Rare 1867 Great Britain #57A P2? Any Comments?

I just listed this stamp on ebay. It has been in my collection for 60 years. The color is pale rose, which makes it a #57a p2 (I do not have the Stanley Gibbons identification number).

Any thoughts? What is it worth?

Based upon two recent ebay sales anywhere between $7.99 and $23.19.

I think that you are mistaken on this. There are several varieties of this stamp and some are very very valuable.

Identification of this 5 pence stamp is straight forward but does require some attention to detail. There are seven varieties of this stamp, with this #57a p2 being among the most valuable. There are three plate varieties defined by plate 1 (p1) and plate 2 (p2) in the 1867 varieties and by plate 4 (p4) in the 1882 varieties. The plate number 1, 2, or 4 appear at the bottom of the stamp underneath the portrait of Queen Victoria.

Varieties: 1867 #57 p1. Rose color. 15 1/2 by 15 perforations. Shield watermark.

1867 #57a p1. Pale rose color. 15 1/2 by 15 perforations. Shield watermark.

1867 #57b p1. Rose color. Imperforate. Shield watermark. (A very valuable variety).

1867 #57 p2. Rose color. 15 1/2 by 15 perforations. Shield watermark.

1867 #57a p2. Pale rose color. 15 1/2 by 15 perforations. Shield watermark.

1882 #90 p4. Rose color. 14 perforations. Anchor watermark. Bluish paper.

1882 #90a p4. Rose color. 14 perforations. Anchor watermark. White paper.

Identification is correctly made by plate number at the bottom of the stamp, the stamp color, and perforations. This stamp is the #57a p2.

My understanding is that the Stanley Gibbons catalogue value is +$1500. The less rare 1867 #57 p1 stamps go for $7-8.

GREAT BRITAIN #57a (Pl 2) Used- 1867 5sh Pale Rose, Plate 2 on ebay...for sale for $380.

For sale and sold are two different things.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/GREAT-BRIT...AOSwWxNY0zPR

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1867-Great...AOSwvO5byp3U

rodgcam,

thanks a ton for this. I looked but could not find this sale anywhere. What has stamp collecting come to if someone is willing to sell a $1500 catalogue value stamp for $7 (and this is a good looking stamp that was sold)? I sell run of the mill stamps for almost that much. Are catalogue values so completely useless that the real value of a stamp is only 0.5% of the catalogue value? Any thoughts?

Depending on the shade of Pale rose.This one is a nice pale color and a beautiful stamp. It sold for £140 by Tennants Auctioneeres in 2016.(Plate 2, Watermark Maltese cross.)

I would wager a retail value of USD$225. There is a crease at upper left, it is centered high, the cancel is oily or smudgy and there is overall staining, most prominent on the right side. These factors detract from appearance and reduce value. Gibbons prices presume a stamp with true VF centering, crisp cancel and fresh, white paper, and even then are high. This stamp and plate are not hard to find at well-stocked GB dealers.

The rub as far as what it will realize is that it is listed on ebay by the op and it will not fetch dealer prices there.

For Stanley Gibbons in particular, it must be remembered that its catalog prices are NOT free market prices. They are the list price that SG charges at its high street retail store at 399 Strand, London, in one of the most expensive real estate markets in the world. SG catalog prices are what SG wants to earn for the sale, not what other buyers are actually paying.

Agree with Rog,
no one can tell you what its worth, thoughts and opinions yes, that's what you asked for.
Put it on the market, and if you agree to a price then that's what yours (and yours alone) is worth.
Catalogue prices are a guide, and a guide only.

I bought my example for 30c and here we have one for $800 with
"unheard of" (Sheesh!) centreing.

First point to make here is that it is not rare . With the defects as stated above that stamp would sell around $80.00 at auction .If you look at past major public auctions in the U.S. for stamps in that condition ,they sell for about 1/10 of catalog in a major auction ,but if buying or selling on ebay there is a risk factor which lowers the price further .

What I pay $120.00 for at public auction ,I would reduce on ebay to $80.00 .The way I value this is $80.00 today or your getting $100.00 maybe if sold and waiting 3 months to list it and another 3 month to get paid --that's 6 months for $100.00 or $80.00 right now .

excellent commentary from everyone. It is much appreciated. I saw some mint versions of these stamps sold at auction for massive prices from $3,000 to as high as $12,000, if I remember correctly. The used versions command a fraction of that, of course. My stamp has some quality issues, as one observer correctly points out, but it is not a total disaster. thanks to everyone for their help! What a great chatboard!

SewallH---If you go to Kelleher Stamp Auctions and look at their prices realised. You would be surprised at the low prices these high priced British issues are getting now. These prices are very low compared to just a few years ago .Over the past few auctions and this is for good quality early high value issues it is really a shame .

Their up coming auction has a $10,000 very rare British stamp with a corner repair that is hard to see ,opening at $500.00 ,I may start looking at British stamps again next year if these prices stay here and we get a run up on Interest rates {I trade Treasuries }