Topic-Original gum/hinges/etc./ perfs/centering

FRNAllStar

Unused stamps only. I'm trying to decide between buying premium stamps that have flawless original gum. Or lightly hinged/gum disturbances stamps. I notice alot of sellers on ebay do not show backs of stamps so I assume hinged or gum disturbances. They say OG NH, but still no photo of back. does anyone stick to mint gum stamps or slightly disturbed gum stamps. Will you see better profits the slight hinged stamp or the gum disturbance stamp(knicks-scratches-fades).

How much does gum in your opinion affect buy and sell price points.

Perfs- I would think a stamp with flawless perfs yet bad centering would be a good investment on an old stamp. I've heard of people doing reperferation to there old stamps.

Whats more important perfs or centering. How much important do you think one is over the other.

It's tuff to buy an old stamp with everything perfect. So what is your best sacrifice of quality in order to achieve lower price points yet good genuine investments in old unused stamps.

dougwtx

Its hard to come up with a standard factor for pricing stamps based on the condition. MNH and hinged or DG stamps vary widely. As for profits, it depends on how much you can grab the stamp for. You can get a good deal on a MNH or hinged.

Concerning perfs and centering; its best to get the best you can afford. Either will devalue the stamp if not good.

Unless you have a dealer that you can completely trust on giving values when buying and selling, the other way to determine how these factors affect value is through experience. Just as in other hobbies, when starting out, you may think you are getting good deals; but then when selling, you find out the real truth.

IMO, if you have a collection from the classic era (foreign or US), you can't go wrong if your material is mint (hinged and MNH) and used mixed as long as its fault free and well-centered. When I was at the APS show selling some things, a couple of dealers passed on some of my early issues because they didn't have certs; although they said they looked authentic and non-doctored. The cert items went fast. You usually don't have to worry about certs until you get into the more expensive issues.

If I can't get a decent specimen that I can afford, then I just pass. I feel its a waste of money to buy space-fillers and then try to upgrade later; but thats just my opinion.

FRNAllStar

It seems to me original gum and superb perfs are the "key" to getting a stamp nicely certified. Maybe centering is not as important as it seems. Doug you say most people only buy certified stamps. You can get premium stamps that say unused NH OG in the certificate of authenticity. This regardless of centering. I still thinks perfs are very important because they are the most fragile part of the stamp. In the stamp world it seems that your gum has to be flawless to be original and blotches or discolorations seem to lead to LH or Gum disturbance.

rolew1946

If you would like to get a good idea of what stamps are worth buying, go to the top of the page you are currently looking at and click on the PSE. This will take you to the PSE site and you will find an area that talks about grading. In the grading pages you will find that centering plays an important part in grading. Perfs and gum are taken into consideration. The other areas that are looked at is the clarity of the impression and the color. If you want to collect stamps that you want to sell later at a gain, you want to be very familiar with the grading standards that exist.

After you visit the grading section in PSE, you can then go to the Quarterly Market Valuation section and see the differences in prices based on the different grades.

With that information in hand you can make reasonable purchases with the likely hood that anything certified XF or above will appreciate in value.

CoinKid001

Well i don't buy fillers either unless i'm reallly desperate...all I do is write the name/discription/scott number on a slip of paper and put it on the place where the stamp is supposed to go ( i have a stock book, i use it as a regular stamp album...i don't like hinges) ...then when i get the real stamp I put it in the "space" and take the stamp out...