2 Cents Stamp - Need Help Learning About Its Value

hello, I am new to stamp colecting and would love your help.

I have in my hands a pair of red stamps attached to an American Philatelic Expertizing Service report that says the following:

Member of the American Philatelic Expertizing Service have examined the item submitted and it is their opinion that it is:

United States, Scott No. 488, light Type III print, unused, pair, full original gum, genuine in all respects.

The report is from 1998 and signed by authroized experts from the society.

Can you tell me more about these stamps? What does the report mean? how can I figure out what the monetary value of this stamp is?

many many thanks!

$4 MNH for a single.

Considering the value of the stamp, the pair may have been submitted with a different catalog number. I can't say for sure, but I could likely a guess that the original submission was for the Scott 449, a rotary press perf 10 horizontal which was valued at
around $7,000 never hinged in 1998.

A few pictures of the 449, given that the APEX mentioned "light print", it's very possible the submitter thought it was a Type I

http://www.usphila.com/us/stamp/pri...t-449-page-1

why do you think the stamp may have been submitted with a different catalog number? and what do you mean by "considering the value of the stamp"?

many thanks.

Same thing I was thinking - why submit a cheap stamp? It costs more to certify the stamp than it sells for

Peter

I agree with craigk in his hypothesis that most probably someone was hoping they had a scarce 449 but could not differentiate the types (or determine the watermark status either it seems) so sent it in to APEX with a hope and a prayer and sure enough, as always seems to happen with these wishful thinking cases, it was the common 488, not the scarce 449.

Depending on whether the submitter was or was not a member of the American Philatelic Society the cost of obtaining a certificate would have set one back, at a minimum, anywhere from $20 to $40, plus another $5/10 for postage. So, question is, why spend $30 to expertize a pair of stamps worth $8?

In this instance, where that "light" inking of the stamp and, perhaps, a frame measure that was really, really close led the person to believe his pair was a 449 rotary press Type I, a stamp worth $7,000. So, on his APEX application he wrote 'US 449' on the line: "Enclosed for Examination is the Item BELIEVED to be______".

Upon examination, the APEX identified the stamp as a genuine US 488 and returned a certificate stating that opinion to the submitter.


Case in point: The most recent 449 submission to the PF:

"AND WE ARE OF THE OPINION THAT

IT IS NOT SCOTT 449, RATHER, IT IS A NEVER HINGED SCOTT 487, ROTARY PRESS TYPE II, UNWATERMARKED, AND WITH A SMALL INTERNAL VERTICAL CREASE AT CENTER. * * * * * * * * * * *

The 487 cats at $65 for a NH pair

I see. So, if my son would like to sell these stamps, the value is around $8/pair? also, aside from ebay, where is the best place to sell stamps? he has quite a few and we are very new to the stamp journey.

Super, the stamps you are talking about catalog for $4.00 each. That also means that they will hopefully bring 50% of that.
You can go to ebay and check how much they actually sold for.

Peter