PSE ONLINE PRICE GUIDE

edueku

Wow, anyone collecting graded stamps should take a look at the jumps in value on many of the stamps.It's online now although I couldn't find the Washington Bicentennials. Very nice investment AND collectible/hobby. Can't ask for much more. It's so cool to be in what will come to be called the "Golden Age" of graded stamps!

UncleWiggly

Yep!



Jerry

ad4400

Somewhat theoretical, but do you think the day will arrive that the prices of graded stamps will become the de facto value, and ungraded stamps will trade at a discount, perhaps due to lack of confidence that ungraded pieces are all they are claimed to be.

On the flip side, if the the laws of supply and demand start to take effect, and more stamps are graded to meet the demand, could there be a depresseing effect on price? I know a previous post pointed out that its not like high grade old stamps are being created anew, but if the grading phenomomon is still in its relative infancy compared to the market for graded coins, couldn't there be an influx of graded stamps and people try to take advantage of the current primium of graded peices, which at some point the supply would meet or even exceed demand?

laceupboots

Grading stamps is expensive. I don't think the supply will meet the demand very soon. As to lack of confidence in ungraded stamps, that's where making a reputable name for oneself is important. and being knowlegeable about the stamp in questions.

edueku

Very common stamps(i.e. the 40's and 50's and on) that grade 98 to 100 are always going to cost a great deal more than their catalog (Scott) How many would "depress" the market? 1000 of one Scott#? Are there 1000 collectors that would pay $40+ to $50+ for a common 98 that they need for their graded collection?(which is a reasonable real world price, once the population for a specific Scott# grows) I would think so. For 95's or lower there probably will be so many that they will not hold/have much value. Once again 98's and 100's ARE NOT EASY TO GET.With the fact that there are so many Scott#s, there will probably be a bit of a wait for prices to go down even on really common stamps. Of course this depends on how many are currently being submitted and receiving 98's or higher.
As far as older stamps, say pre 1920, how many stamps do you think there are that will EVER grade 95 or higher? I would venture to say a very small % of the entire population still extant.
Coins are much more durable than stamps. Stamps are very easy to damage. A roll of uncirculated coins could be kept for years without an incredible amount of care. Stamps have to stay in a very stable environment to stay in their original condition. Coins cannot be hinged. Centering on stamps plays a very large role in the grade. Coins are generally all well centered(they have to be for use in machines etc.). I know there is alot to coin grading also, but I don't want to compare the two anymore because they are just not the same.
I guess what I'm getting at is THERE WILL NEVER BE 1000's and 1000's of one specific Scott# of the early stamps grading 98 or much less 100. The idea that someone would just somehow show up in the market one day with 1000 or even 100 stamps from say the 1902-03 series in the grade of 98 or higher is absurd. Sure, if this was the case, and there were only 50 collectors in the United States, the prices might be lower. Even 95's on early stamps are really tough. It kind of makes me think of my time-machine fantasy. I go back in time(i.e. 1903) and decide to put together a complete set of that series. It would STILL be a tough goal to put together a superb set because these stamps generally have small margins, depending on the denomination. I would have to find a post office that even carried ANY of the higher denominations. When I did find the higher denominations, would even ANY of them be superbly centered? Granted there ARE some current high grades from this series, but are there 1000's of 98's out there waiting to be graded? I highly doubt it. So how could there be a glut in the market on stamps that are really condition rarities?
The only stamps that will see a significant drop in price will be incredibly common stamps that are comparitively easy to get high grades of.
Because of the stringent standards set by PSE for graded stamps, prices for ungraded material will almost surely stay far below SMQ prices. Ungraded will always sell for less than(high) graded, barring high profile auctions of well known collections of stamps and purchases made by less knowledgeable/inexperienced collectors.
Of course much of this depends on how many stamp collectors there are that are interested in single US stamps,and how many more new people start collecting and or collectors that quit collecting etc. That is petty hard to predict for sure. I would say many more people will start collecting because of grading not to mention those who are only investors(which still brings economic growth to the hobby).

dougwtx

I see a couple of issues that stamp grading may run into. I have stamps graded by cert only and "slabbed". What will happen if something happens to an "unslabbed" graded stamp; say a print, bent perf, gum disturbance, etc...? I can see how an unscrupulous person passing this off since it has a graded cert. I did notice one eBay seller actually being honest and stating a fault that occurred after the graded cert; but I'm not so sure this would be commonplace. Also, with the encapsulated stamps, the stamp moves around and hits the edges of the 4 bars within the case. I wonder if perfs can be damaged if the case was accidently dropped? Maybe the stamp could be put in a mylar pouch and then encapsulated? Maybe I'm being too paranoid, but I've been around long enough to see issues with certified coins and currency.

I have nothing against stamp grading, but I feel these issues need to be resolved as to not hurt the hobby.

MSherman

Dougwtx,

You raise a couple of valid points.

A "raw" stamp accompanied only by a certificate is certainly subject to damage Ð both accidental and environmental. That is precisely why it has been commonplace for collectors to "refresh" their opinions by getting fresh certificates every five or ten years. The major philatelic auctioneers only consider the sale of a papered stamp "final" if the certificate is less than six years old.

A slabbed stamp provides protection from most casual and environmental damage, but not totally. For example, I would not leave a slabbed stamp in direct sunlight. (I also would not leave a slabbed coin in sunlight, unless I liked toning.) The stamp fits fairly tight in the slab, so I doubt that the perfs could be damaged by normal movement or even being dropped. Perhaps if you deliberately slammed the slab on its edge repeatedly you might be able to detect something at the perf tips, but I don't believe you could actually crease or bend a perf. We've tried, by the way, and could not visibly affect the stamp.

edueku

Have been encapsulating my stamps for a while now. I really enjoy the look of a cert, but a capsule provides protection and also makes the certification and the stamp one item as opposed to a loose sheet of paper. I have had several ideas for an encapsulated album that would have more of the traditional look of an album , though likely bigger and thicker. The pages could hold 8 to 10 stamps and be opaque with areas for titles description as well as a Header describing the set, i.e. "1901 Pan American Issue." Anyone out there in a position to produce this? I'm a good designer and have some really good ideas.

KentuckyJ

edueku,
Wow! You have been time traveling today!

On the coin side I've seen advertised (Eagle?) pages that are designed to hold x9 PCGS, NGC or ANACS slabs. Have you ever thought of seeing if these albums might work for PSE encapsulated stamps? I might stay in the stamp world if I had some nice way to display them (myself being a collector who only wants 'slabbed'). As it is, I'm now focused more on PCGS coins and currency.

BTW, haven't seen dougwtx post here in a long time. He always had good insights

KentuckyJ

edueku,
Wow! You have been time traveling today!

On the coin side I've seen advertised (Eagle?) pages that are designed to hold x9 PCGS, NGC or ANACS slabs. Have you ever thought of seeing if these albums might work for PSE encapsulated stamps? I might stay in the stamp world if I had some nice way to display them (myself being a collector who only wants 'slabbed'). As it is, I'm now focused more on PCGS coins and currency.

BTW, haven't seen dougwtx post here in a long time. He always had good insights

edueku

I have been using sport-card pages the capsules for stamps fit in them perfectly, so you can get nine per page and see front and back.