Would You Prefer A Mnh G, Or Rather A VF/F Used?

Probably a minority opinion, but I prefer VF used over MNH any day.

As I was building my US collection my choices were driven by budget given that I am not Bill Gross. I wanted all of my stamps to be fault free and well centered. That meant that I would buy mint when budget allowed. If MNH worked for the budget I did that. In a lot of cases though the premium for that MNH state was not worth it to me. For a lot of early issues used was the only way to go because the price of one mint stamp could in some cases buy several nice used stamps. In all cases though I bought the best that I could afford with an eye towards to the time that I was going to sell. Top quality stamps sell easier and retain more of their value than stamps with even tiny issues or decent centering as opposed to no issues and great centering.

Not everybody approaches the hobby with a wad of cash in hand and that is just fine. Study the market, learn all that you can about what you are buying and research, research, research. For me that was most of the fun. Anybody can stick that tiny piece of paper on a page or in a stockbook. The learning is the awesome part. This forum has been amazing for that as has Stamp Smarter.

I love the hobby because of the diversity of people. We may diverge at times on non-philatelic issues and even philatelic issues but in the end our bond is still our love of the hobby.

Cheers

Rodgcam I 100% agree. Collect what excites you. I started with used grade 95-98, or even non-graded US 1-300 with fabulous cancellations. However, after a few years I wasn't enjoying the used stamps that much. So I switched to Scott 230-844 grade 98 MNH. I do not consider myself a MNH snob, but rather consider the better pieces investment pieces. It's what I currently enjoy. Everyone is different though and there's something for every collector and budget within the stamp hobby. I also enjoy collecting used Ecuador. The stamps are very inexpensive but a challenge to find sound and well centered. I also find the US stamps of the 1950's fabulous. I'm fairly new to these posts but I thoroughly enjoy reading everyone's take and collection interests#128515;

For my KGVI commonwealth collection I will only purchase mint lightly hinged or never hinged as I don't want postmarks obscuring the lovely engraving. For my US 1851-1861 1 cent Franklins I prefer used with a circular date cancel. The problem with used is that when you get to the high value stamps they usually have some heavy roller or parcel cancel. That being said I put a great deal of effort into making sure the money items are XF.