Question About Expertizing Certificates

Tommy wrote on 11/30: "I generally only send an item if I have concern when I see it.........." For some countries, the concern is present before you see the item(s). I obtained over 100 certs from the ISPP (Intl. Society for Portuguese Philately) some 11-13 years ago when I got real aggressive about building my Portuguese colonies collection. I have a bunch of early Azores and Madeira; also Portuguese India native issues & early surcharged issues. The overprints on the first two countries' early issues were heavily forged; the Scott catalog even cautions not to obtain high value Madeira overprint issues without having certs of authenticity.

Re the India, I got certs for all the high value native issues and also the surcharged crowns. I refrained from sending several of the "higher valued" surcharged crowns for certs because I was able to identify the underlying stamps as Fournier forgeries (who cares about the surcharge if the base stamp isn't legit). I echo Richard Frajola's comment about learning enough to be able to judge the validity of an expert opinion, and even to make your own decisions.

As a disclosure, much of the discussion on this site re authenticity, and on the other SCF, pertains to classic US stamps. While I have a reasonable US collection, I have chosen not to specialize in classic US. So, my knowledge base of those items is minimal.

I would add that a cert should be obtained anytime significant value is in an overprint or a cancellation. I'm thinking specifically of the German area, which has untold number of stamps where the mint and/or un-overprinted variety is inexpensive but used and/or overprinted varieties are valuable. I'm not as familiar with other collecting areas, but I know similar situations exist elsewhere and the same caveat would apply. Obviously I'm not talking about something where a used example is worth $2 compared to $1 for mint, just when the spread is large enough to warrant the expense of certing.

Like many collectors, I have been busy gathering my stamps without having any direct experience with expertizing services.

Thanks to all of you who have shared your insights on this subject.
After 5 years building my US Classics collection, I am liquidating hundreds of stamps many of which have CVs > $500. Your discussion is a solid primer on the subject for those of us with little experience in this area.

Accompanying certificates are neither the sellers nor the buyers 'responsibility'. If you want to buy an expensive stamp without a certificate, feel free to do so. I would never do it myself though :-)

Stamps with certificates are more expensive, for good reason. Its almost like insurance in regard to the ability to get your money back if you chose to sell sometime in the future.

Are you sure that bargain is, in fact, a bargain? Forgeries can somewhat easily be recognized using books and various online resources. The most dangerous thing in my opinion is the expert repair jobs out there. Very hard to see using normal equipment.

On the question on certificate issuing authorities: Learn the "rules of the trade" for the areas you collect. Most collecting areas has a preferred certificate issuing authority. As others have mentioned, a certificate is only an opinion. Do not just consider anyone's opinion as fact.

I recently bought a stamp, C23c, that came with a 1990 PF cert. I recall the topic being bounced around that any cert older than 5 years should be updated. I'm confident the stamp and cert I received are legitimate, so if I plan to keep it for my collection, is the expense of a new cert really necessary?

rturn22 - Certs are opinions, and opinions can change. I have an APS 2008 cert on a Washington/Franklin coil as being genuine on laid paper. This was a hot controversy at the time. The thought now is the " laid " paper was actually impressions from sealing the web paper rolls before they were used. That cert is the only stamp of that Scott # being on laid paper in the APEX data base. Several years ago I asked Ken Martin if I should resubmit the stamp. He said yes, but also stated 2008 was a long time ago, and he had no idea how their present W/F examiners would consider it. Funny, 2008 does not seem that long ago, but I am 72. It all runs together now, lol.