Garage Sale Find Possible 1922 Roosevelt Perforated Error?

hi everyone I am 2 days new to the stamp hobby, it started a couple days ago when I came across this binder of stamps that I bought for 5 dollars. I was researching to see if there was any valuable stamps and came across this 1922 Roosevelt stamp... im not sure if its an error or not but what I have read, it seems to be an error with the perforation on the top and bottom of the stamp, may I have anybody's opinion and/or help with this? Thank you so much.

Him Ayojknow, and welcome to the forum. What makes you think this is a perforation error?


Peter

What exactly have you read?

Do you mean the fact that it's badly centred (as are the others on the album page)? If so, that's a drawback, rather than an indication of rarity.

In case this is about centering. Taken from Mystic just as a starter. Opinions vary.

Don't get hung-up on value. Very few stamps are worth more than $1. Most are worth a penny of two at best.

Don't believe IDs or mounting placement from previous owners (In this case your 5 cent stamp is in the incorrect place. To send you in the correct direction, it is a Scott catalog # 586, which is perforated on each side at a rate of 10 holes per 2 centimeters, commonly referred to as "perf 10".)

There are often one or more look-alikes to the stamps you have - differing by some small facet which make a significant value difference. There is a good chance the other stamps on the page you show are mounting in the incorrect space.

Don't believe everything you read online. Sites like ebay can be great sources of information AND disinformation.

Rare stamps are just that. Rare. The odds are extremely long of finding something of significant value in a $5 garage sale lot.

The "Antiques Roadshow mantra applies: Beyond the basic commonness or rarity, "Everything is condition, condition, condition". Just like coins and baseball cards in many ways

Ask us lots of questions, remembering the more you tell us, the more we can be directly helpful. (Thus the importance of knowing where you read the 5 cent stamp might be valuable so we can help you interpret it properly or guide you to a better resource.)

Invest in the basic tools to get the most enjoyment: tongs, perforation gauge, watermark tray & fluid.

Ayojknow,

Welcome to the hobby. It can be rewarding overtime. The enjoyment of collecting a small work of art you can hold in your hand. As it was mentioned most stamps are worth very little in used and only face in unused mint condition. So it is an affordable hobby. They are prices of some stamps that are very high. If you learn about stamps you can buy them for an investment as good one will always be worth something. You can cherry pick valuable stamps at times and buy them cheap. That is part of the fun of collecting. I hope you continue collecting and hope you have many enjoyable hours.

What I've read was that this error was pertaining to the perforations.

There is a perforation 11 type stamp and a perforation 10 type stamp. Neither are errors.

This isn't helpful. What did you read, exactly? Can you cite it, offer a link, or take a picture of the pertinent text?

Ayojknow, what I can see in your image are 2 main things. First, the stamp is poorly centered, meaning the design printed on the stamp has quite unequal white margins around it. Redwoodrandy has provided a very useful chart showing the terms collectors use for various types of centering. Notice that your stamp has the perforations cutting into the top part of the printed design, meaning that it grades VG (very good) in Randy's chart. This is not an error- it could only be called an error if the design is much further off-center than what you see. MUCH further.

The second thing I see is what appears to be a stamp hinge visible underneath the top edge of the stamp. If you are not sure what a stamp hinge is, please google it. Certainly not an error- just a small piece of something akin to wax paper that holds the stamp in place.

Lastly, the top and bottom of your stamp both have 10 perforation tips, which means both top and bottom were perforated equally. Normal; not an error.

What I suspect the original poster has found in the literature or online ....

The valuable variety of the 5 cent Roosevelt design is Scott 557c, which is perf 10 at top or bottom variety. Many collectors are confused by this and only "see" the perf 10 part and the money, match a top or bottom to their stamp, ignore the sides and assume they must have the valuable variety. What they miss is the basic 557 stamp must be perf 11 on 3 sides and then perf 10 on either the top or bottom, the result of a replaced portion of a perforation wheel.

As already noted, the stamp shown above is perf 10 an ALL sides, thus a Scott 586.

Oh, I get it now. Not a U.S. collector but I like learning.

In my opinion, is likely another case coming from the same website we repeatedly hear about; it shows rarities and high value varieties with each stamp. Unfortunately, the site provides very little information in terms of setting expectations on how unlikely it is to ever find one of these rare varieties. The same site also has no educational content on IDing stamps using perforations, watermarks, or even an overview of the steps a person should take in determining stamps.
Don

Well thanks for your opinion everyone, I appreciate your time and input