2 Cent Washington Red Line Question

Hi Guys-

I am not a stamp collector but acquired a large box of stamps about 30 years ago. There are 20000 plus stamps in the box mostly divided by type in envelopes. My only reference guide at present is ebay. I dumped an envelope of 2 cent Washington stamps and one on top has a red line. I noticed the ones with red lines command a premium. I have included a pic of the stack of 2 cent stamps and a scan of the one with a red line. I have not gone through the rest. Also, I do not know how to date this one. Any info appreciated-

From what I can tell none of the stamps in the box date past the 1930s or so.

Thank you for your help-





*** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. ***

The "red line syndrome" is a scam - it is where the edge of the pane of stamps was

Peter

Pendrak, welcome to the site. You can't base things on asking prices on ebay. As mentioned above the red line is referred to as a "cut line" and it is where the sheet of 400 stamps was cut into 4 panes of 100 stamps. To collectors these are less desirable than fully perforated stamps from the same sheet and sell for less.

Welcome,
Here is an article on 'red lines' and how they are made.
http://stampsmarter.com/learning/ID_RareLines.html
Don

Thank you. I guess it would not be worth my while to go through these since I don't know how to date them.

This batch would still be a flyspeckers mecca

Peter

pendrak....where did you notice that?? ebay??

Peter

Hi pendrak,

Welcome. I would suggest using the identification sections of the Stamp Smarter site as an aide in determining more info on your stamps.

http://www.stampsmarter.com/1847usa...ntifier.html

Dale

ebay has an area "advanced" that gives the actual sold prices. Not the "pie in the sky"asking prices.

Fly Specking? I'm a coin collector that has just got into VAMs and die verities. Looks like fly specking is something similar for stamp collectors. Someone mentioned that this hoard could be a "flyspeckers mecca".

I dumped out three more envelopes. Here is a pic. Is this something a flyspecker would be interested in? Let me know.

I am a member of the coin forum. I opened a new account for stamps. I may have messed up. What do I need to do?

The 3c Jefferson and 3c Washington are more recent stamps than the red Washington. I don't think a lot of "flyspeckers" are interested in those more recent issues. Although you have enough there to find the really well-centered ones - if you don't want to search for the perfect specimen, someone probably does. And it looks like the badly-centered ones may have already ben pruned from this stack.

What are you looking to do with these stamps? Sell them for as much money as possible? Start collecting and sell the ones you don't want?

Petert4522,

I would have thought there's 'Less stamps with a line'... therefore slightly higher value ?.

My reason......fully perf'd stamps occupy the rest of each sheet.

Surprised by Stallzer comments above indicating the opposite.

I would have thought there's 'Less stamps with a line'... therefore slightly higher value ?.

My reason......fully perf'd stamps occupy the rest of each sheet.

Surprised by Stallzer comments above indicating the opposite.

Collectors want the best centered, best looking stamps. The straight edges are more rare but have never been looked on as attractive.

While it is true the natural straight edge stamps are less per sheet collectors view the cut lines / natural straight edges as faults so therefore they sell at a fraction of the price as the fully perforated stamps.

Value is determined by two factors, rarity and demand. Stamps with a red line (or with a natural straight edge and no line) are rarer than fully perforated but the demand is much less, hence a lower value. It doesn't always make sense but that's how it is.