Proof And Essays No Longer In US Specialized Scott Catalog

New "proofs and essays" catalog coming out. Hoping some of my recent Roosevelt album changes made it in. Anyone seen the new catalog yet?

So if I recall, one of your suggestions was to call 42P2 a Type I now, instead of, incorrectly, Ty II? or perhaps even make it 12P2.

That one was already fixed in 2023. about 75% of the changes got in already. The biggest outstanding change is about the 1847s. The Roosevelt albums include two 5c and two 10c stamps. Two of them were Intentionally shifted to make them appear like a double transfer. It was an attempt to differentiate between the original 1847 die and the reprint. The original dies were not available so they used the new dies for both and made two of them fuzzy. Unfortunately these are occasionally sold as "rare double transfers" but they aren't any more rare than any other Roosevelt album stamp. I've been arguing for Scott to show them as two different numbers. As of 2023 they only show 3P2 and 4P2. for both versions. James Lee helped me with all this and we are hoping all the remaining items got through.

Nice.

I will say, if the new book does have these kinds of notable corrections/enhancements, I may have to get it.

I was disappointed at losing proofs/essays section in the new Scott Specialized. I assume the reason was they were running out of space. Chipping away at a good thing. Identifier of Definitive Issues and Specialized by Grade gone too (but resurfaced as separate products). If I were King, I'd put out a US Classic 1847-1940 with all the good stuff in one reference. I guess I'm getting old ... hate to see things change.

And the Classic should really go up to 1945 and not split the war years.

Eric has this.

https://www.ericjackson.com/rDetail...6359&this=it

I got the new essay and proof catalog today. I can confirm that some of the remaining Roosevelt proof changes have been made, but not all. For the 64P2 and 65P2 stamps there is now a statement that "specialists have questioned the existence..." and they ask for more info. According to James Lee these exist as proofs, but not as part of the Roosevelt album and so should have the "RA" designation removed.

They fixed the color of 256P2 Was claret, now brown

What they didn't do was add information about the 24c and 30c 1861 page stamps to indicate both the "first" and "last" 1861 stamps in the album are from the same die, but have slightly different colors.
And they didn't fix the issue I believe is the most egregious - the fact that there are 4 1847 stamps and not just 2 in the album. One each that is just a direct print from the 1875 dies and one which is purposely shifted to make it fuzzy and seem different from the other.

I still see the "fuzzy" stamps sold as "rare double transfer" stamps. They are just as common as the regular version. I also often see two stamps sold together as a "complete set." The theory is there were 85 albums made. So each stamp can be described as "85 were made". But with both versions of the 1847 stamps with the same Scott number that means there are 170 each of those two stamps.

Overall though I am happy that the 2023 and 2024 changes notably improve Scott numbering for the Roosevelt album. I need to update the document on Stamp Smarter. I'll probably have one more conversation with James first to see if he thinks the 1847 issue is a lost cause.

"I assume the reason was they were running out of space."

The reason, of course, is money.

The complete reason is that a genuine lack of space due to the huge increase in new issues over the last 40 years has provided them with new ways to make money. Otherwise the catalog would wind up weighing 40 lbs. and costing $350. Which it probably will eventually anyway if one wants to get what used to be called the complete Specialized.

Does anyone really need a "Specialized" US catalog post-1940 anyway? The listed errors already have their own separate catalog so including them in the Specialized is redundant. I would move the PNCs to a separate catalog like Durland. What else do people use in the US Specialized for modern issues?

I agree with canyoneer, I would prefer a US Specialized Classic 1847-1940, and then maybe we can have the proofs and essays section back in the main catalog along with the Stamp Identifier and SMQ grading prices.

The 1940-2023 issues in the latest specialized take 270 pages. The Essays and Proofs that they took out was just half that at 134 pages.

How many pages is the new standalone Essays and Proofs?

Aside from the notable corrections that you mentioned, are there any universal changes that would make it worthwhile to buy versus a fairly recent Specialized integrated listings?

All publishers are wrestling with inflationary costs. Paper, ink, labor and energy related costs have put much pressure on them to find creative ways to survive. Unitrade is looking for a buyer. Grocery stores and other retailers are going digital because of it. Plus, they can say that the real reason is "green' and everybody claps like trained seals.

There are certainly collectors who do. And there are certainly dealers who do. It seems a bad idea to start sounding elitist about collecting interests. I don't like what they have done either, and will continue to use my 2021 version, but it's a mistake to assume that no one needs a newer one.

At the risk of sounding redundant I would like to see the revenue section separately. If they could outsource that section to an expert I suspect it would result in a better catalog for us revenooers. Maybe combine the revenue section with an updated Springer catalog.

From your lips to God's ears.... they've certainly ignored the recommendatinos I've made to improve the revenue section.

They consider revenues as third rate stepchildren; I do not expect them to ever change anything. The last time they did change anything of real note was about 40 years ago.