To Buy New Scott Catalogs Or Not...?

And there's another way to do it. For nearly any country listed in the Scott catalogue, you can buy the latest catalogue pages on ebay removed from the catalogue. There are sellers who do this . I add a title page to mine and staple them together so I can have them when I work on the appropriate album. I don't do this for all countries, obviously, but not having to heft an enormous catalogue, being able to move the set of pages around easily, and having a very recent set of pages make paying $5-15 for a set of pages for some countries worth it. It's possible to have up-to-date catalogue pages for a few of your favorite collecting countries for very little expense.

For my general set, I prefer a fairly recent set of catalogues. I buy them used since Scott/Amos' new catalogue prices are out of my league. For some countries, I collect recent stamps which is one reason I want recent catalogues. And catalogue descriptions, numbers, and research sometimes change. An older set of catalogues from 20 years ago might not even have the correct catalogue numbers. They also might be lacking important recent information I need to purchase the correct stamp. I was astonished some years ago to note in a new catalogue I'd just bought that in my 50 year old Scott U.S. National album, for example, a number of very early stamps I'd never been able to afford (and whose blank spaces had always bothered me), were no longer even considered stamps! They were now thought to be "proofs". Oops! So they'd been decommissioned and given new numbers. What a nice feeling that was -- or I'd still be cluelessly looking for them. Even some modern stamps somewhat end up in the catalogue with non-consecutive numbers or minor "a" or "b" numbers they didn't have previously.

For me, those facts are reason enough to own fairly recent catalogues. When those catalogues are five or six years old, I'll replace them as I always have with newer used catalogues. It's possible not to pay a lot for each volume if you're patient enough.

Good points, DrewM. I should have mentioned that I only collect up to around 1950. For newer stamps an old catalogue would obviously be a problem. And even as a collector of classics I've worried a little about editors changing catalogue numbers. Also true that the cost of a new set from Scott, as well as the sheer size and weight of the volumes, will drive many of us to all sorts of expedients. If ever I update again, I will at the very least be buying used and probably still around ten years old.

Tis true - there are so many online resources now most collectors can live well without a fresh Scott. Alas, I like books - as in real books - so update my USA Specialized every five years or so. I purchased 2018 a few weeks after 2019 appeared, got a bit of a discount. More difficult for worldwide collectors...

I just wish they printed on demand catalogues of individual stamp issuers. Basically an ala carte situation. I wish they'd take a poll on that idea and get an idea if they'd sell more that way.

My catalog logic is this: I have a complete 2010/2012 set of Scott including the Classic and US specialized, all purchased used. I use them for identification, since I don't collect much beyond 2000 that works fine. For countries I collect, I buy an older specialized catalogs for more detailed identification (SG for Britain/Australia, Michel for Germany, Facit for Norway, and so on).

I don't own many stamps of value, so year to year fluctuations don't really matter to me. Should I acquire a stamp with a catalog value of say, $3000 (it happened once! Got it for $50!) based on my decade old Scott, I'll go online and see what the current value is.

I do update my Stamp Manage software yearly, and although the values are iffy, it gives me a ballpark for what I have inventoried. Helps with insurance. I do like having the paper option.

I recently upgraded from a 2014 set to 2017 (with a 2019 US A-B because the ebay price was lower than the comparable 2017!). I kept my 2017 Specialized and Classic Specialized. They work fine for ID purposes. For pricing, it tells me whether a stamp is a cheapo, a $1 to $20, a $21 to $100, a $101 to $500, or "Sorry, just looking". The exact price will vary by individual specimen anyway.

A friend and I had a deal going with a local dealer for a long while; every year the dealer bought a new set, and we took turns buying the year-old set (for $80 to $100). This ended when Scott rapidly raised the catalog prices during the teens, and the dealer no longer replaced annually.

Or at minimum, declare the set to be twice the official number of volumes, none of that A and B crap, and sell those individually. I can state for the record that I would buy catalogues more often if they were sold individually instead of in pairs. For now, I just go the library and borrow for free. There's money being left on the table by Amos Pub.

Everybody's needs are different depending on their cut-off date. My 1970 Stanley Gibbons works just fine for my King George VI collection.

Jack Kelley

From reading what everyone wrote here, I guess there's not much info update on older stamps, and the main use of a newer catalog is the value update, and the newer stamps.
For value, why not use the estimated value at sites like stampworld? Just check first if they have significantly different from the values in your catalog.

Stampworld is retail so be careful comparing it to a regular catalog.


Peter

I just saw in ebay an offer of 20 old GB stamps, including 2 pence blue, estimated by the seller as 400$ CV, offered by him for 20$, so much for CV worth.

(a) CVs are usually for stamps in fine condition, which most on ebay aren't; and (b) dealers and collectors will have their own percentage-based rule of thumb to apply against the catalogue they use. A decent four-margin 1840 2d blue will go for around £150 - I suspect that isn't what your vendor is offering.

I just saw a 2 pence blue as part of the deal, and SG 2014 estimates SG-45 used to be worth £14, so the offer is realistic. Now that I look again at the offer, it's a perf' version of the stamp.
To your judgment: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Great-Brit...203222998073

Stanley Gibbons is a retailer as well as a publisher. The SG catalogue "value" is what SG will charge at its high street retail store at 399 Strand for a very fine, fresh, quality example. It is not the street price, replacement value or insurance value for merchants not seeking SG profit levels or for lower quality examples. So 90% of GB material sells for a fraction of SG. (There is plenty that justifies buying at full CV from SG or others.) Moreover, this seller doesn't specify which catalog is the basis for the CV, which tells me immediately that the CV is puffery.

The 2d blue at the bottom looks like SG46, catalogue price (2001) £20 used. That is for a very fine used copy. This copy is badly centred and it looks like the perforations at left were cut off. That stamp has no (commercial) value at all. I think you might struggle reaching £ 200 SG catalogue price. And at USD 16.95 it, certainly, is not a cheap set considering the messy cancellations and the bad perforations of the stamps that actually make up most of that catalogue price.