"I had someone offer me around $30.00 for it."
Looking at your profile, leads me to believe that it would probably be a big help for yourself to do some research on the hobby. It sounds as if you want to advance to the next level, but are unsure of how to do it. There is plenty of help online, and maybe in your public library. If you can get a copy of a Scott catalog, read the introduction. You will learn alot. Look at your collection and learn what you have. When you have done that, you can then plan for where you want to go with the hobby. Ask questions as you move along on this new road, but remember that the SOR members are not here to be your expertization service or give you an appraisal on your collection. It can't be properly done online. We can only offer advice. You will have to make the decisions. That's why it is important to learn more about the hobby and start to advance in it as your knowledge increases.
The rating (IMHO) is F-VF.
"" . I am certainly no expert on the hobby, but have always taken advice from those who are. Nonetheless, I do find what seems to be limitless enjoyment and solice in the hobby and have for almost 25yrs. As it is obvious I am no expert, "I simply love to talk about stamps". and I really do.
"I do find what seems to be limitless enjoyment and solice in the hobby and have for almost 25yrs. "
Back to the stamp, I would consider it Fine, but not VF due to the bottom centering. That stamp is is one of those that is much rarer in used condition.
If you were offered $30, I would take it, you could probably scoop another one for $10.
in terms of centering, this is no better than F-VF, which I think is wonderful for my collection; it is not even VF, because the centering is, well, not centered. It has nice margins; there is nothing in the centering to indicate superb.
I don't know values for NB, but if it's $15 CV and you're offered $30, just purely from financial terms, you should take it.
Of course, there are $15 items in my collection i would not sell for $500, so money is only one aspect of any transaction.
David
Certainly not worth getting certified, and while the stamp is acceptable, it is not in exceptionally good condition.
Take a look at the block on this page in our exhibits.
Roy
Shibumi,
I bought a Kindle copy of the book. Thank you.
Just curious...
When I read David's comment.
"it is not even VF, because the centering is, well, not centered. It has nice margins; there is nothing in the centering to indicate superb."
Grading stamps as VG. F, FVF, VF, XF is totally subjective. Stamps that are fresh and never hinged with no faults would be graded based on centering.
Used stamps are an entirely different proposition - centering, color, perfs, cancel, bleed through, freshness (feel), soiling, etc. all come into play. If a stamp is off center up and down most people will knock off a grade or two quicker than if it were off center horizontally. Medium heavy cancels deserve a knock down, postally used CDS (either full or partial) often gets an uptick, particularly if a clear, sharp town cancel.
A small company in Vermont used to grade it's US stamps as "A", "B" and "C" grade - this was back before the internet. I bought stamps from them and was always happy - it's not a bad system when you think about it.
Ny two cents
Mark,
you are probably right that F-VF is the likely centering were a vote to be taken among our viewers; F is probably too harsh. But VF is too generous; hence my projecting a F-VF centering.
And, of course, we have "F" with two possible meanings: Fine and Flaw (or Fault). The former refers to centering and the latter to condition. We have been talking about the former.
Adam,
I typically don't get certificates for relatively inexpensive stamps. In fact, the only certificate I ever got was for a US 1, more interested in the red cancel than the stamp, although no mention was made of the cancel despite my pointed query with its submission. But I digress. Seems like there's no support for getting this pup certified.
David
David, I just guess I grew up on the sports-card and stamp collections always using "F", "VF",s etc. for the fine/very fine/good/mint, etc. labels.
so whenever I see a "F" that's the first thing that comes to mind.
I guess I have issues with grades that were assigned based on centering issues (anyone remember the PSE guys? They just made it worse in my opinion with their grading scales and one of their criteria was micro-measuring of the centering of an image).
The grading scales didn't take into consideration the overall condition of a stamp. It often just looked at centering. I saw some examples from PSE of Grade 98 stamps with pulled perfs and hinging. Their response was that it was the centering that was important to collectors.
I had stamps that were maybe a little less in the centering, but never hinged, and all the perfs were intact. To me, my stamp was a better grade than what they were showing. However, they said that my stamp would not be graded as highly because the centering was not spot-on. To me, that devalued everything that they were doing. It was just a gimmick and a money grab. I think that the market has wised up to that fact as I don't see much craze for highly graded stamps anymore. Sure there are going to be the dupes who plunk down $250 for a 25 cent catalog valued stamp. It's their money.
For me, I look at a stamp, and if it meets my personal criteria (meaning I like how it looks - good condition, well centered, not defects or damage), and I need the stamp, I will buy it.
If anyone is interested in reviewing three prior posts discussing the grading issue, here they are:
Graded stamps after 1940
Rare Stamps and Individual Retirement Accounts?
Steamroom : The grading system
No way is this superb condition. Perfs on left side look fishy. On bottom left likely a partial reperf to cover up a tear or something similar?
This stamp is not a candidate for reperfing, It is too common.
The photo was taken with a camera so it is not flat and looks distorted. Those are partial blind perfs on the left, common for this stamp.
Yeah I see the blind perfs now. It was a poor image.
Centering seems to make a big difference in value of some stamps. In the case of this N.B. stamp, there are many of them around at reasonable prices.
Among other things, I collect Newfoundland and have built up a set of mint blocks of the 1919 "trail of the Caribou" issue. The 12 cent orange (Un. 123) is very scarce in mint blocks and it was the last one I've acquired.
The design of the Caribous fills most of the area of the stamps and therefore, centering has to be almost perfect to make them look really good. My 123 block is off centre, the perfs don't cut into the design but are close on one side; cost ~$90 Cdn. I saw a block on eBay recently with better centering; asking price U.S. $400; the seller had it listed as a "best offer" item but proved not to be very negotiable. I'll look for a better one but am happy for now with the one I have.
This stamp is In what I believe to be in either superb or near superb condition. Slight hinge mark on reverse. I had someone offer me around $30.00 for it. Im interested in knowing what others think?
re: Mint New Brunswick (Worth getting certified?)
"I had someone offer me around $30.00 for it."
re: Mint New Brunswick (Worth getting certified?)
Looking at your profile, leads me to believe that it would probably be a big help for yourself to do some research on the hobby. It sounds as if you want to advance to the next level, but are unsure of how to do it. There is plenty of help online, and maybe in your public library. If you can get a copy of a Scott catalog, read the introduction. You will learn alot. Look at your collection and learn what you have. When you have done that, you can then plan for where you want to go with the hobby. Ask questions as you move along on this new road, but remember that the SOR members are not here to be your expertization service or give you an appraisal on your collection. It can't be properly done online. We can only offer advice. You will have to make the decisions. That's why it is important to learn more about the hobby and start to advance in it as your knowledge increases.
re: Mint New Brunswick (Worth getting certified?)
The rating (IMHO) is F-VF.
re: Mint New Brunswick (Worth getting certified?)
"" . I am certainly no expert on the hobby, but have always taken advice from those who are. Nonetheless, I do find what seems to be limitless enjoyment and solice in the hobby and have for almost 25yrs. As it is obvious I am no expert, "I simply love to talk about stamps". and I really do.
re: Mint New Brunswick (Worth getting certified?)
"I do find what seems to be limitless enjoyment and solice in the hobby and have for almost 25yrs. "
re: Mint New Brunswick (Worth getting certified?)
Back to the stamp, I would consider it Fine, but not VF due to the bottom centering. That stamp is is one of those that is much rarer in used condition.
If you were offered $30, I would take it, you could probably scoop another one for $10.
re: Mint New Brunswick (Worth getting certified?)
in terms of centering, this is no better than F-VF, which I think is wonderful for my collection; it is not even VF, because the centering is, well, not centered. It has nice margins; there is nothing in the centering to indicate superb.
I don't know values for NB, but if it's $15 CV and you're offered $30, just purely from financial terms, you should take it.
Of course, there are $15 items in my collection i would not sell for $500, so money is only one aspect of any transaction.
David
re: Mint New Brunswick (Worth getting certified?)
Certainly not worth getting certified, and while the stamp is acceptable, it is not in exceptionally good condition.
Take a look at the block on this page in our exhibits.
Roy
re: Mint New Brunswick (Worth getting certified?)
Shibumi,
I bought a Kindle copy of the book. Thank you.
re: Mint New Brunswick (Worth getting certified?)
Just curious...
When I read David's comment.
"it is not even VF, because the centering is, well, not centered. It has nice margins; there is nothing in the centering to indicate superb."
re: Mint New Brunswick (Worth getting certified?)
Grading stamps as VG. F, FVF, VF, XF is totally subjective. Stamps that are fresh and never hinged with no faults would be graded based on centering.
Used stamps are an entirely different proposition - centering, color, perfs, cancel, bleed through, freshness (feel), soiling, etc. all come into play. If a stamp is off center up and down most people will knock off a grade or two quicker than if it were off center horizontally. Medium heavy cancels deserve a knock down, postally used CDS (either full or partial) often gets an uptick, particularly if a clear, sharp town cancel.
A small company in Vermont used to grade it's US stamps as "A", "B" and "C" grade - this was back before the internet. I bought stamps from them and was always happy - it's not a bad system when you think about it.
Ny two cents
re: Mint New Brunswick (Worth getting certified?)
Mark,
you are probably right that F-VF is the likely centering were a vote to be taken among our viewers; F is probably too harsh. But VF is too generous; hence my projecting a F-VF centering.
And, of course, we have "F" with two possible meanings: Fine and Flaw (or Fault). The former refers to centering and the latter to condition. We have been talking about the former.
Adam,
I typically don't get certificates for relatively inexpensive stamps. In fact, the only certificate I ever got was for a US 1, more interested in the red cancel than the stamp, although no mention was made of the cancel despite my pointed query with its submission. But I digress. Seems like there's no support for getting this pup certified.
David
re: Mint New Brunswick (Worth getting certified?)
David, I just guess I grew up on the sports-card and stamp collections always using "F", "VF",s etc. for the fine/very fine/good/mint, etc. labels.
so whenever I see a "F" that's the first thing that comes to mind.
I guess I have issues with grades that were assigned based on centering issues (anyone remember the PSE guys? They just made it worse in my opinion with their grading scales and one of their criteria was micro-measuring of the centering of an image).
re: Mint New Brunswick (Worth getting certified?)
The grading scales didn't take into consideration the overall condition of a stamp. It often just looked at centering. I saw some examples from PSE of Grade 98 stamps with pulled perfs and hinging. Their response was that it was the centering that was important to collectors.
I had stamps that were maybe a little less in the centering, but never hinged, and all the perfs were intact. To me, my stamp was a better grade than what they were showing. However, they said that my stamp would not be graded as highly because the centering was not spot-on. To me, that devalued everything that they were doing. It was just a gimmick and a money grab. I think that the market has wised up to that fact as I don't see much craze for highly graded stamps anymore. Sure there are going to be the dupes who plunk down $250 for a 25 cent catalog valued stamp. It's their money.
For me, I look at a stamp, and if it meets my personal criteria (meaning I like how it looks - good condition, well centered, not defects or damage), and I need the stamp, I will buy it.
re: Mint New Brunswick (Worth getting certified?)
If anyone is interested in reviewing three prior posts discussing the grading issue, here they are:
Graded stamps after 1940
Rare Stamps and Individual Retirement Accounts?
Steamroom : The grading system
re: Mint New Brunswick (Worth getting certified?)
No way is this superb condition. Perfs on left side look fishy. On bottom left likely a partial reperf to cover up a tear or something similar?
re: Mint New Brunswick (Worth getting certified?)
This stamp is not a candidate for reperfing, It is too common.
The photo was taken with a camera so it is not flat and looks distorted. Those are partial blind perfs on the left, common for this stamp.
re: Mint New Brunswick (Worth getting certified?)
Yeah I see the blind perfs now. It was a poor image.
re: Mint New Brunswick (Worth getting certified?)
Centering seems to make a big difference in value of some stamps. In the case of this N.B. stamp, there are many of them around at reasonable prices.
Among other things, I collect Newfoundland and have built up a set of mint blocks of the 1919 "trail of the Caribou" issue. The 12 cent orange (Un. 123) is very scarce in mint blocks and it was the last one I've acquired.
The design of the Caribous fills most of the area of the stamps and therefore, centering has to be almost perfect to make them look really good. My 123 block is off centre, the perfs don't cut into the design but are close on one side; cost ~$90 Cdn. I saw a block on eBay recently with better centering; asking price U.S. $400; the seller had it listed as a "best offer" item but proved not to be very negotiable. I'll look for a better one but am happy for now with the one I have.