PF Expertizing Turnaround?

rogdcam: "I am going to certify my own stamps." There actually is something to that statement. I have some resources for certain Portuguese colonials, especially the 1877 Crown issues, that allow me to determine myself if the stamp is genuine or forged. The Crowns were extensively forged by Fournier, primarily, and if one knows the "tell tales," then one can ID forgeries without sending off for certs.

In addition, the new values on the Portuguese India crown issues (Scott #113-161; Afinsa 66-111) were extensively forged, often on already Fournier-forged crowns.

I haven't gotten round to printing my own cert forms. I just make notations in my albums.

"I am going to certify my own stamps." There is a lot to that statement, PROVIDED that one spends the time and effort to do the research and gain the knowledge required. Which is not always easy or practical. But which is always the best way whenever possible.

On top of the certs, do they leave their ugly expertising marks behind the stamps?

No

There is an article in this month's Linn's regarding just this topic of submission length. Two months seems to be the time limit before the expertizing agency should at least contact you.

Boxcar: In answer to your question, PF allows you to choose between FedEx & USPS. For USPS, you may choose Registered or Express mail. You also have the option of picking up your stamp(s) in person.

jl is correct as to the pf shipping methods. the submitter indicates the method desired on the submittal form.
if you have not received your items yet you should initiate an inquiry.

UPDATE: I called PF, spoke to David who said that the stamps received their certs in September but he did not know where they were. He said he would check and get back to me. He called back (same day in the afternoon) and told me the reason they couldn't find them is because Lewis Kaufman had taken them home to research them further and that I should check back at the end of December to find out their status.

As for the certs, no news is good news? Perhaps, more updates to follow.


Scott

UPDATE: Spoke with PF yesterday, they said that the stamps were finished and the certificates issued. All three were certified as genuine copies of Scott U.S. 1985h, Flag Over Supreme Court with black field of stars. Their website hasn't been updated yet, but they are listed on there (link to the issues below). They said they would be mailed back to my by the end of next week. I'm pretty excited and it's made it worth waiting since July of last year to get the certs.


http://pfsearch.org/pfsearch/pf_grd...lledfrom=lkp

Congratulations on the results. But you are a far more forgiving person than I would have been. Your post of December 19, in my opinion, reflected a process that was not just troubling but approaching unethical. The reasonable collector expects to send their property, receive an opinion in a reasonable time, and receive their property back immediately after the service is complete, not have the property taken home somewhere for an indeterminate period for unknown reasons after the service is clearly complete. The failure to communicate during the process, or to obtain consent before moving your property offsite, is disappointing. PF has a reputation as the gold standard for expertization in the US, but this is not a license to act with disregard for customer expectations.

Cjpalermo: could not agree with you more. Kudos to David at PF for giving the whole story, which I anticipate may not ingratiate him with the higher ups in the organization.

cjpalermo1964, I've been frustrated at the PF's turnaround time, but I've just come to accept that the PF is very methodical and moves at an old world pace. They are an analog organization operating in a digital world.

Regarding one of the employees taking the merchandise offsite, presumably the liability is still that of the PF's regardless of where the merchandise is once they have accepted it for expertization. Whether they are self-insured or they have insurance that covers all of their possible locations is their problem. After all, the expertization services that do expertization by committee (e.g., APEX, PSAG) send your material out to experts, and there is no control over how or where those experts store the material while in their possession. I don't see this as any different.

PF describes the process in detail on their website here http://www.philatelicfoundation.org...the-process/
I find the omission of sending material off-site troubling; there is nothing which would help a customer understand that PF may introduce additional risk in sending the customer's material offsite. If nothing else this seems to be a bad optic waiting to happen, why not be upfront and set expectations properly?

And while PF insurance might indeed be written to cover off-site transportation and security; I assume that it would add many new complexities to the legal landscape if a loss were to incur.
Don

Here is one off of the top. The insurance carrier requires material to be stored in a safe of a certain level, the premises must have a dry fire protection system and direct alarm to the local FD, it must have a continuously monitored intrusuon alarm and controlled access............... Not many residences if any will comply and if there is a loss what happens. Insurance companies are not forgiving by nature and I cannot imagine a Rider that would forgive any transgressions. Transport of the item is an entirely other issue. It is troubling. Perhaps they have it covered but it would seem to be unlikely.

don all expert groups will send out material at one point or another when they feel it necessary. the PF and other groups would be remiss if the items sent in were not insured where ever they are physically located during the expertization process. I think this is understood by every one putting an item, as no group will know it all.