Dealer/Owner Codes For Stamp Cost

Somebody on another thread asked a question about a written 'code' on the back of a stamp. Turns out, it was a non-Scott # on the back of a classic USA stamp. What about other codes?

A random series of letters is often a code representing the cost of the stamp. I know of 2 codes, and there are many others. The ones that I know are C-O-L-U-M-B-I-A-N-S and M-A-K-E-P-R-O-F-I-T. They represent the numbers 0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9 OR 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-0. A code will only work if it is exactly 10 letters long and if there is only one of each letter. I suppose one could use a code with 11 (or more) letters in the phrase/word, but delete the duplicate letters (so that it ends up with 10 letters, total).

I always keep an eye out for these 'random' letters on a stamp, or sales page, so I can try to figure out what the cost is on the prospective purchase. If the code is on the STAMP, it MAY not be the cost to the dealer/collector that currently owns the stamp.

I like trying to figure out a dealer's code. If I have an idea of what he probably paid for the stamp, I can often figure out what the first letter stands for. If I have access to his stock, I can often figure out a bunch of his letters and fill in the blanks - and also figure out if his code starts with '0' or '1'. Also, if the code is on a sales page, I KNOW it is this dealer's cost and not an earlier owner's. Also, the initial letter could corresponds to '0', so there might be a 3-letter code for a any stamp costing less than $1000.

Of course, this is old school. I've seen bar-codes, and sometimes a series of numbers under the bars. I ASSUME the dealer cost is somewhere within the series of numbers - like digit #'s 3, 4, and 7 might be the cost. Or, #'s 1, 10, and 7. This would allow the dealer to know his cost without having to scan and refer to a database. Good luck trying to figure that out! Or they may scan the barcode with their smart phone and any info they may want to see on the stamp simply pops up on their screen, and I have no opportunity to figure anything out. Some may simply go to their smart phone, find a scan of the stamp, and all info is available. That would be IMPOSSIBLE to 'de-code'.

Anyone else know any codes? Or any secrets/philosophy on the subject that they could share?

I've been a collector since a very young age; starting in 1960; and this is the first I've ever heard of dealer codes on the back of stamps. I do know that certain early Greek; and Spanish area; stamps have numbers on the back. But those were printed as such.

Every dealer uses their own code. There are 50 or 60 ten letter words that do not repeat letters. One old time famous auction dealer used Kansas City as a cost code.

That's a neat one. Given the repeated A and S, were the coded prices in octal (was he a mainframe programmer from way back?), or were the second A/second S distinguished from the first in some way?

That is interesting! Perhaps he was OK with the ambiguity of the repeated letters. Perhaps he used caps/lower-case to differentiate. Perhaps he never paid $50 for a stamp (where '5' corresponds to the 2nd 's') - haha!.

Yes! There are a LOT of possibilities. Many more than the 2 examples I gave. Perhaps I should have said it is absolutely in the dealer's best interest to pick a unique code. Like his cat's name, or his grandmother's Armenian maiden name, or something else that only he would be likely to use. The two that I used were used by people that I worked for - they are both long out of business. And, nevermind who they were. My two examples, though, seem very common words around the industry (independent of the cost-code thing), which would very likely be used by others.

I just find it 'fun' to deal with a dealer when I know what he paid. I had a dealer once say to me, "You don't know what I have into this", to which I threw out his cost and said that he should change his cost code. Frankly, I did him a favor.

I like puzzles, and this is quite the puzzle!

OK CodeBreakers.

Have at it! I bought three stockbooks from a dealer in the mid-90s and could never figure out his system. See the scan below. I always wondered if it was just a code for the collection/lot the item came from but there didn't seem to be anything sequential about the codes.

At a show around the same time, an old time dealer told me about a commercial cost code system that dated to the 40s or so (?). Sadly I have long forgotten what he called it...

One I know is BLACKHORSE

I assure you that the person who used Kansas City both bought and sold items for a great deal more then $50 during his lifetime.

When I worked in a stamp store we had a code like this and if I remember correctly it was called a Blackstone code. Blackstone was not the code word, which I no longer remember, but I was introduced to this after I had worked there for awhile and if the boss was out when someone made an offer on a stamp, I could determine if I could sell them the stamp for what they offered or needed to make a counter offer. Repeat customers and those with deep pockets often bought stamps at, or near cost because they were a constant source of income for the store and it helped keep customers positive about shopping with us. I'm sure this is a common business practice.

Since the dealer had AXEN on two items with different prices, they don't appear to be cost codes. More likely lot codes, as you surmised.

OU812

That said, if you were a dealer and paid $5 each for two items, and the cat values were different, you probably would price them differently even if you paid the same price for them?