US First Issue Revenues - Value Added For Handstamp Cancels

Of course value added - value taken away. Several of you probably saw this on ebay recently, and even though the back has been severely defaced, I decided to bid on it. Maybe I should put this in the "marker monkeys" thread!

Not all photographers cancels on CDVs were precanceled:

I was an underbidder. I had contacted the seller to confirm whether the writing was on the CDV itself or on a plastic sleeve containing the CDV. Sadly, the former. Had there not been the vandalism, it would have been a several hundred dollar item.

Regardless, even with the condition issues, it is still a very rare stencil, which is why I bid at all.

I already have an example on CDV (the one from Bruce Baryla's exhibit), but when it comes to the rarer cancels, I don't mind having duplicates.

Keep it until you find a better one... if one comes along.

I recently bought this stamp on ebay for $26 ("Buy It Now"), which is almost 60x catalog. The cancel is purported to be that of the California, Oregon & Mexico Steamship. Co. It was one of those situations where I hesitated to pull the trigger for for several days. Ultimately, I decided that this could be one of those purchases I might someday regret not making, whereas even if it was fake or worth only a fraction of the price, it was not like I was risking a huge amount. The red flags were the seller, who I usually avoid because his prices are, as some would say, "over the moon," inexperience and uncertainty regarding the legitimacy of the cancel, which I had never seen or heard of before, and, frankly, the fact that it hadn't been snapped up by someone else. So what are your opinions? Was I taken to the cleaners? Did I get a decent deal?

I think you did fine. Maritime cancels are always in demand. Had I seen it, I probably would have purchased it (been away from my normal ebay buying habits as of late).

It's Miller/Shellabear C-1, listed in the 1985 TAR listing of Civil War ship cancels:

http://www.revenue-collector.com/St...pCancels.pdf

Thanks, Dan. Now I'll enjoy the stamp more, with confidence that I wasn't a chump. You specifically were the main one I was thinking of who probably would have purchased the stamp if it was worthwhile. Nice (for me) to correctly guess that something might occasionally slip by you. By the way, also thanks for the link to the ship cancels list. I had seen that on your site several years ago when I was trying to identify what I thought might be a ship cancel but had completely forgotten about it.