Stamp Grading Characteristics (Centering, Perforations, Color, Gum & Overall Condition) Weighting?

What weight do you give each category? Im attempting to simplify the grading system using numbers and categories that will more accurately attempt to grade stamps. IS the weighting below out of /100 good? I bumped up centering due to its great importance for stamps.

Centering /30

Perforations /20

Color /20

Gum /10

Overall Condition /20 (This category would including stains, tears, holes, discolouration etc)


Also using NET or DETAILS grades when there is a problem stamp but collectively all other categories together bring its details inline with a particular grade.

I think I would also use qualifiers for example jumbo margins, or PQ colors etc.

Any ideas or advice would be great. I would like to hear form the stamp community on this. I think it would greatly help me when searching for Stamps for my collection.

Thanks for the input

For many collectors, gum would be higher. An unhinged stamp is "usually" worth up to double that of a hinged stamp. I personally don't seek out unhinged stamps for this reason. A nice lightly hinged example is ok by me.

You will have to figure out what "weights" satisfy yourself.

For many of us, your "Overall Condition/20" category would be pass/fail. No stain, tear, hole, or discoloration would be acceptable regardless of the other scoring factors.

I would recommend stepping back and taking an overall "look" at the stamp. You will know if it feels and looks right for your collection. Does it have the eye appeal which satisfies you?

I agree with John.

Unless it is a valuable stamp you think is worthy of professional certification, it becomes a personal decision.

Many times there are trade offs, light cancellation vs centering; disturbed gum vs a short perforation etc.

As John said, you will know if it feels and looks right for your collection.

Dan

Personally, physical damage will always rule out a stamp for me, and perfs that cross into the design usually (though not always) do as well. I try to always go for unhinged no matter the cost, to the point I'll take an example on an interesting cover over a hinged specimen; but, a natural gum disturbance is OK. And I don't care a great deal if one or two perfs are shorter or longer than the others. So for me, your weighting is way off.

Regarding your scoring system, how do you judge a 28/30 v. 29/30 on centering? And what if no known examples of a stamp have good centering, do you have away of letting yourself and others know that the best a certain issue can do is 21/30, for example? There's a reason the hobby has stuck to grades such as Fine, Very Fine, etc. and numerical grades like those found in numismatics and sports cards haven't really gotten anywhere with us.

Some very informative replies ITT

@John In terms of pinholes or staining I was thinking more along the lines of NET grades.

@Classic Paper In regards as to why the hobby has stuck with those grades instead of a more numerical system that is understandable.

I appreciate everyones input today!

Regards

I dabbled with doing a scoring system like this (using A,B,C etc but same idea) for my Canadian mint collection, but discarded it fairly quickly. I found got caught up too much in the scoring process itself, debating whether the perfs were a A vs. B, rather than assessing the stamp as a whole.

Not to mention that depending on the stamp being evaluated my criteria/weighting may change. And some stamps may be in relatively poor condition, but have an interest factor - e.g. a local postmark.

So now it is simpler - do I like the stamp enough to put it my collection?

I am a science/math person, so the idea of 'reducing' the plethora of stamps down to a number should be very attractive to me. I have tossed around the idea of doing this, too, but have ruled it out for me. I find that there are times when a cancel, or a shade, or some other factor is just too attractive for me to walk away from. Any weighting that I would have in advance wouldn't be able to capture the magnificence of the particular attribute that attracts me so much to the stamp. If I COULD (and I contend that I cannot) come up with a weighting system, it would only be good for me. Since I am the only one buying stamps for my collection, this shouldn't be a non-starter. I think my attitude is that just as all collectors are different, and their weighting systems would all be different, that all stamps are different and deserve to be considered individually for their positive attributes. I guess any internal weighting system that I have is pass/fail - I ultimately either want to buy the stamp or not. Any possible weighting system that I would come up with would also constantly changing - certainly over time, and with mood, etc. In the end, my weighting system really changes from stamp to stamp. Crazy, but true.

mootermutt987: I agree it's a sliding scale with many variables. I feel like I should be able to quantify decision points easier than this but I've failed miserably to come up with a go/no-go tool or formula that consistently works.

Some issues will never be found well centered or with perfect gum so do you leave that space empty? In the op's initial run at grading they assign no value to impression. They assign 20 available points to overall condition (faults). Trust me, if a stamp has a large thin or is oil stained 20 points will not come close to bringing the value in line with reality.

Their is highly accurate software to measure centering already and the rest is all subjective.

First things first though. You need to educate yourself, a lot, before getting into grading. No point in assigning points to perfs and gum if you cannot tell if the stamp is reperfed or regummed. No?

Substance before appearance.

I have 2 basic grades: Pass and Fail. Anything below the P/F line and I don't care what the grade is (unless it is something that came in a bigger group that I bought to get other stamps). As for being better than P, sure nicer is better, but the price goes up, so I tend to stick fairly close to the line. But the line is not a rigid line across all stamps. Cheap ones I will set the line rather high. More expensive and older stamps I have to go somewhat lower, but there is a limit as to how low I would go even for a scarce stamp - if it hurts my eyes, I would rather have an empty space and the money than a space filler. And as others have said, the line location can be fluid - something like a cancel I really like will cause me to relax my centering standard some.

OP gives an interesting exercise.
So much depends on an individual's relative priorities and preferences.
But going through the process would make one articulate imperatives and preferences.

I suspect condition matters more to a lot of us.
Pinholes, tears or stains (or overall bad oxidation) would be big, perhaps insurmountable negatives for many people no matter how perfect the other factors were.

Rodgcam mentions quality of impression. Beyond crispness of printing, I would add in the case of multi-color printings, the registration so that different colors land where the designer meant to have them. Thinking say of the US 523 or 547 Franklins, you will see plenty of examples where the frame is well centered on the stamp and gets the stamp an XF rating, but the vignette (Ben) is not well centered inside the frame and the stamp — to me at least — just doesn't look good. Other multicolored stamps can become blurred messes.

Interesting thought exercise to help focus on one's collecting priorities in general and also as one thinks about acquiring a particular stamp of which there may be only a few available, or which is known as a "difficult issue"….

All good points.

I am also assuming you are thinking of worldwide stamps whereas grading of US stamps is a given nowadays. But even that is subjective. Somebody once published their checklist of things considered, with points awarded for each category. There was quite a bit of wiggle room overall including a category for something like overall appearance.

There are different grading standards in different places. Germans don't care all that much about centering, but prize "postfrisch", post-office fresh, stamps. Italian and French collectors highly prize centering and wouldn't even consider the level of what most US collectors have of those stamps in their collections.

Further, the next step would probably be to try and apply a number to a valuation, either actual or catalog value. That's going to be extremely difficult. We find extremely high catalog values for Italian States and Cape of Good Hope triangles, for example, but those reflect the highest quality with even just slightly lesser quality items with small faults worth only a small percentage of catalog value. Add in that the "native" catalogs for those countries are inflated to begin with. Most stamps won't have such a wide range of valuation plus as rodgcam notes, some stamps are never found centered. Nor even sound – Hawaii's Missionaries are mostly faulty or repaired yet still command very high prices.

I am more of the pass/fail type (meets my needs or not). To me, unless one is into valuation and grading. I do not see a need to evaluate. I have not spent much time on upgrading (unused for used) since there are so many I unique stamps I want.

Allot of good info here ITT.

I approached it like cards in a sense where I started with characteristics and applied weighting. What I have learned in the last couple days is that more than anything the centering is first and foremost and also the grade g vg f f-vf vf xf superb and everything in between is largely determined by centering first.

Second I would say is condition and deductions for faults (stains, tears, discoloration, reperfs etc). Gum is really an afterthought when people talk about the grade usually with an attached MNH OG RG LH MH etc etc. But that can also mean the value has dropped eg VF MOGNH vs VF No Gum. As both front sides graded at VF but the price is very different due to the gum but the actual grade of the stamp is VF.

This so far is how I understand it based on what I have read. I havent seen grades deducted for disturbed or no gum. That information is of course very relevant to the pricing. Just like price guides that list VF H vs VF NH.

Im learning allot about centering and so far have been pretty good at coming close when comparing to the visual guides.

Next will be learning how to accurately count perfs and to be able to analyze the gum.

Thanks for all the responses thus far!

Grading cigarette cards is straightforward, although you might not think so looking at ebay or at some of the cards slabbed by US companies. A descending order of M-E-VG-G-F-P. A glance at the card will immediately tell you whether it has rounded corners, so is a G at best. Weighting there seems to introduce a needless complexity to a simple task.

Bear in mind that grading stamps is an American trait - not something that's used elsewhere.

You shouldn't be counting perforations - use a gauge.