Scott 1891 Coil Plate 6 - Flag Over Lighthouse... Your Experiences Please

In going through sorting my father's purchases that he hadn't put into albums, I found a coil strip of 3 from plate 6. I looked in a Scott specialized guide and saw an italicized value of $1000, and a footnote that any of these plates should be certed. Also, I saw a 2019 guide that lowered the value to 600. Mine is not certed but I have no reason to think it isn't legit because my father had 50 years of experience and has been 100% correct with everything else.

I'm curious what your experiences have been with this coil. Do you have one? Would you buy one without a cert? Why the fluctuation in catalog price?

Sounds like a nice find.

The italicized value is that way because it is an estimated value at the time; read the front part of any Scott catalog volume that will tell you that. The 2019 value I assume is not italicized(?) If in normal type, the editors had decided on a more solid value at the time. Remember that the 2019 catalog was released in 2018 and so the pricing info could be up to a year older. Plus Scott value is not necessarily the real-world price nor will it be the price you can sell an item for.

No, I don't have this but have owned and handled other scarce to rare coil and booklet plate number items.

With that footnote in Scott, nearly all potential buyers would be wary of buying this without a certificate.

The fluctuation in price -- you mean down. Why wouldn't a lower price ever be possible? The initial $1000 was based on early recorded sales, which would likely have been few in number. The 2019 price would reflect an adjustment due to a larger number of recorded sales being known. Further, more of this plate number could always be found, lowering the price from its initial estimate.

Hi just, and welcome to the forum.
The strip you have is a fairly recent issue - it dates back to the early 80's and is probably the scarcest of the PNC's, or Plate Number Coils. I do not have one and I do not collect these, but I believe I would not buy one that is not certified. Counterfeits of these and other high price PNC's are known.
The fluctuation in catalog value is hard to explain. Maybe the following has something to do with it. When these PNC's first were issued the going way to collect was as a PS3, a Platenumber Strip of 3. It did not take long however before that changed to a PS5, a strip of 5. Plate Strips of 5 ( PS5 ) are very hard to find on the early strips, so you have a nice one there.

Peter

" I looked in a Scott specialized guide and saw an italicized value of $1000, and a footnote that any of these plates should be certed. Also, I saw a 2019 guide that lowered the value to 600."

I have the 2019 Specialized and a PS3 is valued at $525, not 600, and there is no footnote about them needing a cert. There are not that many fakes out there and they should be fairly obvious as they are engraved and they fake them by adding the 6

Welcome to the forum!

Your find is a fairly rare one. It is one of the most sought after plate number coil stamps and while a mint strip of 5 is much more valuable, a strip of 3 is highly desirable. You don't need a cert for the strip and I would (and did) buy one without a cert. I believe that PeterT4522 is right that the prices have gone down on strips of 3 as collecting strips of 5 grew in popularity and many PNC collectors stopped collecting strips of 3. Still an awesome find!

I have a used single and a strip of 3 of Scott 1891 plate number 6, as well as an extensive collection (14 binders and ever-growing) of plate number coils.

Thanks for the kudos! I just got a copy of Scott 2019 and see the downward trend. Not that I want to offload this most awesome quasi-modern specimen, I'm going to consider parting with it. I know I'll regret it, but I feel like its time for me to pick "OUR" (RIP Dad) collection. Man oh man his life was acquiring, hanging with his cronies at the trade shows. I just moved and picked up a second job so stamps come third

Speaking of work, I would love to be able to link my ebay username to my profile - I have one measly auction up for now, but I wonder if I've sold to any of you. So if anyone can show a girl a quick and easy way, I would be forever grateful. Thanks for the great welcome to the community

Nix the ebay...not enough sales yet. ebay Kills me these days

Hi,
Please note that the forum disallows sales links and other commercial activity until you have 50+ posts; the reason is that there is a large number of people who would only use the community as a means of free advertising. Additionally, it is best that everyone gets to know you and you get to know everyone before starting transactional relationships.
Don

Thanks, Don. Of course I found that info minutes after my post

Very nice find and welcome to the community. I collect plate number coils as well and was lucky enough to get a strip of 3 of the same stamp. You can get it certified, but that takes time and a little bit of money but could bring more for the stamp as more folks would feel comfortable.

I bought mine without a cert, but I got it for a very good price, and if it was a counterfeit I would not have lost a lot. Point being some folks will take a chance if the price is right.

Good luck sorting through all you dad's accumulation of stamps.