Another Butchered Imperf Fetching Too Much Money

I'd be tempted to trim the other stamp bits away for my tastes!

Luckily the grading madness only goes on in North America.

If anyone tries to get the rest of the world into this fad, this is the best example of why we shouldn't follow suit.

I'm waiting for the graded U.N. craze to hit.

I came across this on ebay one day. Not sure what the purpose of this was.




It is still up for auction.

I must admit that I am not as upset about this behavior wrt 20th century imperfs than I am with the 1847 or 1851 issues. A lot of that has to do with supply/rarity of large multiples of the issues. There have been other threads talking about this issue and showing pictures of the 19th century examples. There are many, many sheets of most of the 20th century imperfs still in existence, not to mention large blocks, so 'destroying' a few is a shame, but not disastrous. BUT... it is a slippery slope. Eventually, the great number of sheets/large blocks will dwindle over time. Who will be the person to cut up the last known block of 9 (or larger) of one of the 1847 or 1851 values? If that cutter is known, he will be shamed in the world of philately for decades. This action sounds crazy to me, but I cannot rule out its possibility.

Threads like this always seem to preach to the choir and get no defenders. Out of curiosity ...
Can anyone point to ANY certifying body which declines to accept these for certs?
Can anyone point to ANY auction house which declines to accept these as consignments?
Can anyone point to ANY organization within the hobby (APS, ASDA, Linn's, etc.) which takes a stand of this practice?
I know of none.

Of course not, they are all making money on them. Or preserving their market share. Or both.

Two possible purposes:
At least some of the 2 cent stamps were damaged.
At least some of the 2 cent stamps were hinged and the error is not.
Since 499 is a common number, someone felt it would be worth more this way.

They might be creating them.