my opinion, this is an entirely different animal than publishing records of restoration work carried out, which is a private matter between client/restorer (private individuals).

I thought some folks in this thread had heartburn with the idea that they paid for a service and then some of that service info was being made public 'after the fact'. When I recommended a online database I intentionally mentioned that names and other personal info would not be used. From my chair, I see little difference between a cert service and a restoration service in terms of privacy. I think some folks see this as 'who I do business with, and the type of business I do, is private'. I mean these folks paid for a service under the understanding that nothing was being published, but now it is being published. Granted no name are being used nor is the actual cert illustrated, but the core info is there.

Some folks in this thread also mentioned that they did not feel a database would not be beneficial. If I recall correctly they felt it too troublesome to use this kind of resource to lookup the info. Obviously APS feels it is a worthwhile resource since they are investing in it. I am encouraged to see APS take this position and hope it will become another tool in everyone's bag of tricks to improve their buying decisions. A feature that allowed searches on failed certs would be a good addition.
Don

It is a non issue. It was first raised by Hans when he wrote:

- One of the reasons we didn't put up an on-line data base is that we we didn't feel comfortable publishing images of customers' possessions without their approval for privacy reasons, we certainly wouldn't have done so without their approval

The simple solution is, get permission or approval in advance. Make it part of your terms of service or the initial customer order. As long as it is anonymous, what is the problem? Record number, Scott number, date, before image, after image, description of restoration; that's all you need, there is no need for customer data.

The "privacy" argument is a rationalization meant to justify the business. Of course, every business person wants to remove every barrier that would prevent a customer from using the service; this is one. If even one customer would balk at even an anonymized database, the service provider is going to try to avoid using it, in order to maximize revenue.

Relevant article on restoration by Hahn of the Philatelic Classics Society

http://www.nystamp.org/calvet-m-hah...reservation/

Perhaps this Revenue stamp- which is rare is what you speak of.

4. Red Revenue Stamp ºìÓ¡»¨Æ±



The stamp was issued in 1896 by the Qing dynasty. This rare Chinese stamp, with a distinctive red background, is in value of ¡°3 cents.¡± The Imperial Marine Customs Post entrusted Japanese and British companies to print new stamps but these stamps are not delivered, so the 3 cent revenue stamp was used as a postage stamp after being stamped with the small words of different values.