BobbyBarnhart

I have always been curious as to why there seems to be a difference in valuation between stamps used in the normal postal stream and pre cancelled stamps. I am speaking more to the 1902 definitives and the Washington-Franklins than anything else. For example, I recently picked up a 50¢ stamp from the 1902 series for next to nothing because it was pre cancelled. I would think that this stamp would have the same Scott valuation as a normal used stamp, but apparently not (even though Scott makes no distinction for valuation purposes). I have noticed other pre cancelled stamps shunned in favor of regularly cancelled stamps, and wonder if this is just personal taste of the collector, or if there is another reason (scarcity, etc.)?

Bobby

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Rhinelander

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19 Jan 2014
08:04:56pm

re: Valuation of "used" via cds or similar device versus pre cancelled

Aesthetics may play into it, but I believe the main reason is definitional. Used values given in the catalog are for contemporaneous postal cancellations. The whole point of a precancelled stamp is that it will not have to be cancelled, but is marked so that it is 'consumed' by its usage by a bulk mailer. In this respect, they strike me as being more similar to postage meters than to postage stamps in the way they are used. Therefore, just because of the definition of what the right column in the Scott catalog means, it does not apply to precancels. As for catalog values, because actual usage cannot be determined, I suggest that if one believes Scott values apply -- which I don't think they do -- then the proper valuation would be MNG or used, whichever is lower.

Precancels can be much more common than postally used, if a particular variety/rate was almost exclusively used for bulk mailings, or much less common in the opposite case. In any event,they are much more appropriately priced based on the voluminous specialized literature on these stamps rather than on some extrapolation from Scott values, which do not apply to precancels if I am reading the foreword correctly. This, BTW, applies even more to perfins, which if priced according to Scott standards, would demand a discount for damaged, but should be priced correctly according to the desirability of the perforated initials in the specialized literature.

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BobbyBarnhart

re: Valuation of "used" via cds or similar device versus pre cancelled

I'll see if I can find it and scan it. I do not collect precancels as such, and I am not sure where it is. I never said it was a bureau precancel, it is most likely a local. I have run across several stamps from that series with precancels. I do not think I gave them all away, so I will scan them also.

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