Stamp Grading Services

IIRC there is some electronic device available that evaluates the centering of the image around the perfs and assigns the stamp a numerical centering number. Don't know where I saw that. Anyone have experience with such a device. Seems to me that would take the subjectively out of grading. I'm not a fan of center graded stamps or for that matter graded (slabbed) coins.
Wolf-==-

The software does a decent job in understanding the centering (simple edge detection and math), but is not capable in the 'just as important' condition issues such as thins, creases, pin holes, etc.
Software considers the overall centering of a stamp but does not consider the centering of a two color/two pass stamps such as the US 1901 Pan-American series. (Many collectors want not just the frame well centered by also the vignette in the center of the stamp.)

For years collectors used another tool for determining centering, they used their eyes. If a stamp centering looks great to you, then it probably is pretty good. (After spending my career developing technology it pains me to recommend an 'un-tech' method.)
Don

The Philatelic Foundation uses a commercial software that I cannot name here because it is prohibited.

Many people still do. IF one learns a couple of simple tricks and spends some real time working at it, skill at grading can be achieved. It helps to have a good eye to start with, then it is a matter of a lot of practice.

I don't know.. When it comes to 100+ year-old stamps, I'd care more about the physical condition of it rather than being too particular on how centered it is.
It is not a metal, it is paper. So the less stains/rips/people-juices it has on it, the more generations it's able to see (and see clearly).
That's my 2 cents.

Stephen-P,
That is a good observation. Before 'electric eye' technology (1938 and later marginal markings which guide the perforating equipment), the perforating alignment was done by human 'eye'. Additionally, the stamp design layout of early US stamps was also often quite close, results being that earlier US stamps are often not well centered.
Don

Thank you Don! That's very informative.

Stephen-P
Some observations ... broadly, as you may know, certification of stamps is done at 2 levels. The first level is to obtain an opinion of the stamp's identity. The second level is to add an opinion of the condition, which is more than just a centering score. None of the stamps you have shown here in the past few weeks are particularly difficult to ID, nor are in superior enough condition to warrant grading. Also the cost of certifying/grading far exceeds the retail value of much of what you have shown.
Yes, I do see some grading parallels between coins and stamps, but as said by others, grading of stamps is not universally accepted to the extent it is in the coin hobby.

Thank you John Becker. Yes, that seems to be apparent from the lack of certification seen in the auction space.
I suppose the main incentive in grading stamps would be, as you said, to verify a specific type of stamp rather than to receive a numerical grade (which may end up being more subjective than one would want).

Stephen - You're mixing up certifying and grading. The two are different animals and as John said you the first step in certification is identifying. You can submit a stamp for just plain certifying and most people do. If you have a fault free stamp that already eyeballs as being very well centered, you have the option of requesting a grade for an additional cost. If you submit an item for certification, you also have the option of specifying a minimum grade and if your item does not meet that grade, it will not receive a grade at all. That allows you to receive a certificate that does not have a grade number that could actually LOWER the value of the stamp when using SMQ values.

Stamps graded very high 90J, 95, 98 etc sell for many times catalog value. There's your motivation for grading.

IMO a graded cert lower than 85 can actually be a negative when it comes to sale, as opposed to an ungraded cert of the same item.

I agree with revcollector. The only reason to get a graded cert is to 'prove' that the stamp is of superior quality. If also draws interest when it sells. Below 80 or 85, it doesn't help at all, and may hurt the sale. Many people happy with an F-VF stamp will walk away from a Fine stamp, when, in fact, they may have been happy with Fine all along, as long as there isn't a slip of paper saying that it is below F-VF. There are so many other subjective things that can make a stamp more attractive than its grade would indicate, like freshness, impression, cancel, margin size (larger than average, but not to the point of earning a 'Jumbo'), etc. Although grading companies say they take these attributes into account, my experience is that they give them different weights based on THEIR desire, not mine. I might put a lot of weight on 'freshness', say, whereas the grading companies not so much.

If I have a stamp that I want to know its condition (thins? creases? stains? etc), but it is not all that well centered, I would never send it in for a numerical grade - that is above and beyond what I want a cert for, for that stamp. I already know what the centering is, at least relatively so, and if it is not outstanding, it is a waste of effort to put a # to it.

In other words, I think collectors have interest in how high a grade a stamp may get, but not really in how low a grade it may get. At the lower end, I think people are much more interested in the peace of mind in knowing if it has faults and is genuine.

A simple web search for 'stamp expertizing' will yield many informative links, including those to organizations providing the service.

When getting into the older issues, say pre 1935, there are many stamps that have been altered, like re-perforated on one or more sides, cancelations removed, complete re-gum, gum re-distributed to hide a hinge mark, filled thins, fully perforated stamps trimmed to look like coil stamps, etc... Certification helps minimize the risk when purchasing valuable stamps (say, above $100). Most times it is not economical to have an item expertized or graded if has a value less than $100. Although, there is potential for a stamp to be worth multiple times the base VF value depending on the grade.

I've bought and seen enough graded items that I can generally guess a grade fairly well by eyesight. Although, it's nearly impossible to determine the difference between a 98 and 100 by eyesight alone. I use software that calculates the centering grade from scans, but I've found that it hardly ever matches the actual grade of certificates received. The good news is that the certificate grade is usually higher than the software grade. For example, if the software grades centering at like a 90-91, then the stamp is likely to receive a 95 if sent out for grading.

I bought an early MNH US federal hunting permit stamp (RW4) a few months ago, didn't really need it as I already had one in my collection and only paid $110 for it. It did not come with a certificate at all. While putting together a batch of stamps to send out for grading, I scanned the duck stamp and the software graded it 90 centering. There were no gum creases or skips, which the early ducks are notorious for. Decided to send it in for grading, came back a Superb 98, which has an SMQ value of $3k. Have no interest in selling, but it was a nice surprise.