I received the email and was determined to find something to buy and take full advantage of it.
My first attempt was to search the Collectibles category for silver bars (since anything listed in the Coins & Paper Money category would be ineligible for the discount). After factoring in shipping and the 20% discount, I couldn't find any silver for under $17 per ounce net. There were several listings at just over that for ordinary bars. Then I looked at anything and everything else in the Collectibles category and still didn't find anything.
After wasting a bunch of time I checked out the Stamps category. I didn't need any postage since I recently bought two stamp collections locally, and I have all the postage stamps I'll ever need for the next couple years. But I did find a couple "rare" stamp items that I wanted. The First US Postage stamps are the Franklin 5-cent and Washington 10-cent of 1845. They are listed in the Scott catalog as #1 and #2 respectively. A couple years ago I bought a nice #2 "on cover" (actually on a folded letter that served as its own envelope). With today's discount I found a nice #1 to go along with my #2 (for $252.50 after discount and shipping applied):
This is also a "cover" which is actually a folded letter like my Scott #2.
And I was also able to add another item to my fledgling collection of early Federal Reserve Bank registered shipping tags (the 20-cent light blue Franklins are fairly scarce "on cover", or on a shipping tag in this case):
I rarely mail letters. When I do I go and buy 10 stamps. I use one stamp and lose the other 9. A year later when I need to mail something again I go through the same process.
I'll need to search for the articles. This has been going on for over a decade. In fact, why not Google counterfeit modern postage stamps or something like it. I will later.
"wish I thought of that. I wasted my coupon on gun stuff."....Gun stuff is good.... I prefer that to stamps. The only stamps I ever purchased to keep was a sheet of the centennial stamps... still have them, probably worth less than what I paid. Cheers, RickO
If anyone has any doubts about their eBay stamps, just mail a letter to yourself with one of the stamps. If it gets a normal "sprayed" postmark it is presumably OK. If it gets some other weird makeshift cancellation then it might have not been read by the machine and needed to be manually/remotely cancelled. (It is all very high tech now).
@ACop said:
I rarely mail letters. When I do I go and buy 10 stamps. I use one stamp and lose the other 9. A year later when I need to mail something again I go through the same process.
@JBK said:
If anyone has any doubts about their eBay stamps, just mail a letter to yourself with one of the stamps. If it gets a normal "sprayed" postmark it is presumably OK. If it gets some other weird makeshift cancellation then it might have not been read by the machine and needed to be manually/remotely cancelled. (It is all very high tech now).
@Insider2 said:
Beware... Linn's Stamp News has had several articles about counterfeit stamps sold as postage on Ebay.
How would the average person or postal employee even know?
If they don't have the correct phosphor tag then the machines will know. Aside from that, no one would ever notice.
This.
Numismatist. 50 year member ANA. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner numerous NLG Literary Awards.
@CascadeChris said:
Be careful. It's been 20yrs but didn't George Costanza kill his fiance by making her lick all the stamps for their wedding invitations
No it was the cheap envelopes.
Although I have almost sealed my mouth shut by licking too many stamps.
Certainly a good chance. As mentioned, stamp publications frequently have articles of counterfeit stamps from China; they are faking forever stamps just like everything else.
Not sure what would happen if one used counterfeit stamps on their mail... perhaps postal equipment will flag it? If not... perhaps the just go on through... and the postal service of course loses money on each one that goes on through.
Here is some assumptions I have made, but I am NOT recommending the potential devious opportunities presented:
As far as I know (and I am happy to be corrected on this) there are potentially two places where insufficient postage might be caught manually - when the letter is sent (if someone sees it) and when it is delivered. Aside from that, I believe when the letter is sorted by machine and the routing barcode added, that is also when the letter is checked for a stamp and postmarked.
It is my understanding that all modern stamps above 10 cents have a phosphor tag - that lets the machine orient the letter so it can read the address. No stamp/phosphor then the machine can't orient the latter and there is remote visual scrutiny to see what is going on. If the postage looks OK they can position the envelope and force a cancellation. (But if there is at least one tagged stamp, it is smooth sailing).
@CoinPhysicist said:
I actually just did this with a smaller quantity... 200 forever stamps for $80 and then 20% off makes 200 for $64. Which is exactly 32 cents each. I guess then I get an extra 1% back in bucks and credit card points too.
I was going to do this with the company I work for, timing wasn't right maybe next time.
Funny story, Not mine that makes it funny
Guy is out partying with a few girls at the club.
One girl gets a hold of his wallet and heads to the bank ATM along with the CC at the post office ATM.
Returns later and returns wallet.
@rte592 said:
Funny story, Not mine that makes it funny
Guy is out partying with a few girls at the club.
One girl gets a hold of his wallet and heads to the bank ATM along with the CC at the post office ATM.
Returns later and returns wallet.
Next day or so the guy figures it out.
Wouldn't she need the PIN number to use his credit cards to get money from an ATM?
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
@Insider2 said:
Beware... Linn's Stamp News has had several articles about counterfeit stamps sold as postage on Ebay.
How would the average person or postal employee even know?
If they don't have the correct phosphor tag then the machines will know. Aside from that, no one would ever notice.
you know what , in the stamp collection I inherited was this funky black light wand thingie , is that what that was for?
Yes, an ultraviolet light is used to reveal the phosphorescent overprint ("tagging") on modern stamps. In normal light the tagging is invisible.
There are stamps from the 1960s that are known to come with and without the tagging. Depending on the particular stamp type, one variety or the other can be scarce and worth a premium.
"My friends who see my collection sometimes ask what something costs. I tell them and they are in awe at my stupidity." (Baccaruda, 12/03).I find it hard to believe that he (Trump) rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world. (Putin 1/17) Gone but not forgotten. IGWT, Speedy, Bear, BigE, HokieFore, John Burns, Russ, TahoeDale, Dahlonega, Astrorat, Stewart Blay, Oldhoopster, Broadstruck, Ricko, Big Moose, Cardinal.
@Lakesammman said:
Anyone wanna buy some special delivery stamps?
I might be wrong, but I think those are effectively worthless (as postage.).can only be used for Special Delivery (not postage) and I don't think that service exists any more.
@JBK said:
Here is some assumptions I have made, but I am NOT recommending the potential devious opportunities presented:
As far as I know (and I am happy to be corrected on this) there are potentially two places where insufficient postage might be caught manually - when the letter is sent (if someone sees it) and when it is delivered. Aside from that, I believe when the letter is sorted by machine and the routing barcode added, that is also when the letter is checked for a stamp and postmarked.
It is my understanding that all modern stamps above 10 cents have a phosphor tag - that lets the machine orient the letter so it can read the address. No stamp/phosphor then the machine can't orient the latter and there is remote visual scrutiny to see what is going on. If the postage looks OK they can position the envelope and force a cancellation. (But if there is at least one tagged stamp, it is smooth sailing).
Think about this...we have counterfeit coins passing TPGS on rare occasions. Producing a coin that can do that is extremely hard and expensive. Printing an image on paper is cheap and easy in comparison. Additionally, the folks doing it may also be making fake currency. The chance of a postal clerk catching a fake stamp is virtually ZERO. The stamped are tagged as examples are found on postally used mail. Microprinting is being used as a deterrent on stamps and I believe on Canadian ML's.
@Lakesammman said:
Anyone wanna buy some special delivery stamps?
I might be wrong, but I think those are effectively worthless (as postage.).can only be used for Special Delivery (not postage) and I don't think that service exists any more.
They are not postally valid. although, if you cut off the "special delivery" words, no one will ever know.
@JBK said:
He owes you guys - you burned up a 20% coupon on him.
Sometimes when you try to get something for nothing, you end up getting nothing for something.
Numismatist. 50 year member ANA. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner numerous NLG Literary Awards.
@rte592 said:
Funny story, Not mine that makes it funny
Guy is out partying with a few girls at the club.
One girl gets a hold of his wallet and heads to the bank ATM along with the CC at the post office ATM.
Returns later and returns wallet.
Next day or so the guy figures it out.
Wouldn't she need the PIN number to use his credit cards to get money from an ATM?
Yes and with the younger service guys and the right, Well Leverage that easy too.
I found some articles I saved from Linn's Stamp News. Nothing new under the sun as counterfeit stamps have been around for many decades before these. If I come across more recent articles I'll post them.
II/12/07 Issue: 41c Flag coil
7/18/08 Issue: Korean counterfeits of the US Liberty Series stamps of the 1950's (postally used)
7/21/08 Issue: Nondenominated Flag Stamps (postally used).
Comments
I received the email and was determined to find something to buy and take full advantage of it.
My first attempt was to search the Collectibles category for silver bars (since anything listed in the Coins & Paper Money category would be ineligible for the discount). After factoring in shipping and the 20% discount, I couldn't find any silver for under $17 per ounce net. There were several listings at just over that for ordinary bars. Then I looked at anything and everything else in the Collectibles category and still didn't find anything.
After wasting a bunch of time I checked out the Stamps category. I didn't need any postage since I recently bought two stamp collections locally, and I have all the postage stamps I'll ever need for the next couple years. But I did find a couple "rare" stamp items that I wanted. The First US Postage stamps are the Franklin 5-cent and Washington 10-cent of 1845. They are listed in the Scott catalog as #1 and #2 respectively. A couple years ago I bought a nice #2 "on cover" (actually on a folded letter that served as its own envelope). With today's discount I found a nice #1 to go along with my #2 (for $252.50 after discount and shipping applied):
This is also a "cover" which is actually a folded letter like my Scott #2.
And I was also able to add another item to my fledgling collection of early Federal Reserve Bank registered shipping tags (the 20-cent light blue Franklins are fairly scarce "on cover", or on a shipping tag in this case):
I rarely mail letters. When I do I go and buy 10 stamps. I use one stamp and lose the other 9. A year later when I need to mail something again I go through the same process.
wish I thought of that. I wasted my coupon on gun stuff.
Or you can do both!!!
Along with that silver, I bought an Uplula magazine loader for my MSR.
Saved enough on the silver to get the loader for about a buck!
I'll need to search for the articles. This has been going on for over a decade. In fact, why not Google counterfeit modern postage stamps or something like it. I will later.
"wish I thought of that. I wasted my coupon on gun stuff."....Gun stuff is good.... I prefer that to stamps. The only stamps I ever purchased to keep was a sheet of the centennial stamps... still have them, probably worth less than what I paid. Cheers, RickO
How would the average person or postal employee even know?
If they don't have the correct phosphor tag then the machines will know. Aside from that, no one would ever notice.
OK. TY!
If anyone has any doubts about their eBay stamps, just mail a letter to yourself with one of the stamps. If it gets a normal "sprayed" postmark it is presumably OK. If it gets some other weird makeshift cancellation then it might have not been read by the machine and needed to be manually/remotely cancelled. (It is all very high tech now).
Alzheimers.... making new friends daily.
you know what , in the stamp collection I inherited was this funky black light wand thingie , is that what that was for?
Can a window clerk scan the roll somehow?
Good guess. I would assume for phosphor tags/paper and/or to help with watermarks. That collector knew what they were doing.
I am pretty sure not, and in any case I personally wouldn't risk getting the Postal Inspectors on my back.
Its telling me the code PICKDADSGIFT has expired
This.
Well, they would be anyway if the stamp that you used to mail a Christmas card to yourself turned out to be bogus.
Be careful. It's been 20yrs but didn't George Costanza kill his fiance by making her lick all the stamps for their wedding invitations
It expired last night at 7PM Pacific time.
No it was the cheap envelopes.
Although I have almost sealed my mouth shut by licking too many stamps.
One would likely be overlooked, but thousands walking through the front door of the PO would be a gift too tempting to ignore.
Certainly a good chance. As mentioned, stamp publications frequently have articles of counterfeit stamps from China; they are faking forever stamps just like everything else.
Not sure what would happen if one used counterfeit stamps on their mail... perhaps postal equipment will flag it? If not... perhaps the just go on through... and the postal service of course loses money on each one that goes on through.
Here is some assumptions I have made, but I am NOT recommending the potential devious opportunities presented:
As far as I know (and I am happy to be corrected on this) there are potentially two places where insufficient postage might be caught manually - when the letter is sent (if someone sees it) and when it is delivered. Aside from that, I believe when the letter is sorted by machine and the routing barcode added, that is also when the letter is checked for a stamp and postmarked.
It is my understanding that all modern stamps above 10 cents have a phosphor tag - that lets the machine orient the letter so it can read the address. No stamp/phosphor then the machine can't orient the latter and there is remote visual scrutiny to see what is going on. If the postage looks OK they can position the envelope and force a cancellation. (But if there is at least one tagged stamp, it is smooth sailing).
Probably not counterfeit, But bought with a STOLEN CARD would be my first guess.
I was going to do this with the company I work for, timing wasn't right maybe next time.
Funny story, Not mine that makes it funny
Guy is out partying with a few girls at the club.
One girl gets a hold of his wallet and heads to the bank ATM along with the CC at the post office ATM.
Returns later and returns wallet.
Next day or so the guy figures it out.
Wouldn't she need the PIN number to use his credit cards to get money from an ATM?
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Yes, an ultraviolet light is used to reveal the phosphorescent overprint ("tagging") on modern stamps. In normal light the tagging is invisible.
There are stamps from the 1960s that are known to come with and without the tagging. Depending on the particular stamp type, one variety or the other can be scarce and worth a premium.
You'll see them in change. If you haven't already.
Anyone wanna buy some special delivery stamps?
I might be wrong, but I think those are effectively worthless (as postage.).can only be used for Special Delivery (not postage) and I don't think that service exists any more.
Has anyone received a shipping confirmation email for the stamps purchased on this deal two days ago. I haven't received a confirmation yet.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
Think about this...we have counterfeit coins passing TPGS on rare occasions. Producing a coin that can do that is extremely hard and expensive. Printing an image on paper is cheap and easy in comparison. Additionally, the folks doing it may also be making fake currency. The chance of a postal clerk catching a fake stamp is virtually ZERO. The stamped are tagged as examples are found on postally used mail. Microprinting is being used as a deterrent on stamps and I believe on Canadian ML's.
Order cancelled by seller.
Choice Numismatics www.ChoiceCoin.com
CN eBay
All of my collection is in a safe deposit box!
Yup, refunded.
bob
Which seller?
He owes you guys - you burned up a 20% coupon on him.
The one in your link. I just received a canceled order message a couple of minutes ago.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
yes
They are not postally valid. although, if you cut off the "special delivery" words, no one will ever know.
At least it wasn't charged against last quarter's eBay Bucks.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
I just got the same cancellation. I have to wait 7 days to NEG this guy. Yup wasted 20% on this moron. So much for his feedback.
I haven't received a 'shipped' notice from my seller yet, but no refund yet either.
@ChrisRx I found something to go along with your new purchase!
Sometimes when you try to get something for nothing, you end up getting nothing for something.
Yes and with the younger service guys and the right, Well Leverage that easy too.
Ya win some, ya lose some. Could be worse... coulda got no refund. Still upsetting.
I found some articles I saved from Linn's Stamp News. Nothing new under the sun as counterfeit stamps have been around for many decades before these. If I come across more recent articles I'll post them.
II/12/07 Issue: 41c Flag coil
7/18/08 Issue: Korean counterfeits of the US Liberty Series stamps of the 1950's (postally used)
7/21/08 Issue: Nondenominated Flag Stamps (postally used).
My refund posted to my CC account today. I actually asked him/them to cancel and they said that they couldn't. All's swell that ends swell.