What Do You Think About Bill Weiss Certificates?

Bill was a good guy and may he rest in peace, I agree that he left us far too soon.

I will say that on rare 1861 shades I can't say that I agree with him on them, HOWEVER! Bill would be the first to say (And he said so on this very forum) that if you have a serious rarity to get a PF or PSE certificate for the item.

I have seen Scott 78c certs from him that the PF would never certify as a blackish violet. That being said, if you have a seriously rare stamp that cats $20,000 that is easily misidentified why would you NOT send it to the PF?

Certificates from the BPP (German Stamps) are always attested by a specific "prufer" as well.

I would accept a Sismondo cert. without worry ,I have no reservations on his reviews and opinion . I met him four or five times at various shows and send him material, knows his stuff . The only other living expert would be Stanley Richard of Kelleher Auctions .

Hi all

Every once in a while, I buy a collection, have in the collection a Weiss Certificate, I just throw these away. I simply do not like certificate or expert opinions, nothing against them, guess they have value for the new collector. But I want to learn to be my own expert. I have never sold a stamp, so having a certificate is useless to me.

I don't have an album, instead use stock books, a certificate just get in the way.

This is my belief for the last 40 years or so.

Become you own expert, read, examine with a critical eye, trust yourself.

Again, sorry Bill is dead, way too soon.

Stampmaster

I am sad that he passed. As far as his certs. I've had a lot that I've purchased in the past end up being completely off - incorrect. 6 months before he retired, I tried for the 1st time to use his services. The response below was very discouraging, crude & off-putting. In return I gave him a hard time, and I regret it because he was likely very sick. Because of the responding communications received when I asked further about why this was so abrupt, I decided not to use his services. I didn't care at all about the fees not being refunded, it was the manner in which it was handled and when I asked more specifically, the replies were disturbing. I did have cards with detailed notes about what I needed confirmed or negated. I wonder if others experienced this from him towards his retirement. Was this how he was, or was it something more personal? Anyway, it's something I feel bad about.

I used Bill's services quite a bit at one time and found him to be fair, thorough and patient. I sent a large group in once and several were not what I thought they were and he did not charge me. I also liked his unrequested ID of cancels.

"......I buy a collection, have in the collection a Weiss certificate. I throw these away. I simply do not like certificate or expert opinions......"

Great for a current owner. But what about the next owner? Even if one does not want the certs, it would seem advisable to retain for when the collection is sold or given away. Myself, I do not care for either PSE or PSAG certs as these are the guys who started the "grading craze" some years ago. And I've seen some PSE certs of questionable value. But if I was to obtain a collection containing certs from either entity, I would not throw them away.

Climber Steve brings up an important point. Much of the conversation in the hobby has moved away from stamp shows and dealers with face to face discussion, to broadly based forums on the web like this one. The individual expertizer might seem an anachronism in that environment. Altho PF and APS have long used committees, I bet individual shops like Bill's were much more prevalent in the past than they may be now. Now that grading is the rage, committee's are all the more important.

Having said that, I still miss Bill at APS Summer Seminar. He taught classes designed to build knowledge in individual collectors, and he pushed ebay hard on getting rid of the phony stuff you see there so often. He was an individual really working for the best of the hobby. That selfless attitude is less visible in the trends in the hobby that Climber Steve refers to.

I don't think I would throw away a cert simply because the fellow is gone. His expertise is still valid, until more quantitative tools become available. If the technology improves in an area, then resubmit.

Good discussion.